Gregory's ServerWe are at most, a few months away from apps with content and sharing mechanisms just not possible on Twitter or other centralized, closed-source platforms. That's when the momentum will really start to build for Activitypub and other protocols supporting federated networks. We have stop talking about it being a twitter "alternative" and start talking about is as an evolutionary step forward in global social networking. Because that's what it is.
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 @shoq I think that because of people and organizations being able to curate their own local instances this will be a lot more common. I can't wait to see if any momentum comes of the suggestion to allow people to follow another server's entire local timeline. I'd love to be able to follow *@nasa.social for instance. @ShredderFeeder @shoq @unusualplan Do you have to belong to each instance you can see? I assume not, but just checking. @unusualplan Do you find yourself using it much? So many of the bigger instances are so general, I am not sure just what value it brings (except for the relatively small and topically focused communities)  @shoq @CMDoran @unusualplan is it possible to follow that with the Metatext app? @brewster @brewster @shoq I hope so. But it only stays free as long as enough people donate to the admins. How can we make sure that's happening?  @ShekinahCanCook @shoq you pay either way. Either with your data, or you pitch in to pay the server costs.  @shoq What's gonna happen to the jobs of all those lasses that man the switchboards? @shoq @ravensview Besides my 2, 1 other. But by conservative extrapolation, I figure that means dozens are out there. At least. @shoq   Why is anyone using an app to access a #freesoftware project like #Mastodon that's free and doesn't track users or violate #privacy? Wouldn't it make more sense to focus that effort on #mobileweb and let everyone use the same interface regardless of platform? The way the web intended.  @ParanoidFactoid @shoq The individual web UIs of the Mastodon servers will probably never be able to fix the cross-server follow/boost/like usability barriers that exist now, because of cross-server web/JavaScript security barriers. Native third-party apps don't have these restrictions. Though, as a compromise maybe third-party web apps like Pinafore or Elk, can also solve these problems. I don't understand this argument. Are you speaking specifically to mobile browser implementations differing from desktop? @ParanoidFactoid @eob @shoq Wait. I'm on Mastodon.social. if I load the url: Https://Fosston.org/joeldebruijn I will not be logged in at Fosston.org and will be unable to follow. Correct? But if I load: Https://mastodon.social/@joeldebruijn@fisstodon.org I will get your profile and I can follow from my home server. What's the problem? @ParanoidFactoid @shoq Both mobile and desktop browsers have the same restrictions. In general they store data for each web site separately in a way that makes it hard to write browser-only apps that seamlessly talk to multiple web sites. Because each Mastodon server's built-in web UI is at a different web site, it is hard to create frictionless user flows that span across different Mastodon servers. @shoq @shoq what sorts of fediverse apps would you like to see that don’t already exist? @jaredkschreiber @shoq @shoq A lot of people (myself included) don't want a new network, we want a Twitter replacement. Imo Twitter lasted so long because the formula was so good. Short messages, broadcast to everyone, allowing replies that are equal to posts (in terms of replying, retweeting, etc.). I don't care about the future of social networking, I've only ever extensively used Twitter because it's better for me.  @shoq I know very, very little about these matters. A very simple user of modern tech. But even I can feel that this is right. It's funny. The baddies thought that destroying Alderaan (twitter) was the end of it but the resistance has atomized. #fediverse  @shoq I don't disagree, but that means some kind of "alternative" to the "Alternative to twitter" use case needs to start being broadcast. Something pithy that folks can grasp (read: tech journalism can't casually malign due to status quo relationships and more general audiences can wrap their heads around with a de minimus of effort). Not impossible, but I'd argue still not facile.  |
When you can get content and engagement here that you cannot get there, that's when we'll shake things up and the old-school twitter model will start to feel stilted and dull.