How to Kill a Decentralised Network (such as the Fediverse) (ploum.net)
It's really important for those of us who've lived through previous megacorp attacks on free software ecosystems to TEACH that history....
leonido, German "Universities of the World, Join the Fediverse!"
Please check out and share this call to action with your university officials: https://netzpolitik.org/2023/a-call-to-action-universities-of-the-world-into-the-fediverse/
stefan, (edited ) UPDATE: The plugin is now live: https://wordpress.org/plugins/fediverse-embeds/
A very much work-in-progress WordPress plugin for embedding fediverse posts. Any help and feedback will be very appreciated!
https://github.com/stefanbohacek/fediverse-embeds-wordpress-plugin
Edent, 🆕 blog! “Rebuilding FourSquare for ActivityPub using OpenStreetMap”
I used to like the original FourSquare. The "mayor" stuff was a bit silly, and my friends never left that many reviews, but I loved being able to signal to my friends "I am at this cool museum" or "We're at this pub if you want to meet" or "Spendi…
👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/rebuilding-foursquare-for-activitypub-using-openstreetmap/
⸻
#ActivityPub #fediverse #FOURSQUARE #geolocation #OpenStreetMap
Edent, I've built an ersatz FourSquare clone for the Fediverse!
For now it is single user instance (me) and runs on a simple server with no database - just a couple of PHP files.
It geolocates my phone's web browser, shows nearby Points of Interest using OpenStreetMap, lets me attach a short message & an image with alt text.
Then it posts it to its Fediverse followers. The post contains geotags which some ActivityPub clients can see.
Sample post:
https://location.edent.tel/posts/65b8f590-f308-d472-82c5-92a9f227c641.jsonFollow: @edent_location
Edent, Here's my blog post about building a personal #Fediverse server in #PHP.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/a-tiny-incomplete-single-user-write-only-activitypub-server-in-php/
It was surprisingly simple. You can publish #ActivityPub with very modest computing resources.
If you can see the geotags on @edent_location please send me a screenshot 🙂
pfefferle, We released version 2.3.0 of the #ActivityPub plugin for #WordPress.
Some new features:
- Support for alt-attributes
- Prioritize attachments based on the post format (article => all, audio => audio, video => video, ...)
- Improve JS widgets
- A better default content handling based on the Object Type
- You can now add/remove the capability to use ActivityPub for each User
Full changelog: https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#230---2024-04-16
Download: https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/releases/tag/2.3.0
atomicpoet, @pfefferle Regarding:
You can now add/remove the capability to use ActivityPub for each User
This is a really cool and a nice feature!
teezeh, @pfefferle I already updated the German translation yesterday ;-)
feditips, The Fediverse has its own Twitch-style livestreaming platform called OwnCast:
➡️ @owncast
You can find out more from its official website at https://owncast.online
Because it's part of the Fediverse, you can follow OwnCast accounts from Mastodon etc, and when they go live you will see a post in your timeline to let you know.
For example, the RetroStrangeTV livestream can be viewed at:
➡️ https://live.retrostrange.com
...and it can be followed at:
➡️ @rstv
austincnunn, @feditips @bojanland @owncast You say that, but then you have open-source software popping up with names like "GIMP" and "Czkawka".
If there's one thing that open-source devs generally suck at doing, it's naming their project.
vintprox, (edited ) Let me start by saying that you don't need to mess with your NAT or ISP to get aired on thirdparty #PeerTube instance. #Owncast, on the other hand, would require you to set up some reverse proxy in order to let others see you.
At the moment, though, PeerTube's live chat highly suffers from bot abuse and the lack of interoperability with #Fediverse. On Owncast, you can identify yourself in chat by logging in via Mastodon, for example, and you can have some guards to prevent spam.
pixelfed, ⚡ ActivityPub development made easy
Our PubKit service now has an official website, and will be launching early next month!
numathurman, @pixelfed This is so cool !
benpate, Yup. I’m learning Docker ONLY for testing ActivityPub. It makes me hate Docker almost as much as I hate ActivityPub. We can’t wait any longer for “official” tools.. so I’m extremely grateful for project-led tools like this one. Thank YOU PixelFed devs.
Whenever I’m able to get anything running on ActivityPub acceptably, I’m committing to make SOMETHING similar to this to make it easier for the next dev to follow me.
The Fediverse deserves it.
ainmosni, (edited ) So, I have the feeling that the #fediverse is a very left-wing dominated space. Let's see if that feeling is correct.
Please boost for reach.
I consider myself:
jynersolives, @ainmosni Loaded terms, weakly defined, and very differently understood in different countries I suppose 😅
andrewfeeney, (edited ) When it comes to social policy I consider myself:
uniinnsbruck, German University-hosted instance social.uibk.ac.at: We are continuing to increase our presence here on Mastodon for science communication. By establishing our own instance, we aim to contribute to a positive development of the #Fediverse.
We are thus (further) limiting our involvement on X.Organizational units of the University of Innsbruck are welcome to use the instance social.uibk.ac.at!
Details and support: https://www.uibk.ac.at/en/newsroom/2023/university-of-innsbruck-focuses-on-mastodon/
RyunoKi, I think, I found some more (and followed). Meant to download a list of my followings anyway and share a list of profiles.
Great to see you here!
How have you learned about the fediverse?I remember @leonido blogged about it over at netzpolitik.org
leonido, German @slothrop @uniinnsbruck thank you, but it's mostly happening because of @melaniebartos and her team..
gbhnews, (edited ) 👋 Hello! Looks like quite a few more people are coming here as part of a #TwitterMigration. Welcome to the #fediverse!
GBH News is a PBS/NPR station in #Boston, MA. We start the day with a news roundup and a lighthearted poll. #introduction
Are you a #journalist? I wrote Mastodon 101 for Journalists which you can find here: https://lisawilliams.github.io/lisa/tech/2022/11/28/mastodon-101-for-journalists.html
(for those of you who have been here a minute...I'm looking to update that. Suggestions welcome!) #journalism #news
hyenatown, @gbhnews What happened to the W in GBH?
gbhnews, @hyenatown the W retired
It's really important for those of us who've lived through previous megacorp attacks on free software ecosystems to TEACH that history....
dansup, I've said it countless times before, if you're working on an #activityPub project and would like more visibility, DM me!
I know how lucky I was, and how hard it is to get noticed now, we all started from nothing and I get that
People over profits is what makes the #fediverse so special ❤️
robb, @dansup I built a simple ActivityPub server for running accounts for my side projects to avoid running a whole Masto instance https://bugle.lol
Was more of a learning exercise than anything but it works (e.g. @wegotfamily) and I wrote up everything I learnt here: https://rknight.me/building-an-activitypub-server/
gabboman, @dansup I built a tumblr clone and then conected it to the fedi. There is an alpha for the instructions on self hosting. It might have some bugs and the UI needs lotsvof improvements
The instructions are in the backend repo readme
It still does not support polls, might do next week
J12t, The Free Software Foundation Europe set up a website to help move governments from proprietary social media to the #fediverse.
Excellent idea!
AxelNennker, @J12t Sehr gute Idee
https://fedigov.eu/de/"Wir möchten Behörden davon überzeugen, ihren Einsatz von Sozialen Medien zu überdenken. Das ist mit dem schrittweisen Übergang zu föderierten Freien-Software-Lösungen möglich. "
Demnächst hier?: https://www.potsdam.de/de/social-media-angebote-der-landeshauptstadt-potsdam
strypey,
feditips, The free open source forum software NodeBB is now working on official Fediverse support. Federation isn't ready yet, but if this interests you, you might want to follow their account:
➡️ @nodebb
Their official website is at https://nodebb.org and the co-founder of NodeBB is at @devnull
nodebb, (edited ) Thanks @feditips for the shout-out, and an enthusiastic welcome to all of our new followers! @devnull is working on our #ActivityPub support out in the open, and updates will come from this (nodebb) account.
We're excited for what the #fediverse represents, and can't wait to have our software (developed over a decade OUTSIDE of the fediverse) take its first baby steps into this new world 🌎
viktor, @shoq @feditips @amart @atomicpoet we use self-hosted Discourse on a VPS, but they do offer hosted plans. $25 for small private forum, and then $100 for public and up. It's quite expensive. Self-hosted option works really well, but requires a bit of tech knowledge.
andresmh, We're organizing a small in-person workshop about federated/decentralized social media at Princeton.
https://dsmw.cs.princeton.edu/
We're interested in bringing folks who develop fediverse tech or admins that manage active Mastodon instances. We have some travel funding.
Ping me if interested, and please boost 🚀 to reach more people.
kayiwa, @andresmh PING! Hello, I'm interested. I'm a remote Princeton employee
andresmh, @kayiwa oh hi! could you apply at https://dsmw.cs.princeton.edu/apply 🙏
Flipboard, (edited ) In December, we started to federate the accounts of some Flipboard publishers and in February, we introduced Magazines to the fediverse. Now, we’re taking two important steps: federating the accounts of 400 creators and expert curators; and enabling two-way communication so that new followers and fediverse activity are visible and actionable in the Flipboard app.
To learn more about this, take a look at our blogpost:
Find all the handles of our newly federated curators here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iUFTo6rPvhqzCReLaM1c6-xUKRuBVqlZVStZl9Al-EU/
Thanks so much to everyone who has given feedback on what we’ve done so far. We welcome your thoughts and comments as we continue on our journey to fully federate Flipboard.
#Fediverse #Federation #Flipboard #ActivityPub #SpreadMastodon #Mastodon #Curation #MastodonMigration
Flipboard, (edited ) @deutrino Those are two popular communities on Flipboard and a natural place for us to start, but it was not intentional and a good reminder that we should diversify! There are excellent curators around photography, technology, human rights, climate and many other topics in the mix. We hope to add many more in the coming weeks and will be updating the spreadsheet as we go. You can also apply to have your own profile federated by filling in this survey:
deutrino, @Flipboard hey, thanks for the response :)
I went thru and followed a few, now that I know the spreadsheet will be updated I'll come back and have a look at it.
would be great if it could be organized by topic, or have a field with some hint of topic in it, but I understand that might be difficult. my main concern is, having read thru the spreadsheet, I'm hoping new listings won't be added in the middle, which would mean I'd have to read the whole thing over again to find new ones!
dansup, https://loops.video is a very promising ActivityPub platform for short form video, and could use your financial support to help fund and sustain this initiative!
Donations can be made via @pixelfed
https://pixelfed.org/support-our-project
Let’s build a new TikTok that’s federated and better for humanity! Boosts appreciated!
didek, Hey @dansup. Tell me your secret how are you so productive, hm? 😅
dansup, @didek I don't know, I just enjoy coding a lot, its fun
muiiio, I saw this from a fellow Fediversian - it seems smaller instances get better federated if people boost their toots across the #Fediverse?
If so, I'd be grateful if you #boost this toot and help my mini-instance reach farther.
muiiio, @raphaelmorgan Thanks 🙌
muiiio, @markusl @dogwelder It also helps if I follow people, so that's what I've been doing 😊
mike, (edited ) The last 10 days have been a whirlwind for the #fediverse. Important new versions of @mammoth and @ivory launched. Wordpress and Tumblr reaffirmed their commitment to ActivityPub. And Threads and Flipboard began to federate. What does this all mean for the fediverse? How will moderation work? Who will be next to federate?
I asked @Gargron the founder and CEO of Mastodon.
Check out this very special interview which notably is hosted on our #PeerTube instance.
stefano, Many users of the Fediverse joined around a year ago, right around these days.
Many of us arrived on tiptoe, but in no time, we felt at home.
To all of you who have stayed, thank you for being here and happy anniversary!
#Fediverse #Anniversary #ThankYou #CommunityLove #OneYear #MastodonAnniversary #Mastodon
feditips, If you're into books and reading, you might want to sign up for an account on BookWyrm, the Fediverse's alternative to Amazon's Goodreads:
Just like Mastodon, BookWyrm is on many different servers that talk to each other. Find a server to join at:
➡️ https://joinbookwyrm.com/instances
Because it's part of the Fediverse, accounts on BookWyrm can be followed from Mastodon etc.
You can follow the BookWyrm developers at @bookwyrm
feditips, Aahhhh... gotcha!
Hey @bookwyrm or @tripofmice is it possible for authors to have profiles?
EllieK, @feditips @bookwyrm
Thought I should add these hashtags to help readers find the infirmant on your original post.
#amreading #favoritebooks #FavouriteBooks #ReadingCommunity #bookstodon #readersofmastodon
Tim_Eagon, (edited ) Just curious, have you purchased anything from creators who've posted about their creations here on the #Fediverse? Please boost for more visibility.
kayleeserenada, @Tim_Eagon I spend money on people here all the time, probably more than I should. it’s a much more approachable market than the “candy store” model social media has now. Here feels more like a farmers market
funkula, @Tim_Eagon I've never been a sticker collector but when I bought a laptop last year I decided I was going to buy stickers from everyone on here I regularly talked to who had stickers so I could be like "this one is from my friend x" and I'm really happy I did. Should probably go looking for more soon.
dansup, If there are any other #fediverse developers working on a TikTok like platform for the fediverse:
Maybe we can join forces and work together with Loops, and if not, lets keep in touch so we can work on #activitypub compatibility?
I'm already working closely with @stux on #Goldfish, which is shaping up to be a serious fedi TikTok contender!
damon,
stefan, Doing pretty good, how about yourself!
I've heard about Loops and a bit about Goldfish, but looking through the replies, I'm just learning about Vidzy now.
Definitely going to check this out!
digiphile, On the one hand, it’s a good thing that @potus joined the #fediverse https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/2/24119353/joe-biden-threads-mastodon-activitypub-fediverse so that everyone can subscribe to official statements posts without having to use Twitter, AKA X. On the other hand, that namespace should be @potus & be announced with a blog post that shares a strategy for a federal open social web & online Q&A. The void of policy here is frustrating.
digiphile, @tek_dmn Please don't tell me not to worry, even sarcastically. I have have valid concerns about how slowly this has moved and what sclerotic response has meant. That aside, many people in the U.S. government know it exists. Ive been speaking with them, like folks at GSA. https://10x.gsa.gov/posts/2023-selected-projects/ Policy & personnel are at issue.
tek_dmn, @digiphile Concerns may be valid, that doesn't stop the ever-present joke that the government is slow though.
ricmac, Fascinating look at how #ActivityPub is being used by the SFO art museum to help encourage revisiting its cultural objects. Still early days, but you can see the potential here -> “The reason I am telling you all of this is that SFO Museum has written it's own limited ActivityPub server implementation and we have, in fact, created an ActivityPub account – a social media, account – for every object in our collection.” https://orthis.social/@thisisaaronland/112339899293624779
geraldew, @ricmac @arichtman
postscript
I found the email from MONA - from 2015 !
It goes to https://theo.artpro.net.au/login/
and after entering my email I got sent a fresh link and can see my tour again.
Shall I say that again?
2015
At my work, the IT people can't ever manage any web system change without breaking every link, over and over again for as long as we've had web systems.
(I've been there 35 years so that's only part of my time.)
So a tip o' the hat to MONA for this one!
janxdevil, @ricmac I am reminded of the time I was out for a stroll in Tufello, a neighborhood near our apartment in Rome, and I came across a set of tiles in the sidewalk that contained a URL, so I typed it into my mobile web browser and found the cultural heritage museum for the neighborhood. And I’m thinking now about the several million interesting little bits of Rome that are in the collections of a vast array of museums and museum adjacent institutions for which it would be cool to have an ActivityPub account I could follow. I feel a burning need right now for an official Pasquino account, for example.
quillmatiq, "The Verge and 404 Media are building out new functions that would allow them to distribute posts on their sites and on federated platforms – like Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky – at the same time. Replies to those posts on those platforms become comments on their sites."
If you're not looking at @theverge and @404mediaco as social web platforms that are hosting hand-picked content creators with a publisher's infrastructure, you're not paying attention. #Fediverse
https://digiday.com/media/why-publishers-are-preparing-to-federate-their-sites/
wjmaggos, @quillmatiq @theverge @404mediaco
awesome. we have to stop thinking about the fedi as a bunch of decentralized alternatives to the closed platforms, but AP as a social layer on top of the open web. that's where we become a threat to the vulture capitalists. the next step is to integrate the comment handling of lemmy/kbin/reddit. mastodon should do this too.
artlung, @quillmatiq @theverge @404mediaco It's slightly eerie to read this on the same day I read @ricmac referencing when his site ReadWriteWeb integrated social comments (twitter primarily) into his site (Internet Archive Link, 2008: https://web.archive.org/web/20080704160608/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/readwriteweb_integrates_friendfeed_comments.php ) ... I wonder what lessons, if any, could be gleaned.