Thanks for your comment, I'm responding from a different account because the editor is better here. ;-)
I’d just like to see RSS stand alongside ActivityPub, so we can build systems according to the capabilities of each.
I think Mastodon by having native support for RSS 2.0 did the right thing. Very important.
We have RSS 2.0 support in Bluesky thanks to John Spurlock’s work. I worked with him on it and it represents how far I’d go now considering it’s 2023 and we’re in the process of building the open social network we could have built years ago and didn’t because social media lived inside corporate silos.
I’ve asked Bluesky to build this into the platform, and I’d like Mastodon to add the new features to their implementation.
This could be done in a few weeks and we’d have significant interop now. A basis for a lot of new building, in early 2024, on our timetable, rather than Facebook's. I don't like how much attention they're getting, how the open community is looking to them to ratify the open system. This feels wrong.
I would totally expect work to continue around ActivityPub. These are different things, on a different track.
Independent developers would be empowered to create new open systems in a way we’ve never been able to before.
PS: This was written quickly on my iPad in front of the tv on a Saturday night so please forgive any typos and repetition, and I probably left one or two things out too. 😀
i was somehow cc'd because (i think) evan was saying something about RSS, speculating how it could do what ActivityPub was doing and what it's strengths and weaknesses would be.
I wanted to say that wasn't necessary, each protocol has its advantages.
the advantage of RSS is that it's well-understood, there are lots of apps that support it, and it can be implemented in days or weeks.
in fact mastodon has already implemented it.
i'm going to publish a list of all the people i follow in bluesky via their RSS feeds, as a reading list that people can subscribe to in FeedLand, or any other reader that can subscribe to OPML lists (the standard for exchanging addresses in the RSS world).
how did i do this? because we have built RSS support for Bluesky.
we can have a bunch of the benefits of federation right now, and without any need for facebook's support.
we should work with each other, in other words, is what i was saying to evan and others.
i've seen this happen over and over, everyone wants to work with the big company, when history has shown they would have done better to work with each other.
you may hope the big company has good intentions, but they're a big company and they honestly don't have very much respect for us. i've had my nose rubbed in this for my whole career. it was amazing how much better they listened when i had a Harvard business card. ;-)
It doesn't really matter if the internet is around in 100 years, the idea is that the words and ideas should continue to exist in some form. We can still read what people wrote 100 years ago. Same idea.
And Automattic can help by teaming up with some long-lived institutions like universities or insurance companies, to help strengthen the promise that the content will still be available in 100 years.
There is no other organization as far as I know who's trying to solve this problem.
Also I already am working with them on another project so I have some idea about the sincerity and values of the company. I don't think they'd do it as a publicity stunt. I think they mean to do it.
interesting. craig is a very sweet person, i've known him (a bit) for 30 or so years. but have you noticed that all his big investments have his full name on them? there is a hint of ego in that, i think. ;-)
Mastodon should support Markdown formatting. This should actually be defined as a part of ActivityPub. Beyond bold and italics, it would be great to create links to make the content easier to read. https://www.markdownguide.org#Mastodon#ActivityPub
The discussion at #FediForum today is really re-invigorating to me. All of a sudden conversations that we, had back 15 years ago (yes!) and that died on the vine when the big platforms took over, are back and hot!
Many of the same people, older and wiser :-) and with a renewed sense of urgency, too.
This time it might actually happen, because the general tech trends away from big platforms, and new regulatory requirements. Very exciting!
I used my linkblogging tool that posts to a variety of places including mastodon.
I could have spent the time finding out if there is a mastdodon feed, but then someone else would wonder why i didn't use their version of this feed.
I was sure someone would complain.
Welcome to the world of federation that isn't transparent. In a perfect world why should you care where the link was posted. Actually why do you care? Is your preference of social media actually that important? What if I don't care what your preference in social media is? Couldn't you find a more positive way to contribute?
Just some random thoughts that occurred to me. Have a nice day.
A writing system supports Two-Way-RSS if it not only publishes RSS (as they all do), but also accepts RSS as input, so I can write using my favorite writing tools, and publish through your CMS. This is the key to a new writer's web with no lock-in, no silos.