4 ms·

>The payoff, though, is the capability of spreading information more widely and more quickly than has ever before been possible; the societal benefit is an exte

by Nadya 10y ago

>The payoff, though, is the capability of spreading information more widely and more quickly than has ever before been possible; the societal benefit is an externality that needs to be preserved. So let it die and use GNU Social [0]. Non-techies don't need to know how to run their own instance and join the federation, but they gain all the benefits of Twitter, better control of their own data, and don't need to rely on a company known for censoring views it dislikes. "Social" can move. See the migration from Digg to Reddit or MySpace to Facebook. Twitter to GNU Social would be grand. ;) [0] https://gnu.io/social/ https://gnu.io/social/

_audakel 10y ago
Not that I like GNU social (get all my news from twitter) but why the down votes? It is a legitimate idea and project, and he gives examples of similar undertakings.
- catdog 10y ago
  Also pointing out existing alternatives which can work without some single big for profit company behind is a very valid counter argument to a claim that Twitter has to be saved.
- striking 10y ago
  Have you ever tried it? It's not very good. Like, yes, it's workable and usable. It's okay. But the user experience is absolutely awful, especially on mobile. Maybe if HN started its own GNU Social server and started using it, we'd see some interesting stuff happen.
  - catdog 10y ago
    > Like, yes, it's workable and usable. It's okay. But the user experience is absolutely awful Sure it needs a bit more love on the UI side but it's not that bad. The Twitter Website is btw. not that great, too. > especially on mobile. I use Twidere [1] for both Twitter and GS, works well. [1] https://github.com/mariotaku/twidere https://github.com/mariotaku/twidere
  - rayalez 10y ago
    I'm working on something like that: http://hackertribe.io http://hackertribe.io (have not launched yet) It will be something like a mix of twitter and reddit, but open source, decentralized, and GNU Social compatible.
    - striking 10y ago
      Just subscribed to your newsletter. Impress me.
    - mxuribe 10y ago
      I currently use gnu social for social posts (only for private family instance for now as a personal beta). And also use matrix.org for IM/chat (also for private family beta). I'm very happy with both. But if you can get your platform to continue to speak "gnu social" AND speak "matrix.org" for chat, I think you would hit a really sweet spot for numerous HN-centric demographics...at least for HN-type users...then make software dead easy to install, and civilian users will follow. I signed up for your newsletter...no pressure, but I (and many others!) really hope you succeed! :-)
  - mxuribe 10y ago
    AndStatus [http://andstatus.org http://andstatus.org] is pretty lightweight, and is both a twitter and gnu social mobile client, rolled into one. While my usage is for my own, private (very small scale/family) gnu social server, so far its pretty good.
  - vacri 10y ago
    As another angle, the name 'GNU Social' has all the catchiness and sparkle of a corporate quarterly accounts report. I can't see non-techies getting excited by it.
    - mxuribe 10y ago
      As a fan of decentralized, distributed, and federated messaging protocols (such as but not limited to gnu social), I do agree that the name is not ideal for non-techies...But i guess it could be worse...bad examples off the top of my head: * Gnu Comrade-gram * Gnu IMeer (like rocketeer, but also not coincidentally sounds like "I am here") * Gnu FreeMess (as in "free messaging"...no not free in beer, but free as in liberty, because it allows for...doh, nevermind!) * Gnu LibPost * Gnu SocMe (short for social media) I'm sure there could be even worse names with more time. :-)
- snvzz 10y ago
  PHP. No.
zanny 10y ago
The nicest part of GNU Social is its federation. It means unlike all the nonstop complaints about 140 character limits or Twitter not using / using too much Bootstrap design sense, anyone can have their own federated server with easily resolvable names like email. So rather than having to raise alarmist blog posts about "saving twitter", any one GNU Social service can go down and the rest will keep on working fine without them. You can finally have a competitive market of social networks - in the same way all cars have the same gas nozzles and take the same oil, its time for all the social media message transports to standardize on an open protocol, the same way instant messaging needs to standardize on Matrix.
- mxuribe 10y ago
  Posting one's own status via gnu social (or mastodon) + IM/chat via matrix.org = awesomely decentralized future success! I think next steps would be for a nice, neat little deployment/installation package for many users (ok, not all non-tech users at first) to be used on one's own website (to have one's own online presence). But even cooler; if all/most news websites/platforms would begin to standardize use of gnu social, then they would win a little more authority (away from silos like twitter). And, it would allow the news sites to "own their own content"...And it would be decentralized to help avoiding putting all eggs in one private company's basket. Either way, I'm with you!
gozur88 10y ago
This. There's nothing special about Twitter.
sanderjd 10y ago
What do I tell my parents to do to join GNU Social, and what do I tell them they should use it for once they do? For instance, here is what I would say for Facebook: "You can join Facebook by going to www.facebook.com, entering some information and clicking the 'Sign Up' button. Then you can search for your friends and family and send them messages and see pictures and articles that they post." I never really had a good answer for the second question in the case of Twitter, and I don't actually have a good answer for either question in the case of GNU Social.
- mxuribe 10y ago
  This is a challenge no doubt. Think back to the earlier email days...there was no central search for "discovering" others' email addresses. Nor was it easy to "host one's own email"; at least not without some time, effort, and tech elbow grease. I believe this sort of thing starts slow; for example, people share their emails at live get-togethers, and introduce other parties virtually via email, etc. I suppose this could help with decentralized social networks like gnu social...and then there are popular instances of gnu social, such as https://quitter.no https://quitter.no And, who knows...maybe for parents, family, or less-tech-savy, less adventurous users, they don';t hop onto this decentralized stuff at first...We leave it only for us...at least for now; to get all the kinks out. Then, later when software is easier to incorporate, install, use, etc., the regular users/masses will follow. As i noted above, they might typically join bigger/established servers, but could still connect with you. I've drastically and optimistically over-simplifying of course. But i think its possible. Hey computers were once considered the domain of geeks only, and now look how many people use them throughout the world. ;-)
- Nadya 10y ago
  >I never really had a good answer for the second question in the case of Twitter, and I don't actually have a good answer for either question in the case of GNU Social. A good number of them have a very minimal simple sign up form: Display Name, Email, Password. As for finding friends/family, that isn't really the point of Twitter I feel? That's what Facebook is for. Twitter is more of a news aggregate or social/niche center. For example, I can follow all my favorite Cosplayers and major ___-con hosts to get updates on Cons and Cosplay. If you had family into racing or cars, they could follow their favorite racers or car enthusiasts, etc. If you want to keep "up to date" for your interests, Twitter is fantastic for that by following leaders or major players in the industry/niche. Which yes, is something GNU Social lacks and I admit that. But Twitter isn't required to fill that role. It just requires people to move to the better option.

by Nadya 10y ago

_audakel 10y ago

Not that I like GNU social (get all my news from twitter) but why the down votes? It is a legitimate idea and project, and he gives examples of similar undertakings.

catdog 10y ago
Also pointing out existing alternatives which can work without some single big for profit company behind is a very valid counter argument to a claim that Twitter has to be saved.
striking 10y ago
Have you ever tried it? It's not very good. Like, yes, it's workable and usable. It's okay. But the user experience is absolutely awful, especially on mobile. Maybe if HN started its own GNU Social server and started using it, we'd see some interesting stuff happen.
- catdog 10y ago
  > Like, yes, it's workable and usable. It's okay. But the user experience is absolutely awful Sure it needs a bit more love on the UI side but it's not that bad. The Twitter Website is btw. not that great, too. > especially on mobile. I use Twidere [1] for both Twitter and GS, works well. [1] https://github.com/mariotaku/twidere https://github.com/mariotaku/twidere
- rayalez 10y ago
  I'm working on something like that: http://hackertribe.io http://hackertribe.io (have not launched yet) It will be something like a mix of twitter and reddit, but open source, decentralized, and GNU Social compatible.
  - striking 10y ago
    Just subscribed to your newsletter. Impress me.
  - mxuribe 10y ago
    I currently use gnu social for social posts (only for private family instance for now as a personal beta). And also use matrix.org for IM/chat (also for private family beta). I'm very happy with both. But if you can get your platform to continue to speak "gnu social" AND speak "matrix.org" for chat, I think you would hit a really sweet spot for numerous HN-centric demographics...at least for HN-type users...then make software dead easy to install, and civilian users will follow. I signed up for your newsletter...no pressure, but I (and many others!) really hope you succeed! :-)
- mxuribe 10y ago
  AndStatus [http://andstatus.org http://andstatus.org] is pretty lightweight, and is both a twitter and gnu social mobile client, rolled into one. While my usage is for my own, private (very small scale/family) gnu social server, so far its pretty good.
- vacri 10y ago
  As another angle, the name 'GNU Social' has all the catchiness and sparkle of a corporate quarterly accounts report. I can't see non-techies getting excited by it.
  - mxuribe 10y ago
    As a fan of decentralized, distributed, and federated messaging protocols (such as but not limited to gnu social), I do agree that the name is not ideal for non-techies...But i guess it could be worse...bad examples off the top of my head: * Gnu Comrade-gram * Gnu IMeer (like rocketeer, but also not coincidentally sounds like "I am here") * Gnu FreeMess (as in "free messaging"...no not free in beer, but free as in liberty, because it allows for...doh, nevermind!) * Gnu LibPost * Gnu SocMe (short for social media) I'm sure there could be even worse names with more time. :-)
snvzz 10y ago
PHP. No.

zanny 10y ago

The nicest part of GNU Social is its federation. It means unlike all the nonstop complaints about 140 character limits or Twitter not using / using too much Bootstrap design sense, anyone can have their own federated server with easily resolvable names like email. So rather than having to raise alarmist blog posts about "saving twitter", any one GNU Social service can go down and the rest will keep on working fine without them. You can finally have a competitive market of social networks - in the same way all cars have the same gas nozzles and take the same oil, its time for all the social media message transports to standardize on an open protocol, the same way instant messaging needs to standardize on Matrix.

mxuribe 10y ago
Posting one's own status via gnu social (or mastodon) + IM/chat via matrix.org = awesomely decentralized future success! I think next steps would be for a nice, neat little deployment/installation package for many users (ok, not all non-tech users at first) to be used on one's own website (to have one's own online presence). But even cooler; if all/most news websites/platforms would begin to standardize use of gnu social, then they would win a little more authority (away from silos like twitter). And, it would allow the news sites to "own their own content"...And it would be decentralized to help avoiding putting all eggs in one private company's basket. Either way, I'm with you!

gozur88 10y ago

This. There's nothing special about Twitter.

sanderjd 10y ago

What do I tell my parents to do to join GNU Social, and what do I tell them they should use it for once they do? For instance, here is what I would say for Facebook: "You can join Facebook by going to www.facebook.com, entering some information and clicking the 'Sign Up' button. Then you can search for your friends and family and send them messages and see pictures and articles that they post." I never really had a good answer for the second question in the case of Twitter, and I don't actually have a good answer for either question in the case of GNU Social.

mxuribe 10y ago
This is a challenge no doubt. Think back to the earlier email days...there was no central search for "discovering" others' email addresses. Nor was it easy to "host one's own email"; at least not without some time, effort, and tech elbow grease. I believe this sort of thing starts slow; for example, people share their emails at live get-togethers, and introduce other parties virtually via email, etc. I suppose this could help with decentralized social networks like gnu social...and then there are popular instances of gnu social, such as https://quitter.no https://quitter.no And, who knows...maybe for parents, family, or less-tech-savy, less adventurous users, they don';t hop onto this decentralized stuff at first...We leave it only for us...at least for now; to get all the kinks out. Then, later when software is easier to incorporate, install, use, etc., the regular users/masses will follow. As i noted above, they might typically join bigger/established servers, but could still connect with you. I've drastically and optimistically over-simplifying of course. But i think its possible. Hey computers were once considered the domain of geeks only, and now look how many people use them throughout the world. ;-)
Nadya 10y ago
>I never really had a good answer for the second question in the case of Twitter, and I don't actually have a good answer for either question in the case of GNU Social. A good number of them have a very minimal simple sign up form: Display Name, Email, Password. As for finding friends/family, that isn't really the point of Twitter I feel? That's what Facebook is for. Twitter is more of a news aggregate or social/niche center. For example, I can follow all my favorite Cosplayers and major ___-con hosts to get updates on Cons and Cosplay. If you had family into racing or cars, they could follow their favorite racers or car enthusiasts, etc. If you want to keep "up to date" for your interests, Twitter is fantastic for that by following leaders or major players in the industry/niche. Which yes, is something GNU Social lacks and I admit that. But Twitter isn't required to fill that role. It just requires people to move to the better option.