4 ms·

What concerns me is the emphasis on open-source and decentralization on the front page. They are marketing the features like this is a software product, which i

What concerns me is the emphasis on open-source and decentralization on the front page. They are marketing the features like this is a software product, which is not how one should market a social network. If they ever want this to appeal to anyone but alpha-geeks, they should emphasize how the unique features make the _experience_ on Appleseed better than it is on Facebook/other networks.

michaelchisari 16y ago
This is a common concern, and I understand where it comes from, but I actually disagree that we should be marketing directly to users Instead, I think the most important thing is to become the de facto foundational software for anyone who wants to build a social networking site. Do you want to set up a social network just for cat owners? How about one for orchestra students around the world? Or a fan club of the Anime series, Cowboy Bebop? Then we want you to run Appleseed. It being open source is a huge benefit for that. And the distributed features are gravy. Or icing. Depending on your tastes. Users may not ever know what Appleseed is, and that's fine. In other words, Appleseed isn't the next big thing, but we want the next big thing (or things) to be built using Appleseed.
- wmf 16y ago
  If I'm a cat owner and a Cowboy Bebop fan, would I have two profiles? Would I choose one site to "own" my profile? In this Ning-like scenario, what's the value of the distributed protocol you spent so much time on?
  - michaelchisari 16y ago
    You would choose which site best represents your identity. Say that's the Cowboy Bebop site, so your identity becomes wmf@cowboybebop.example.com You can now login to lolcats.example.org using that identity. So it acts as a single sign-on. There are other planned features, like profile linking and cloning so that you can have multiple identities tied to a single user, but that's how it works for now.
    - wmf 16y ago
      I don't think it's a good idea for a person's identity to be anchored in one particular community, because people join and leave communities over time. In a generic system like Facebook, I can cut all ties with high school if I want to.
      - michaelchisari 16y ago
        That's where linking, cloning, and profile forwarding come in.
        wmf 16y ago
        Intriguing, although I couldn't find any docs about those concepts.
        michaelchisari 16y ago
        I'll write something up for Appleseed's wiki when I get a chance, for the most part they're original concepts that are being worked out within Appleseed. But basically, they work similarly to what their names imply. Linking, Cloning: I have two accounts, on a.com, and b.org. When the two are linked, actions taken on a.com are duplicated on b.org as my b.org identity. Friends on b.org are not made aware of the existence of my a.com identity. There are subtle differences between linking and cloning that are still being worked out. Profile forwarding: Works just like email forwarding. I leave one site, and move to another, and at the original site, I leave a forwarding address.

michaelchisari 16y ago

This is a common concern, and I understand where it comes from, but I actually disagree that we should be marketing directly to users Instead, I think the most important thing is to become the de facto foundational software for anyone who wants to build a social networking site. Do you want to set up a social network just for cat owners? How about one for orchestra students around the world? Or a fan club of the Anime series, Cowboy Bebop? Then we want you to run Appleseed. It being open source is a huge benefit for that. And the distributed features are gravy. Or icing. Depending on your tastes. Users may not ever know what Appleseed is, and that's fine. In other words, Appleseed isn't the next big thing, but we want the next big thing (or things) to be built using Appleseed.

wmf 16y ago
If I'm a cat owner and a Cowboy Bebop fan, would I have two profiles? Would I choose one site to "own" my profile? In this Ning-like scenario, what's the value of the distributed protocol you spent so much time on?
- michaelchisari 16y ago
  You would choose which site best represents your identity. Say that's the Cowboy Bebop site, so your identity becomes wmf@cowboybebop.example.com You can now login to lolcats.example.org using that identity. So it acts as a single sign-on. There are other planned features, like profile linking and cloning so that you can have multiple identities tied to a single user, but that's how it works for now.
  - wmf 16y ago
    I don't think it's a good idea for a person's identity to be anchored in one particular community, because people join and leave communities over time. In a generic system like Facebook, I can cut all ties with high school if I want to.
    - michaelchisari 16y ago
      That's where linking, cloning, and profile forwarding come in.
      - wmf 16y ago
        Intriguing, although I couldn't find any docs about those concepts.
        michaelchisari 16y ago
        I'll write something up for Appleseed's wiki when I get a chance, for the most part they're original concepts that are being worked out within Appleseed. But basically, they work similarly to what their names imply. Linking, Cloning: I have two accounts, on a.com, and b.org. When the two are linked, actions taken on a.com are duplicated on b.org as my b.org identity. Friends on b.org are not made aware of the existence of my a.com identity. There are subtle differences between linking and cloning that are still being worked out. Profile forwarding: Works just like email forwarding. I leave one site, and move to another, and at the original site, I leave a forwarding address.