4 ms·

I wish there were a way to broadcast "I am a <hobbyist> in <area>" and generate a decentralized forum (i.e. phpbb 15 years ago). Growing up, all online friends

by kody 5y ago

I wish there were a way to broadcast "I am a <hobbyist> in <area>" and generate a decentralized forum (i.e. phpbb 15 years ago). Growing up, all online friends lived hundreds of miles away; as an adult, all my friends have wildly different interests. Nowadays Discord is The Answer but it's not nearly as intimate as a good message board. Maybe that's a function of growing up, but I can't help but feel disillusioned that $someone hasn't come up with a good enough solution for my use case (San Diego retro computing/HAM/etc.) that isn't instantly inundated with real-life politics.

zimpenfish 5y ago
Much as I don't want to promote them (it was a toxic hell working there), Kalido were trying to do this kind of "match interest<X> in area<Y> and generate introductions". https://www.kalido.me https://www.kalido.me
- skinkestek 5y ago
  I tried looking at it briefly and the first thought that hit me is if someone except MeWe[1] is finally trying to recreate the great parts of the social network part of Google+. Would this be correct? Edit: I searched HN and the only reference I could find to Kalido was your comment(!). It looks so promising yet from the comment it doesn't seem like either something I shouldn't want to touch (like Something Awful) or something that wouldn't survive long. Is there anyone here either you or anyone else who wants to share some lore? Edit 2: It seems on a closer look to look more like a weird enterprise cross breed between linkedIn and Google+, not a general social network. Still interested to hear more about it, I feel I am reasonably well informed about such software and yet this has slipped by. [1]: I had great hopes for MeWe, but last I checked they were still lacking a great deal IMO, especially in that they don't seem to see the value of not broadcasting my actual identity to everyone.
  - zimpenfish 5y ago
    > It looks so promising yet from the comment it doesn't seem like either something I shouldn't want to touch I can't speak to the communities on there - I just worked there, never really used it myself (but the founders and others who work there do use it to make connections, I believe.) > more like a weird enterprise cross breed between linkedIn and Google+, not a general social network Yeah, the main thrust is that it's an "AI powered LinkedIn for generating communities" but there was good support for "find people who like <X> near <Y>" and get suggestions if people appeared near you with similar interests ("<A> also likes <X> and is near you in <Y>"). > this has slipped by I don't think they've got around to making a big publicity push yet.
bcherny 5y ago
Have you tried Facebook Groups? eg. a quick search found a Ham radio group in SD: https://www.facebook.com/groups/856599821517281 https://www.facebook.com/groups/856599821517281. More Ham radio groups in San Diego (you can do a similar search for retro computing): https://www.facebook.com/search/groups?q=ham%20radio&filters=eyJmaWx0ZXJfZ3JvdXBzX2xvY2F0aW9uOjAiOiJ7XCJuYW1lXCI6XCJmaWx0ZXJfZ3JvdXBzX2xvY2F0aW9uXCIsXCJhcmdzXCI6XCIxMTA3MTQ1NzIyODIxNjNcIn0ifQ%3D%3D https://www.facebook.com/search/groups?q=ham%20radio&filters... Meetup also has some retro computing groups, though I don't see one in San Diego (why not start one?): https://www.meetup.com/topics/retro-computers/ https://www.meetup.com/topics/retro-computers/ (Caveat: I work on FB Groups)
- numair 5y ago
  > (Caveat: I work on FB Groups) You and your team members do really great work -- it's one of the only reasons many people still use Facebook. If you bail and create something that is more decentralized and web3, but with the same quality and consumer accessibility, it'd be a hit. And, you'll replace one super-voting-share emperor with a large community of crazy but well-meaning stakeholders, who are a lot more fun to work for.
  - bcherny 5y ago
    Hey, that's really kind. Thank you! Web3 is super interesting, and I'm excited to see it grow.
- kody 5y ago
  I have not because I've deactivated my Facebook account and generally detest centralized services and miss the old days of user-run forums, but I'll give the SD HAM group a fair shake. I've had poor experiences with Meetup so I'll pass on that platform. Thanks for the rec :-)
- mikeodds 5y ago
  As much as it’s popular to hate on Facebook, I’ve found the niche groups that form are great.
- 5y ago
mariusor 5y ago
I'm not really there yet, but I'm working on having something close to this possible in the near future. It's not exactly in a forum format, I am partial more to old reddit's interface paradigm, but it will allow a person or a community to easily bootstrap a discussion platform that speaks ActivityPub (the same thing Mastodon does) and that can be plugged into the bigger Fediverse ecosystem. An example instance is at https://littr.me https://littr.me
- cocoflunchy 5y ago
  Quick feedback: that name is not very inviting...
  - mariusor 5y ago
    Thank you. The name doesn't matter that much for me, I wanted to make a pun on littering and it stuck over time. The same content can be found at brutalinks.tech (but I doubt this domain is much better :D)
- rambambram 5y ago
  Quick feedback: I really like your color scheme there. Dark blueish grey as a background, and a regular blue that comes of as pretty bright as the text color, and therefor pops forward and sticks out. Nice variation on the dark mode theme.
grishka 5y ago
My project[1] will have discussion boards in groups at some point. But not exactly "broadcast", it's more like Facebook groups that you join and do things in. [1] https://github.com/grishka/Smithereen https://github.com/grishka/Smithereen
Kaotique 5y ago
I spend a lot of time on forums before and recently I googled those communities again and all has been lost. Forums contained very valuable information and function as a history archive. Too bad most of that has been replaced with temporary solutions that get pushed down timelines never to be seen again.
mitchdoogle 5y ago
It's not decentralized, but doesn't meetup.com satisfy some of those ideas?
- acomjean 5y ago
  meetup.com I think does. I know a couple people that organized groups and myself was a member 10 years ago. Its business model was to charge the organizers of groups a yearly fee, which is nice for the members (to not get ads..). A lot of the groups were quite good and some of the tech ones are still going.
mayregretit 5y ago
Space Twitter is like that if you follow carefully, mute ruthlessly and say things that others in the community agree with enough to follow you back.
jimmygrapes 5y ago
Not affiliated nor currently active, but I want to plug Aether for its moderation and discovery systems. I wish it wasn't a dedicated app, but that's also part of what makes it tick, for now. Trigger warning: there is a blockchain element to it; one of the very few useful cases for it, imo.
- jimmygrapes 5y ago
  Probably should have added a link if I'm gonna shill: https://getaether.net/ https://getaether.net/
  - BugWatch 5y ago
    I like the idea of if, but the ephemerality of it is a biggest-killer there is for myself personaly. I think additional (or better as a default) version would be that all your posts are automatically hidden, unless chosen otherwise, and that the post retention policy at the time of posting of each reply be clearly indicated as well. I cannot stand the apps and systems that, when blocking, just totally purge and puff the conversion out of existence, not just for the block-er, but the block-ed. Both sides have the right to their memories! Maybe Y poured their soul there, and they want to continue having access to those moments; X does not get to have ultimate control over that. If X or Y want to block, then the blocking action should just lock and prevent further replies. (And there's definitely way more nuance possible here that I will be getting into here.) The "nuclear" version would be to hide the blocker's part of conversation of which I also extremely disagree: everyone needs to learn, experience consequences, and evervigilantly practice to stand behind one's words — but those should always be remarkated with he fact that the stances, feelings, opinions expressed then should be considered ephemeral in an ever-evolving state, and not etched in stone. (And even add a short revision note tag function: "This is no longer considered valid, more info here / ask me more". And while I have presented this example here as a private conversation between two people, my thoughts on the group conversations are very much aligned to these. However, I am mainly of the opinion that block as a function should he reserved for the gravest of offences, and that people should (continue to) learn to settle their differences of opinion peacefully and as amicably as possible. Blocking willy-nilly does the exact opposite of it, and just builds the ever-more-impenetrable echo chamber(s) of samethink.

by kody 5y ago

zimpenfish 5y ago

Much as I don't want to promote them (it was a toxic hell working there), Kalido were trying to do this kind of "match interest<X> in area<Y> and generate introductions". https://www.kalido.me https://www.kalido.me

skinkestek 5y ago
I tried looking at it briefly and the first thought that hit me is if someone except MeWe[1] is finally trying to recreate the great parts of the social network part of Google+. Would this be correct? Edit: I searched HN and the only reference I could find to Kalido was your comment(!). It looks so promising yet from the comment it doesn't seem like either something I shouldn't want to touch (like Something Awful) or something that wouldn't survive long. Is there anyone here either you or anyone else who wants to share some lore? Edit 2: It seems on a closer look to look more like a weird enterprise cross breed between linkedIn and Google+, not a general social network. Still interested to hear more about it, I feel I am reasonably well informed about such software and yet this has slipped by. [1]: I had great hopes for MeWe, but last I checked they were still lacking a great deal IMO, especially in that they don't seem to see the value of not broadcasting my actual identity to everyone.
- zimpenfish 5y ago
  > It looks so promising yet from the comment it doesn't seem like either something I shouldn't want to touch I can't speak to the communities on there - I just worked there, never really used it myself (but the founders and others who work there do use it to make connections, I believe.) > more like a weird enterprise cross breed between linkedIn and Google+, not a general social network Yeah, the main thrust is that it's an "AI powered LinkedIn for generating communities" but there was good support for "find people who like <X> near <Y>" and get suggestions if people appeared near you with similar interests ("<A> also likes <X> and is near you in <Y>"). > this has slipped by I don't think they've got around to making a big publicity push yet.

bcherny 5y ago

Have you tried Facebook Groups? eg. a quick search found a Ham radio group in SD: https://www.facebook.com/groups/856599821517281 https://www.facebook.com/groups/856599821517281. More Ham radio groups in San Diego (you can do a similar search for retro computing): https://www.facebook.com/search/groups?q=ham%20radio&filters=eyJmaWx0ZXJfZ3JvdXBzX2xvY2F0aW9uOjAiOiJ7XCJuYW1lXCI6XCJmaWx0ZXJfZ3JvdXBzX2xvY2F0aW9uXCIsXCJhcmdzXCI6XCIxMTA3MTQ1NzIyODIxNjNcIn0ifQ%3D%3D https://www.facebook.com/search/groups?q=ham%20radio&filters... Meetup also has some retro computing groups, though I don't see one in San Diego (why not start one?): https://www.meetup.com/topics/retro-computers/ https://www.meetup.com/topics/retro-computers/ (Caveat: I work on FB Groups)

numair 5y ago
> (Caveat: I work on FB Groups) You and your team members do really great work -- it's one of the only reasons many people still use Facebook. If you bail and create something that is more decentralized and web3, but with the same quality and consumer accessibility, it'd be a hit. And, you'll replace one super-voting-share emperor with a large community of crazy but well-meaning stakeholders, who are a lot more fun to work for.
- bcherny 5y ago
  Hey, that's really kind. Thank you! Web3 is super interesting, and I'm excited to see it grow.
kody 5y ago
I have not because I've deactivated my Facebook account and generally detest centralized services and miss the old days of user-run forums, but I'll give the SD HAM group a fair shake. I've had poor experiences with Meetup so I'll pass on that platform. Thanks for the rec :-)
mikeodds 5y ago
As much as it’s popular to hate on Facebook, I’ve found the niche groups that form are great.
5y ago

mariusor 5y ago

I'm not really there yet, but I'm working on having something close to this possible in the near future. It's not exactly in a forum format, I am partial more to old reddit's interface paradigm, but it will allow a person or a community to easily bootstrap a discussion platform that speaks ActivityPub (the same thing Mastodon does) and that can be plugged into the bigger Fediverse ecosystem. An example instance is at https://littr.me https://littr.me

cocoflunchy 5y ago
Quick feedback: that name is not very inviting...
- mariusor 5y ago
  Thank you. The name doesn't matter that much for me, I wanted to make a pun on littering and it stuck over time. The same content can be found at brutalinks.tech (but I doubt this domain is much better :D)
rambambram 5y ago
Quick feedback: I really like your color scheme there. Dark blueish grey as a background, and a regular blue that comes of as pretty bright as the text color, and therefor pops forward and sticks out. Nice variation on the dark mode theme.

grishka 5y ago

My project[1] will have discussion boards in groups at some point. But not exactly "broadcast", it's more like Facebook groups that you join and do things in. [1] https://github.com/grishka/Smithereen https://github.com/grishka/Smithereen

Kaotique 5y ago

I spend a lot of time on forums before and recently I googled those communities again and all has been lost. Forums contained very valuable information and function as a history archive. Too bad most of that has been replaced with temporary solutions that get pushed down timelines never to be seen again.

mitchdoogle 5y ago

It's not decentralized, but doesn't meetup.com satisfy some of those ideas?

acomjean 5y ago
meetup.com I think does. I know a couple people that organized groups and myself was a member 10 years ago. Its business model was to charge the organizers of groups a yearly fee, which is nice for the members (to not get ads..). A lot of the groups were quite good and some of the tech ones are still going.

mayregretit 5y ago

Space Twitter is like that if you follow carefully, mute ruthlessly and say things that others in the community agree with enough to follow you back.

jimmygrapes 5y ago

Not affiliated nor currently active, but I want to plug Aether for its moderation and discovery systems. I wish it wasn't a dedicated app, but that's also part of what makes it tick, for now. Trigger warning: there is a blockchain element to it; one of the very few useful cases for it, imo.

jimmygrapes 5y ago
Probably should have added a link if I'm gonna shill: https://getaether.net/ https://getaether.net/
- BugWatch 5y ago
  I like the idea of if, but the ephemerality of it is a biggest-killer there is for myself personaly. I think additional (or better as a default) version would be that all your posts are automatically hidden, unless chosen otherwise, and that the post retention policy at the time of posting of each reply be clearly indicated as well. I cannot stand the apps and systems that, when blocking, just totally purge and puff the conversion out of existence, not just for the block-er, but the block-ed. Both sides have the right to their memories! Maybe Y poured their soul there, and they want to continue having access to those moments; X does not get to have ultimate control over that. If X or Y want to block, then the blocking action should just lock and prevent further replies. (And there's definitely way more nuance possible here that I will be getting into here.) The "nuclear" version would be to hide the blocker's part of conversation of which I also extremely disagree: everyone needs to learn, experience consequences, and evervigilantly practice to stand behind one's words — but those should always be remarkated with he fact that the stances, feelings, opinions expressed then should be considered ephemeral in an ever-evolving state, and not etched in stone. (And even add a short revision note tag function: "This is no longer considered valid, more info here / ask me more". And while I have presented this example here as a private conversation between two people, my thoughts on the group conversations are very much aligned to these. However, I am mainly of the opinion that block as a function should he reserved for the gravest of offences, and that people should (continue to) learn to settle their differences of opinion peacefully and as amicably as possible. Blocking willy-nilly does the exact opposite of it, and just builds the ever-more-impenetrable echo chamber(s) of samethink.