6 ms·

Fediverse Donut Club

39 points by SethMLarson 2y ago

righthand 2y ago
It would be nice if fediverse would develop Bluesky “starter packs” and have some sort of “starter pack” exploratory search index. That to me seems the bigger step in welcoming people to the platform. Though this doughnut day is a nice effort to make people feel more engaged.
- SethMLarson 2y ago
  iirc a "starter pack"-like feature is being worked on, they would no doubt be useful for new folks looking to quickly find their communities in the Fediverse. I think this experiment is a little different though, I want to explore how a simple human desire that doesn't have an "identity", like eating a baked good, can "manifest" more horizontally in a digital space :)
  - righthand 2y ago
    Yes I like it, one of the big criticisms of the fediverse was that it’s “quieter” than regular social media because “friends” didn’t move off the lock-in platforms. To bring new community together is much needed. Though I do get a quicker high from eating a doughnut than making a friend.
- pronoiac 2y ago
  I knew I'd seen something, but I just searched for for it; Fedidevs have something like that - https://fedidevs.com/starter-packs/ https://fedidevs.com/starter-packs/
- vlark 2y ago
  There's this: https://blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs/all https://blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs/all
  - pronoiac 2y ago
    They asked for something like Bluesky starter packs on Mastodon, not Bluesky starter packs on Bluesky.
Cycl0ps 2y ago
I'm curious to see if this will work like the author intends. I feel like this idea works great in an office environment but won't translate well to a digital space. The biggest reason being that there is no 1-on-1 or group interaction, everything is broadcast out to the entire "office" and that influences people's behavior. I like the intent though, and I agree it's something that could be beneficial if it works as hoped. Even if it doesn't this might give the author or someone else the idea of a different version that may work better
- SethMLarson 2y ago
  Author here: Agreed that there's certain dynamics that are different in public social web spaces compared to an office, honestly I am curious if the "online->action" barrier to be overcome with an extremely loose association (in this case: enjoys donuts), so we'll see!
- allenu 2y ago
  Reading the post, I initially thought you literally went and got donuts and drove around to drop them off to local people in your fediverse. That would be a really cool way to meet people for those working from home, but obviously it would be logistically difficult. I agree with you that it probably doesn't quite work the same as a 1-on-1 or group interaction since it's all public. In some ways it reminds me too much of the pandemic era where we'd have a "party" over zoom. It never felt quite as authentic as a real party where you could chat directly with a coworker off to the side and really be honest about without worrying about other people listening in.
citizenpaul 2y ago
Being a very health conscious person I've always had issues with these types of events. Why do these types of events always have to focus on the most unhealthy possible choice for everything? I'm asking a real question, to me it simply makes sense not to indulge in frequent unhealthy behavior but no one else ever seems interested. Is there anyway to redirect these types of events that others have seen work? You may say just don't consume the "thing" which I do but it has an unfortunate side effect. It actually tends to alienate you from the other people participating. The entire thing becomes about "why are you not eating". In the end I just avoid the awkward situation by not going/participating. I love the idea but why does it have to rotate around slowly killing ourselves?
- SethMLarson 2y ago
  As someone who doesn't drink alcohol, I get what you're saying. But I also don't judge others for indulging and similarly don't let how I want to live my life get in the way of attending group events. At bars I order sparkling waters, soda, or a non-alcoholic cocktail and don't make a big deal out of it and it hasn't failed me yet :)
  - citizenpaul 2y ago
    I do the same thing however it is still a burden on yourself for no reason other than people don't like "dissenters" I'd rather focus on hanging out than hiding what I'm doing. There envititable are the "shots" people. (Yeah spit them in your fake drink, or over the shoulder) Its all a bunch of work to pretend to "Fit in" over a very absurd rejection of my harmless preferences.
- notRobot 2y ago
  You make it happen. Someone has to.
  - citizenpaul 2y ago
    My question was "that works" I've tried but no one wants to come to a free healthy food gathering for the most part. Also you essentially cause a "competing rift" against the donuts crowd. Hence seeking advice from HN, apparently fruitlessly.

39 points by SethMLarson 2y ago

It would be nice if fediverse would develop Bluesky “starter packs” and have some sort of “starter pack” exploratory search index. That to me seems the bigger step in welcoming people to the platform. Though this doughnut day is a nice effort to make people feel more engaged.

SethMLarson 2y ago
iirc a "starter pack"-like feature is being worked on, they would no doubt be useful for new folks looking to quickly find their communities in the Fediverse. I think this experiment is a little different though, I want to explore how a simple human desire that doesn't have an "identity", like eating a baked good, can "manifest" more horizontally in a digital space :)
- righthand 2y ago
  Yes I like it, one of the big criticisms of the fediverse was that it’s “quieter” than regular social media because “friends” didn’t move off the lock-in platforms. To bring new community together is much needed. Though I do get a quicker high from eating a doughnut than making a friend.
pronoiac 2y ago
I knew I'd seen something, but I just searched for for it; Fedidevs have something like that - https://fedidevs.com/starter-packs/ https://fedidevs.com/starter-packs/
vlark 2y ago
There's this: https://blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs/all https://blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs/all
- pronoiac 2y ago
  They asked for something like Bluesky starter packs on Mastodon, not Bluesky starter packs on Bluesky.

Cycl0ps 2y ago

I'm curious to see if this will work like the author intends. I feel like this idea works great in an office environment but won't translate well to a digital space. The biggest reason being that there is no 1-on-1 or group interaction, everything is broadcast out to the entire "office" and that influences people's behavior. I like the intent though, and I agree it's something that could be beneficial if it works as hoped. Even if it doesn't this might give the author or someone else the idea of a different version that may work better

SethMLarson 2y ago
Author here: Agreed that there's certain dynamics that are different in public social web spaces compared to an office, honestly I am curious if the "online->action" barrier to be overcome with an extremely loose association (in this case: enjoys donuts), so we'll see!
allenu 2y ago
Reading the post, I initially thought you literally went and got donuts and drove around to drop them off to local people in your fediverse. That would be a really cool way to meet people for those working from home, but obviously it would be logistically difficult. I agree with you that it probably doesn't quite work the same as a 1-on-1 or group interaction since it's all public. In some ways it reminds me too much of the pandemic era where we'd have a "party" over zoom. It never felt quite as authentic as a real party where you could chat directly with a coworker off to the side and really be honest about without worrying about other people listening in.

citizenpaul 2y ago

Being a very health conscious person I've always had issues with these types of events. Why do these types of events always have to focus on the most unhealthy possible choice for everything? I'm asking a real question, to me it simply makes sense not to indulge in frequent unhealthy behavior but no one else ever seems interested. Is there anyway to redirect these types of events that others have seen work? You may say just don't consume the "thing" which I do but it has an unfortunate side effect. It actually tends to alienate you from the other people participating. The entire thing becomes about "why are you not eating". In the end I just avoid the awkward situation by not going/participating. I love the idea but why does it have to rotate around slowly killing ourselves?

SethMLarson 2y ago
As someone who doesn't drink alcohol, I get what you're saying. But I also don't judge others for indulging and similarly don't let how I want to live my life get in the way of attending group events. At bars I order sparkling waters, soda, or a non-alcoholic cocktail and don't make a big deal out of it and it hasn't failed me yet :)
- citizenpaul 2y ago
  I do the same thing however it is still a burden on yourself for no reason other than people don't like "dissenters" I'd rather focus on hanging out than hiding what I'm doing. There envititable are the "shots" people. (Yeah spit them in your fake drink, or over the shoulder) Its all a bunch of work to pretend to "Fit in" over a very absurd rejection of my harmless preferences.
notRobot 2y ago
You make it happen. Someone has to.
- citizenpaul 2y ago
  My question was "that works" I've tried but no one wants to come to a free healthy food gathering for the most part. Also you essentially cause a "competing rift" against the donuts crowd. Hence seeking advice from HN, apparently fruitlessly.