BertocqNov 8, 2022
Simon Willison

Wrote up an analogy that I've been finding really useful in helping me (and I think others) understand Mastodon:

Mastodon is just blogs

https://simonwillison.net/2022/Nov/8/mastodon-is-just-blogs/

(Extended version: Mastodon is just blogs and Google Reader, skinned to look like Twitter)

Mastodon is just blogs

And that’s great. It’s also the return of Google Reader! Mastodon is really confusing for newcomers. There are memes about it. If you’re an internet user of a certain age, …

Nov 8, 2022 at 3:53pmWeb
Show threadSimon WillisonNov 8, 2022
(I'm using the word "just" here deliberately for effect, despite very much agreeing with @timbray that it's a word that should be avoided as much as possible: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2022/11/07/Just-Dont )
Just Don’t

ongoing by Tim Bray
Show threadGeorge HotellingNov 8, 2022

@simon perfect timing, I was rereading a toot I had sent trying to help someone and the work “just” was jumping out at me and I was considering deleting and reposting.

I need a browser add-on to warn me before I post with that word.

Show threadSimon WillisonNov 8, 2022
@george one of my favourite ever pull requests is this on by @rixx fixing a huge swathe of words that minimize involved difficulty in the Django documentation https://github.com/django/django/pull/11482
Fixed #30573 -- Rephrased documentation to avoid words that minimise the involved difficulty. by rixx · Pull Request #11482 · django/django

Obviously (heh.) this patch does not remove all occurrences of the words in question. Rather, I went through all of the occurrences of the words listed below, and judged if they a) suggested the re...

GitHub
Show threadrixxNov 8, 2022
@simon @george Haha oh god the flashbacks. This was a pain for everybody involved! Net positive, I think, but man. Poor Adam and @carlton, reviewing this monster!
Show threadCarlton Gibson 🇪🇺Nov 8, 2022
@rixx @simon @george I remember reviewing that one! 😅
Show threadkauerNov 9, 2022
@carlton @rixx @simon @george The rain it raineth on the just
And also on the unjust fella
But more upon the just because
The unjust steals the just's umbrella...
Show threadDave GuarinoNov 8, 2022
@simon I like your thinking here! Let me push back just slightly on the Google Reader point: I think you're right to say one *could* use Mastodon like Google Reader, but I also think that omits that... it only works if everyone else you choose to follow also takes that tack? And my honest sense is that most folks are defaulting to using it like Twitter. That said, I really love the possibility you open up for me of... what would an ActivityPub experience need to be like that made the most natural usage to be like that of Google Reader.
Show threadSimon WillisonNov 8, 2022
@allafarce I've been thinking about how I might subscribe to regular RSS feeds using Mastodon - strikes me I could hack together something that creates and maintains a private account for each additional feed I subscribe to, so I could follow those accounts without visibly ripping off anyone's content in a confusing way
Show threadNelson MinarNov 8, 2022
@simon @allafarce I've been looking for something like that too (to syndicate my linkblog to Mastodon). @darius has a neat project for this: https://friend.camp/@darius/107089477268598511
Darius Kazemi (@[email protected])

I've released version 2.0.0 of my RSS to ActivityPub converter! This now provides functionality I'd hacked in to https://rss.friend.camp - it requires OAuth 2.0 authorization for someone to create a new AP account for an RSS feed. I used to run this service "in the open" but was overwhelmed by spammers. Now the admin of a Mastodon (or Pleroma or any federated server that is an OAuth 2 provider) can provide this converter as a service solely to members of their instance. https://github.com/dariusk/rss-to-activitypub/releases/tag/v2.0.0

Friend Camp
Show threadNelson MinarNov 8, 2022
@simon @allafarce my understanding is his goal is pretty close to yours: https://friend.camp/@darius/109304335429708732
Darius Kazemi (@[email protected])

Oh right and the ultimate point of this is you can do stuff like make a list of blogs you follow and use your Mastodon/Hometown as a feed reader. So for example, I have a "Subreddits" list full of updates from the "weekly top posts" feed of subreddits I follow. And another list for blogs that friends write, etc.

Friend Camp
Show threadDave GuarinoNov 8, 2022
@nelson @simon Oh cool, thanks Nelson! I'll look into this. (I'm slightly bummed I can't interact with that post on mobile app) @darius
Show threadDarius KazemiNov 8, 2022
@allafarce @nelson @simon Simon, I'd be happy to get on a call with you and show you around my super-simple feed thing. It creates an activitypub actor for feeds, tries to be very lightweight (sqlite backend!) and is scoped to individual servers and also does explicitly does not rehost content. Maybe we could brainstorm on improvements to it, or what a new project could look like.
Show threadDavid Lord Nov 8, 2022
@simon if only I could see the actual RSS feeds I follow in my timeline.
Show threadSimon WillisonNov 8, 2022
@davidism I've been thinking a bit about that https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon/109309045324907389
Simon Willison (@[email protected])

@[email protected] I've been thinking about how I might subscribe to regular RSS feeds using Mastodon - strikes me I could hack together something that creates and maintains a private account for each additional feed I subscribe to, so I could follow those accounts without visibly ripping off anyone's content in a confusing way

Mastodon
Show threaddecibyteNov 8, 2022
@simon and now I'm inspired to also serve my blog as ActivityPub and let the comments and likes, that I haven't gotten around to implement yet, also be based on that.
Show threadPuneeth BanisettiNov 8, 2022
@simon This was a super informative blog (pun intended! :P)
Show threadStefan TilkovNov 8, 2022
@simon Great post, very useful analogy
Show threadthe roamerNov 8, 2022

@simon

Interesting conceptual perspective on what we do in a place like mastodon: a complex form of interconnected blogging.

And yes, in terms of managing the network, the dual options of either growing existing servers or adding new servers should enhance scaleability (and resilience) for the overall network. Though presumably coordination costs between servers will put limits on second option? (Not my field.)

Show threadMike McCullochNov 9, 2022
@simon well put.
Show threadeingyNov 9, 2022
@simon I was thinking this yesterday as well! https://mastodon.cloud/@eingy/109298549393447455
eingy (@[email protected])

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] for me, it’s more like old school blog hosting (content is decentralized)+ rss feeds (can add anyone’s feed from anywhere) + Google reader (platform to have conversations with friends based on that feed)

mastodon.cloud
Show threadJocelynephiliac Nov 24, 2022
@simon @elazar spot on. Reading through the activitypub spec, it was very clear that its more a replacement for RSS than an actual social media.