howtpiMar 6

I'm an engineer and garage tinkerer from a country where the internet is slowly being boxed in. Structured forums — those quiet, organized places where we used to share deep knowledge — are dying. Replaced by chats and algorithm-driven feeds.

So I wrote a kind of manifesto. A proposal for a decentralized, minimalist database standard for text-based communities. Something that outlives platforms, servers, and owners.

I'm here to find people who still believe in forums. Let's talk. 🧵👇 (continued in thread) #Decentralization #Forum #DatabaseDesign

Show threadhowtpiMar 6

The problem isn't just censorship. It's also that local platforms are becoming monopolized, dumbed down, paywalled. For those of us who love well-structured information — engineers, writers, researchers — it's getting harder to find a home.

Chat apps kill context. Your question scrolls away in minutes. Search is broken. Algorithms ignore niche topics because they don't generate clicks.

I miss the old web. Not for nostalgia, but because it worked for thinkers. (continued in thread)

Show threadhowtpiMar 6

My idea is simple: a distributed, text-only database. A universal structure — forums, sections, threads, posts, comments, ratings — that anyone can host, sync, and display however they want.

You store what matters to you. You share with others. You set filters — or trust someone else's. No central owner. No single point of failure. Just text and connections.

The format matters less than the data. Let's standardize the data, and let a thousand clients bloom. (continued in thread)

Show threadJonMar 7

@howtpi I wonder if this is something that could be built on top of IPFS https://ipfs.tech/

I've only just started looking at it myself so that's a genuine question not a recommendation.

IPFS: Building blocks for a better web | IPFS

Open protocols to store, verify, and share data across distributed networks.

IPFS
Show threadhowtpi
@jon Of course, this can be implemented on ipfs, for example, Wikipedia was already distributed there when it was blocked in Turkey. I repeat - it does not matter how this information is transmitted, even with the help of carrier pigeons or Morse code. The main thing is that this single forum should have a common and understandable structure for everyone, gathering into a single whole from various places and using any possible protocols and technologies.
Mar 9 at 3:15pmWeb
Show threadSionnach Ó DobharMar 13
@howtpi @jon ngl this reminds me of some of the ideology behind image boards back in the day, although they all long ago got centralized by people desperate to be the king of their own little internet fiefdom... i was always a fan of the actual format and technology behind imageboards like 2ch/4chan/8chan but we all know how well those went.... a decentralized protocol for text forums sounds like it could solve a number of these problems but its worth noting the whole "create your own board" aspect of 8chan devolved quickly into nazi pedo hellscape... as per usual moderation seems to be the bottleneck here
Show threadJonMar 13

@dobhar_sionnach @howtpi

In a distributed peer to peer system "moderation" becomes almost impossible and you really need to look at "filtering" at the per user level.

Going back in time NetNews (NNTP) had a very similar issue. It wasn't(isn't) peer to peer more distributed in the Mastodon sense so server ops could choose not to replicate particularly abuse boards but "hellscape" is also a relevant descriptor of much of that system.

But it might be worth looking at the filtering systems NNTP client used to try and surface relevant content and suppress the worst since these operated at the user end not in a central server.

This doesn't speak to the document format as that's all spoofable being self posted. Email (SMTP) is I think the relevant old protocol to avoid replicating here which has a lot of "useful if true, but easily lied about" fields in its headers.