Tom Ootes

RE: https://indieweb.social/@alineblankertz/116744239041938294

Good read! @alineblankertz sketches the example of @pixelfed, which is basically an Open Source duplicate of Instagram. Without all the tracking problems, and data extraction, but wíth the problematic tendencies that platforms have which are aimed at gathering as many followers as possible.

I do love hanging around on Pixelfed, but it's design could be much more interesting.

Jun 15 at 7:58amWeb
Show threadTom OotesJun 15

@alineblankertz @pixelfed I think we should start sketching outlines of what we would want from a social medium before we start building it.

It's very tempting to just rebuild what we already know open source, but the adventurous part is in designing new dynamics, maybe aimed at connecting people locally, or to invoke interesting conversations between members of a platform.

By just rebuilding what we know from tech bro's, that's not going to happen.

#socials #pixelfed

Show threadTom OotesJun 15
@alineblankertz @pixelfed by the way, are there people here hanging around on Pixelfed as wel? 😎
Show threadAndré 🇪🇺🇳🇱Jun 15
@tomootes @alineblankertz @pixelfed I have an account but find it extremely hard to find interesting accounts to follow. It could be me but I haven’t been able to follow hashtags.
Show threadSandor Spruit 🇪🇺🇳🇱🇺🇦🇨🇦Jun 15
@andre @tomootes @alineblankertz @pixelfed Maybe try the web interface? It’s not always easy to find all functionality in mobile apps.
Show threadAndré 🇪🇺🇳🇱Jun 15
@sandorspruit @tomootes @alineblankertz @pixelfed I will definitely give that a try! Thanks for the tip!
Show threadOpen RiskJun 15

@tomootes @alineblankertz @pixelfed

Its an interesting puzzle / catch 22, because the possibilities of alternative open source social platforms are endless but the resources to explore this vast space are simply not there.

I think the reason people stick to the bigtech patterns is the certainty that "those work" for large numbers of people. Replicating known features is lower cost and mostly engineering while designers generally don't work for free.