6 ms·

The Social Smolnet

146 points by aebtebeten 6mo ago

bovermyer 6mo ago
OK, I love that. I'm going to try it out right now.
mentalgear 6mo ago
> with blogs and email, we already had a decentralized social network Yes, coupled with a good WebFeeds solution and we are practically there !
rambambram 6mo ago
Been saying this for years. The www is already a social network.
TimFogarty 6mo ago
> The biggest lesson I take is that "social networks" are not about protocols but about how we use the existing infrastructure. It's also not about scale and breadth. Focused social networks around niches can be a breath of fresh air compared to the social behemoths. I joined a couple of more targeted social networks recently and it seems like there's a far more positive community when people have a shared interest. Fable[1] has a social network for reading and that has a generally positive and cosy vibe. Bryan Johnson's Don't Die[2] app is focused on health and longevity and it has a supportive atmosphere. You'd think that something like Reddit with its many niche subreddits would be able to replicate this. But it seems like Reddit has its own tone that permeates everywhere. It seems like social networks that stay small and focused can maintain a fun and productive environment that degrades over time in larger networks. [1] https://fable.co/ https://fable.co/ [2] https://dontdieapp.com/ https://dontdieapp.com/
- SoftTalker 6mo ago
  > there's a far more positive community when people have a shared interest Even old fashioned web forums and email listservs are still thriving in some niches and work this way. I think reddit fails here because it's too frictionless. Requiring a little bit of intentional action to join or subscribe keeps out a surprising amount of drive-by trolls. HN is pretty big now and has its share of trolls and bots but because it doesn't use social media accounts it's not nearly as bad as Facebook or Reddit.
  - ploum 6mo ago
    is it because I was young? I still believe phpbb forums were the best!
  - ipaddr 6mo ago
    How does reddit use social media accounts?
    - theshrike79 6mo ago
      You can log in/sign up with existing social media oauth credentials and don't need a "reddit account"
- bluefirebrand 6mo ago
  > It seems like social networks that stay small and focused can maintain a fun and productive environment that degrades over time in larger networks I would love to find some good social networks for myself but discovering them is hard and I don't have the free time to dig like I used to to find the hidden gems
iririririr 6mo ago
[dead]
homeonthemtn 6mo ago
Just bring back bulletin boards with mods
- ploum 6mo ago
  try gemini://bbs.geminispace.org
- zikduruqe 6mo ago
  They are still around here and there. https://www.telnetbbsguide.com https://www.telnetbbsguide.com https://telnet.org/htm/places.htm https://telnet.org/htm/places.htm Hell, I got a few rounds of Trade Wars in on one of them a while back.
janalsncm 6mo ago
> with blogs and email, we already had a decentralized social network I’ve been using this social network lately. As someone whose inbox is mainly a dumping ground for receipts and confirmation emails, it feels kind of transgressive to write to and receive emails from a human being. I have a blog and I thought about adding a comment section for substantive discussion. But that’s way more complexity, and lowers the bar for useless comments. Instead, I let other platforms handle it. And if people want to email me directly, they can and have.
bttmchnd 6mo ago
This idea is fascinatingly similar to Dokieli[1], an obscure and barely adopted social frontend previously for ActivityPub protocol, and now for Solid[2]. It's pretty much the same, sans Email: you browse the Web, and if you want interact with some site, you launch Dokieli interface to comment, share, make annotations etc. [1] https://dokie.li https://dokie.li [2] https://solidproject.org/ https://solidproject.org/
m463 6mo ago
"SmolNet, or Smallnet, is a movement focused on small-scale internet networking that promotes low-resource servers and user communities, serving as a counter to the centralized and bloated nature of the World Wide Web. It includes alternative protocols like Gemini and Gopher, emphasizing simplicity and community engagement."
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]

146 points by aebtebeten 6mo ago

OK, I love that. I'm going to try it out right now.

> with blogs and email, we already had a decentralized social network Yes, coupled with a good WebFeeds solution and we are practically there !

rambambram 6mo ago

Been saying this for years. The www is already a social network.

TimFogarty 6mo ago

> The biggest lesson I take is that "social networks" are not about protocols but about how we use the existing infrastructure. It's also not about scale and breadth. Focused social networks around niches can be a breath of fresh air compared to the social behemoths. I joined a couple of more targeted social networks recently and it seems like there's a far more positive community when people have a shared interest. Fable[1] has a social network for reading and that has a generally positive and cosy vibe. Bryan Johnson's Don't Die[2] app is focused on health and longevity and it has a supportive atmosphere. You'd think that something like Reddit with its many niche subreddits would be able to replicate this. But it seems like Reddit has its own tone that permeates everywhere. It seems like social networks that stay small and focused can maintain a fun and productive environment that degrades over time in larger networks. [1] https://fable.co/ https://fable.co/ [2] https://dontdieapp.com/ https://dontdieapp.com/

SoftTalker 6mo ago
> there's a far more positive community when people have a shared interest Even old fashioned web forums and email listservs are still thriving in some niches and work this way. I think reddit fails here because it's too frictionless. Requiring a little bit of intentional action to join or subscribe keeps out a surprising amount of drive-by trolls. HN is pretty big now and has its share of trolls and bots but because it doesn't use social media accounts it's not nearly as bad as Facebook or Reddit.
- ploum 6mo ago
  is it because I was young? I still believe phpbb forums were the best!
- ipaddr 6mo ago
  How does reddit use social media accounts?
  - theshrike79 6mo ago
    You can log in/sign up with existing social media oauth credentials and don't need a "reddit account"
bluefirebrand 6mo ago
> It seems like social networks that stay small and focused can maintain a fun and productive environment that degrades over time in larger networks I would love to find some good social networks for myself but discovering them is hard and I don't have the free time to dig like I used to to find the hidden gems

iririririr 6mo ago

[dead]

homeonthemtn 6mo ago

Just bring back bulletin boards with mods

ploum 6mo ago
try gemini://bbs.geminispace.org
zikduruqe 6mo ago
They are still around here and there. https://www.telnetbbsguide.com https://www.telnetbbsguide.com https://telnet.org/htm/places.htm https://telnet.org/htm/places.htm Hell, I got a few rounds of Trade Wars in on one of them a while back.

janalsncm 6mo ago

> with blogs and email, we already had a decentralized social network I’ve been using this social network lately. As someone whose inbox is mainly a dumping ground for receipts and confirmation emails, it feels kind of transgressive to write to and receive emails from a human being. I have a blog and I thought about adding a comment section for substantive discussion. But that’s way more complexity, and lowers the bar for useless comments. Instead, I let other platforms handle it. And if people want to email me directly, they can and have.

bttmchnd 6mo ago

This idea is fascinatingly similar to Dokieli[1], an obscure and barely adopted social frontend previously for ActivityPub protocol, and now for Solid[2]. It's pretty much the same, sans Email: you browse the Web, and if you want interact with some site, you launch Dokieli interface to comment, share, make annotations etc. [1] https://dokie.li https://dokie.li [2] https://solidproject.org/ https://solidproject.org/

m463 6mo ago

"SmolNet, or Smallnet, is a movement focused on small-scale internet networking that promotes low-resource servers and user communities, serving as a counter to the centralized and bloated nature of the World Wide Web. It includes alternative protocols like Gemini and Gopher, emphasizing simplicity and community engagement."

deleted 6mo ago

[deleted]