What am I doing? microblog.crossingthethreshold.net

@crossingthethreshold what is @gruber doing recommending a social silo more like!

@warner @crossingthethreshold @gruber I'm watching Glass closely. We do not need another silo, but we do need more social networks. Also, there is stuff that Glass is doing that we can apply to making Sunlit better.

@crossingthethreshold From helping an entire conference start the day with meditation to signing up to the new shiny social media, within the space of a day. 😂

@manton my partner is an artist and Glass doesn’t appeal as it over-focuses on photography.

For artists & others who care about indie social, I’m still recommending Mastodon or Pixelfed.

There’s a longer discussion here about how I’d feel more comfortable if Mb 1) open sourced* the server and/or 2) fully participated in the ActivityPub fediverse.

*a non commercial open license like Prosperity or IndieCC might be a fit.

@simonwoods Ah, paradoxes. A good night’s sleep works wonders. I have just deleted Glass from my phone, and I never actually got to the end of the waitlist…so I’ve no idea what I am missing.

@manton I find Mb very blog / notification channel focused. So updates get pushed to Masto (which I use, thank you!), but this chat here is not connected.

I am not suggesting that you SHOULD do this, but essentially become a first class member of the Fediverse.

I should be able to use an AP client — like the new Mastodon iOS one — and use my Mb account anywhere. Including posting, which of course would mean supporting AP in addition to Micropub.

@manton I suppose there are different types of silos (degrees of silo-ness?) but Glass makes it really easy and obvious how to export every photo from your account. I don’t think a well-defined self-contained network is inherently bad, and in fact makes many things more obvious and easily understood. Conceptual simplicity is a good thing.

@manton Even the fact that Glass — for now, at least — only supports Sign In With Apple as the only authentication is a win for simplicity (with obvious tradeoffs for portability and universal access).

@gruber @manton Another nice thing. They have a great export feature should you ever decide to leave.

Manton, would you consider it less of a silo if you could have your own domain?

@gruber @manton Any thoughts on how likely this is going to get acquired within, say, 3 years?

@crossingthethreshold I am both happy to see potentially better social platforms exist and content with never joining another one for the rest of my life. Happy where I am, happy with my digital life being constrained and focused, and happy to contribute from a well-considered distance.

@fahrni To me, micro.blog is like cooking in your own kitchen. Glass is like eating at a restaurant. There’s a place in the world for both.

@crossingthethreshold great POV, though I'd likely fall for a music sharing app 🎶🎸🎺

@fahrni @gruber Definitely, domain names would be great. In order, my feature requests would probably be: full web version, domain names, API, and Mac version. I think they could add all those things without compromising the simplicity and iOS UI.

@gruber @manton I was surprised when I saw that as the only sign-in method, as I believe that’s the first time I ever have.

@manton @fahrni @gruber Agreed, and I would add an iPad version to this list as well, though admittedly I’m surprised they don’t already have one.

@boris Currently we push replies to Mastodon if you @-mention a user on Mastodon. There is also the limitation that not everyone on Micro.blog has (or wants) ActivityPub enabled. As for compatibility with the Mastodon iOS app... I assume that uses the Mastodon API, which isn't ActivityPub at all.

@manton How would Sign In With Apple work with domain names? I think supporting domain names is incredibly fiddly.

@boris I guess in summary: I'm not sure that going all-in on Mastodon is right for Micro.blog. But if there are other things we can do to improve the ActivityPub support we have, I will definitely look at that. Thanks!

@gruber Agreed about varying levels of silo-ness. Also, because Glass just shipped, it's too early to say what limitations are by design and what they'll eventually get to, so I'm trying not to overreact to version 1.0.

@manton That’s a solid list.

The web client is going to be the most important bit. As much as I’d love to have a native Mac client that’s the least important client behind Web, Android, and Windows if you were to prioritize based on user base size.

@manton like most of the major AP apps, it uses OAuth. I’m playing a little loose with the Masto/AP distinction — there is enough capability that various front ends and clients interoperate around the basics.

I understand your reluctance, but it makes Mb a bit of a stand-alone. You’re at the “center” of a bunch of IndieWeb stuff … but as it stands, there aren’t viable IW federated servers. AP’s federation is the closest we have.

Anyway, thanks for the discussion!

@gruber Nice perspective, John.

@manton @gruber I’m fascinated to watch how another team does subscription/no ads/no algorithm. And having experienced the first year of Micro.blog as we found our footing, I was fine with signing up for a year of Glass.

@crossingthethreshold glad my provocative questioning led to @gruber & other big brains clarifying that silos are on a spectrum of open-ness (with even M.b not even at full tilt). Still, with my starving artist budget and preference for video > stills (already sub Vimeo), I'll sit out Glass and look forward to @manton gaining inspo for Sunlit.