Interesting post by @simon@simonwillison.net that Mastodon is just blogs. Except Mastodon’s design runs counter to blog features like domain names and custom designs. I’d say Mastodon is more Twitter-like than blog-like… Which is fine, but not the same as a blog-first platform.
@manton I wonder about this as well. I have my own blog app, but then separately this Mastodon instance. They're definitely not the same, but I think they should veer towards being related, either like how m.b does it or two entities within the same "me" app.
@jesse Yep, I see more of this merging in the future. That's what we're trying to do with Micro.blog, for sure. You should be able to have a blog and still interact with folks on Mastodon or IndieWeb-compatibility blogs.
@manton Hey Manton. Did M.B. for iOS lose the ability to add custom site to post with? When I try to post it says "No verified site could be found for token" and I don't see anywhere in the settings to authenticate my site. Perhaps I'm missing something? Thanks.
@brandontreb Are you using the App Store version (2.3) or the new beta? The beta doesn't have support for external sites yet, but the shipping version does. In the settings choose "WordPress or compatible" and when you post next it will prompt to authenticate.
@manton I suppose it's a distinction without relevance, since most non-technical people wouldn't have a clue what the author is referring to. For them, Facebook is a blog about your fantastic life that goes as well as one could imagine, even better now the festive season is upon us. Twitter is only 1% of the people online, Mastodont even less. The vast majority of the 2 billion people online couldn't care less about blogging, tweeting or tooting.
@manton Unlike Twitter, Mastodon makes me feel as if I need my own blog again (separate from Mastodon). Not exactly sure why that is. Maybe it's just being back in a more open web environment after a decade on monolithic services.
@manton I think that’s what gets me about Mastodon. l don’t really understand exactly why instances need to exist in the way they do other than making it easier to sort of superficially work like Twitter.
@manton When I was looking at Fediverse instances the other day I noticed that one of the biggest platforms within it was Write.as, which are more blog centric. Is there a better/easier way for m.b. to federate/interact or serve as a reader for that part of the ecosystem? Perhaps worth exploring?
@chrisaldrich M.b does federate and act as a reader already, but happy to hear how it could be better!