Chris Trottier

The Verge just interviewed Evan Prodroumou. That is, @evan, Research Director at @swf, and co-author of #ActivityPub. And he shares some big news:

• The W3C is working on end to end encryption for ActivityPub
• The W3C is also working on group standards that have interoperability across the #Fediverse
• Evan predicts a big 100M+ user network joining the Fediverse, and it’s not Threads

https://www.theverge.com/the-vergecast/618904/electric-cars-robotaxis-activitypub-fediverse-vergecast

@fediversenews

Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.

And to be sure, I’m not against mutual aid. What I am against is spam.

This person has not verified who she is – or even if the profile picture is hers. Additional research on her name states she is a scammer with a record of grifting. I am therefore skeptical that any donations will help anyone in need.

Folks, please be cautious with mutual aid requests. Yes, people sometimes need help. But people also lie.

@fediverse

(Medien: 1)

Hashtags do not replace groups.

No one moderates them. They’re easy to hijack and spam. And there’s simply no permanence to them.

Which is why, if you actually want to discuss something, it’s better to tag a group. For example, if you want to be part of an actual PC gaming community on the Fediverse, it’s better to tag @pcgaming@lemmy.ca than #pcgaming.

This needs to be common knowledge because people new to the Fediverse do not know about groups. Hell, I’d say people who have had Mastodon accounts for years still don’t know. And that’s a shame.

@fediverse

Yep, you can post from a #Pixelfed account to a #Piefed community!

This is a big bloody deal to me, and I have lots of use cases for that ability!

Basically, this means my #Pixelfed account doesn’t have to be devoted to a single topic anymore! I can put all my images on one account and sort them according to community—which can also be used by others!

Here’s the original Pixelfed post:

https://pixelfed.social/p/atomicpoet/798415830074783205

Here’s how it exists on Piefed:

https://lemmy.world/post/25860736

And the screenshot is how it appears in the #Lemmy app @voyagerapp.

@fediversenews

(Medien: 1)

Just discovered Emissary. It’s a social web toolkit that’s “designed for end users, app creators, and hosting admins”. It’s a highly customizable and scalable ActivityPub-enabled server software with few dependencies.

Only two known servers currently use #Emissary, but one of them is highly prominent: bandwagon.fm.

This has lots of potential if you want to build federated social web software with a specific use case scenario in mind.

Here’s the website:

https://emissary.dev/

Here’s their Git repo:

https://github.com/EmissarySocial/emissary

And here’s their kanban board:

https://trello.com/b/Ir9dDTdu/emissary-dev

@fediversenews

NeoDB now has five active servers!

All of them allow new sign-ups. The newest server, neodb.kevga.de, is aimed at #German speakers.

If you’re unfamiliar with #NeoDB, it is a media database and social platform that allows users to review art and media. It is similar to #GoodReads, #RateYourMusic, and #LetterBoxd. #Bookwyrm does something similar, but its specifically made for books.

NeoDB has a public user count of 20,713 with 1,980 MAUs.

https://neodb.net/servers/

@fediversenews

A Pixelfed non-profit is coming soon!

@dansup, the creator of #Pixelfed, has announced progress with the formation of the Pixelfed Foundation.

He’s already set up a website for it.

https://pixelfed.foundation/

@fediversenews

It’s true. I’m retiring @fediversenews, and have created @fediversenews as its successor.

I used to post constantly to that #Friendica group. However, I am incredibly pleased with the moderation toolkit of #Piefed, so it only makes sense to use that software instead.

For those who don’t know, Piefed is a #Reddit-like platform – similar to #Lemmy and #Mbin – but I feel it has amongst the best community management tools of the federated Reddit-like platforms. So I am thrilled to be migrating an old community over to Piefed.

Oh yeah, and I’m looking for moderators. So if this interests you, let me know.

RE: https://piefed.social/post/488665

#Elgg is getting an #ActivityPub plugin!

Now if you’re not familiar with Elgg, it’s one of the first ever open source social media platforms. It launched all the way back in 2004 and was founded by @ben and Dave Tosh.

I remember installing Elgg 15 years ago, playing around with it for a bit, and not doing much with it because there wasn’t anyone I knew who used it. So ActivityPub will definitely extend its network effect.

https://github.com/RiverVanRain/activitypub/wiki/Welcome#groups

Since quote posts are coming, here’s a great blog post by @hildabast that dispels some myths about them, namely:

• There is no evidence quote posts increase or decrease the spread of misinformation
• The primary form of social media incivility is not quote posts; it is replies and hashtags
• There is no evidence quote posts increase swarms or pile-ons

https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2023/01/12/quote-tweeting-over-30-studies-dispel-some-myths