Discussion
lighting bonfires
just a status report on #BonfireSocial 1.0.1 support, #Fedicat has basic functionality, can browse, like, boost, follow, bookmark, post without attachments. Avatars only show up sporadically, like after a boost.
I started looking into suitable open-source ActivityPub-powered applications that can serve as digital platforms for IRL communities such as cities, neighbourhoods and municipalities.
In my own local community, a substantial bit of online discourse and engagement happens on Facebook, so we do have a benchmark ;-)
1/4
"sabato 24 gennaio mobilitazioni in tutto il mondo per difendere la rivoluzione del Rojava e il progetto del confederalismo democratico. Non è un appello rituale, né una convocazione simbolica. È una richiesta urgente di solidarietà mentre Kobane è di nuovo accerchiata, mentre la linea del fronte si avvicina e l’esperimento politico più avanzato mai nato in Medio Oriente rischia di essere schiacciato sotto il peso combinato di eserciti regolari, milizie jihadiste e cinismo geopolitico."
osservatoriorepressione.info...
Amazing. W (I kid you not): A bunch of VC-funded European Big Tech assholes attempting to rewrite history by erasing the federated European alternatives that already exist to create their own centralised, surveillance-ridden X clone.
Same shit, different flag.
And I’m sure the usual fools will flock to it the moment it’s ready.
Fuck these people.
#EU #bullshit #W #BigTech #surveillance #capitalism #peopleFarming @nicolasvivant https://colter.social/@nicolasvivant/115929963687586528
@aral@mastodon.ar.al @nicolasvivant@colter.social i thought it was a meme 🫠
btw also bluesky is lobbying quite hard in EU afaik
Bonfire has just released a new version, which includes initial support for Mastodon API endpoints (interested how this will work, as Bonfire has sooo many more post control options)
And…initial work on an ActivityPub C2S API!
https://bonfirenetworks.org/posts/bonfire-1-0-1-building-momentum/
In a new analysis by Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl, we trace Big Tech's fingerprints on the Digital Omnibus proposals - a major deregulation of EU digital laws including the GDPR and the AI Act. They are helped in this attempt by the Trump administration and the European far right.
Alongside a truckload of exciting updates, we're super thrilled to be featured in the latest update from @Bonfire 🔥
Check out the blog for a teaser on something new we'll be working with Bonfire to provide soon 👀
https://bonfirenetworks.org/posts/bonfire-1-0-1-building-momentum/
#SocialWeb #SocialMedia #Fediverse #Mastodon #Bonfire #DigitalCommunity
RE: https://mastodon.social/@Edent/115916125220435439
If you like your sci-fi grounded in present day reality, I urge you to pre-order this. Sublimation is sublime.
@Edent@mastodon.social love your book reviews, i have in my list "How to speak whale" and "The bees" because of you, but i'm tempted to read this one first now 😊
An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private) 😫
posts about ICE and Bluesky today illustrate a deep issue about how we design tools…
online, we typically engage with *sources* not specific content - - going to a webpage, shows you whatever content currently is there
- following someone on social media, we see whatever they post
- merely being on a platform with algorithmic content promotion means you see whatever they want you to see, that is, potentially the platform in its entirety is the “active channel”
this makes one’s ability to select and restrict channels the most fundamental design feature there can be:
so it matters whether I can only restrict a specific source or also a *source of sources*…
(blocking a server includes future accounts yet to be created, block lists of individual accounts that I can import do not etc.)
….there are fundamental design choices here that have some relationship to centralization vs. “decentralization” but they’re not fully captured by that distinction, even though they really matter to our experience
the rather reductive way we’ve conducted debate about “decentralization” has obscured that a little, I think
Hello @ivan@bonfire.cafe, I have been testing Bonfire using this instance as a live environment, and it seems that the alpha .41 has problems threading activities.
If a user posts a reply to another user that's never been fetched, after fetching remote activities the parent reply shows up on the creator's profile but not in the thread.
Also, Bonfire does not progressively backfill context in a thread, nor will it search for new context if no one on the server follows anyone involved.
@PetroleumPredator@indieweb.studio yeah it's quite an outdated version, we are shipping the 1.0.1 which solved the bugs you are experiencing
@ntnsndr@social.coop happy to chat, i've been part of it for most of the time...
@mayel@sunbeam.city @Stacco@social.coop
I've been giving lots of feedback to the @Bonfire@bonfire.cafe guys. They're taking things up SUPER fast. It's been absolutely incredible.
I recommend folks try out Bonfire, because it's honestly shaping up to be the one stop shop platform for social networking, consuming news, eventually handling calendar events, etc.
They just let me know about the new Git they just put up about Bonfire Widget suggestions. What would YOU want to see in Bonfire?
that's a great splash screen to start a documentary
Adam Curtis: Can't get you out of my head (free on youtube)
#davidGraeber
How many Fediverse software use Markdown as its default text format — rather than HTML?
I think both PeerTube and Lemmy are Markdown native — rather than HTML.
Anything else?
@reiver@mastodon.social bonfire does
test 123
Has anyone ever given a #TED talk that could mentor me? I'd like to know how to submit a presentation that actually interests them, how to do the presentation, and what comes after.
There Is One Fediverse. There Are A Thousand Ways To Join It.
When I showed my sister-in-law my toot.wales feed, she gave the response I believe most people genuinely feel: "It is lovely! If only there was an app." She does not want a protocol or a lesson in the Fediverse; she just wants a simple way to connect with her community. That is why we have built the Tŵt app. It is a straightforward, bilingual, and jargon-free front door for Wales on the social web. Here is why we are choosing clarity over complexity to build a better social experience.
Recently, I was sitting with my sister-in-law talking about social media. She has that nagging, familiar concern about corporate social: the feeling that we are all just products in someone else’s machine. I pulled out my phone, showed her my toot.wales feed, and started explaining how she could “save the web site to her home screen”.
She listened politely, then said the thing I believe most people genuinely feel:
“It’s lovely! If only there was an app…”
She does not want a “protocol”. She does not want to hear about “the Fediverse”. She just wants that feed on her phone without a homework assignment.
When I started toot.wales, I knew this instinctively. In the early days, I even paid a developer to fork a couple of open-source apps and hard-code them to our server. It was expensive and eventually I simply couldn’t sustain it, but I never lost sight of that goal.
Now, working with our brilliant friends at the Newsmast Foundation, we have finally delivered it: a simple, opinionated, “people-first” social app.
The biggest design decision we made was the simplest: the app is hard-locked to toot.wales.
There is no “pick a server” screen or “find your instance”. There is no friction. This is not “a Mastodon app”; it is the Tŵt app, purpose-built for our community.
I’ve spent years building tools like StartHereSocial to help people navigate the “maze” of the Fediverse. However, for toot.wales, I realised the answer should not be a better map. It should be an inviting, open front door. If you want to join us, you should be able to step right in.
Alongside the app, I built a promotional web site at croeso.toot.wales. Croeso is Welsh for “welcome”, and that is exactly what it provides. It strips away the jargon. There is no talk of federation or decentralisation. Instead, it offers clear language about why this is “Better Social”.
It is joyful and unthreatening on purpose. We are not here to preach at you to quit X or Facebook, and we are not shaming anyone. We are simply inviting you to try something different. If you like the vibe, stay. If not, that is fine too. People stay because it feels good, not because they have been talked into a boycott.
Some people see the Fediverse as one giant global town square. I see it differently. For me, it is a constellation of communities.
When people tell me “mastodon.social is too big”, my gut feeling is no, your server is too small. Communities only grow when we intentionally nurture them. It is not up to a company in Germany to grow Tŵt. That’s on us, it’s our problem.
I want everyone in Wales (and the world!) to have a social option that is not drowned in surveillance and ad-tech. To get there, we have to design for clarity rather than complexity.
We have made some very deliberate choices to keep the app “human-shaped”:
The Tŵt ecosystem is already thriving because Welsh media organisations took a leap of faith into the open web. Groups such as Nation.Cymru, Golwg360, Swansea Bay News, and Wrexham.com did not wait to see which way the wind was blowing. They just started building, and are long-time social web citizens.
Whether it is weather updates from North Wales Storms or local sports teams, these partners make the app feel “live” from the moment you log in. The app offers two pathways to consume this content, via Channels you can drop in and out of, or Starter Packs you can follow to bring them into your feed.
For those already comfortable with the Fediverse, using a web interface is fine. But for everyone else, “just install the web site” is not meaningful advice.
People want “the app”. They want to tap an icon and feel at home, rather than feeling like they are doing a technical chore.
If you run a community and like our approach, please feel free to use it. Whether it is the onboarding flow, the “Better Social” messaging, or the focus on language equity, you are welcome to use my work as a template. If we want a healthier internet, we need more communities feeling empowered to build their own front doors.
The Tŵt app is our doorway. It is built for Wales and the Welsh, at home and abroad. It is simple, it is ours, and I cannot wait for you to try it. We plan on launching on Dydd Dewi Sant, a special day for Cymru, in the meantime you can get a preview at https://croeso.toot.wales/en/less-clutter-more-cwtch/
I've just sent the first end-to-end-encrypted #MLS messages from one #Emissary instance to another.
News from around the USA really has me down, so it's important to celebrate the little wins 🎉
And, there's still so much to do. But with equal quantities of luck and caffeine, I can screencast some early prototypes for you before too long.
I believe #E2EE is important for the #Fediverse because it will give us more ways to use this network, and expand what people can do here.
RE: https://jaz.co.uk/2026/01/13/there-is-one-fediverse-there-are-a-thousand-ways-to-join-it/
Love this collab between toot.wales and @newsmast to make joining the Fediverse simpler 🙏🏼
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