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nelson
nelson
@nelson@shrimp.starlightnet.work  ·  activity timestamp 4 days ago

I suggest all of you check out the Versia Protocol, it is very interesting and I feel it has a lot of potential to become a standarized protocol.

It is ActivityPub/Fediverse-styled, in the sense that it operates under the idea of small pockets of users and informations that sync up on eachothers' data through simple communication

Some of the stuff I think it does better than ActivityPub:

  1. Enforces hard endpoints for data fetching and backfilling
  2. Enforces the ability for instances to change domains, as well as users to change handles
  3. Has a server-to-server communication protocol for error logging and handling protocol implementation issues
  4. Does not use JSON-LD, instead, opts in for a much simpler extension system that simply defines a set of values under an object
  5. Implementing it is a very streamlined and straightforward experience, where most of the features you want (such as emoji reactions, likes, replies, etc.) are already part of the core standards as optional extensions.
  6. Instead of having several ways to describe an object containing text and media, it simply has all of them under the same umbrella, with a couple of configurable options that serve mostly as tools for figuring out how to display an incoming "Note"
  7. Encryption and signing are enforced.

#activityPub #fediverse #protocol #versia

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Poliverso - notizie dal Fediverso ⁂
Poliverso - notizie dal Fediverso ⁂
@notizie@poliverso.org replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 days ago

@nelson A protocol's success is determined by two factors:
1. The number of users: Activitypub took 10 years to build a significant user base.
2. The ability to attract investors: AT Proto wouldn't exist if a "big tech bro" like Jack Dorsay hadn't sponsored it with the investment funds he was already in contact with. I'd like to point out, however, that Jack Dorsay wasn't as successful when he tried to sponsor the excellent Nostr protocol (which is extremely interesting, too).

This is why the excellent Zot protocol, already used by Hubzilla (and which far surpasses both Activitypub and AT Proto), has never been successful and will never be. The spread of the Zot protocol has certainly not been helped by the fact that the only working product that supports it, Hubzilla, is as intuitive as the control console of a nuclear submarine and as ergonomic as a pair of underwear woven from dragon-scale chainmail.

Now I wish Versia all the best and I also appreciate the fact that there is a bridge with Activitypub (even if I haven't figured out how it works), but in my opinion, the only way to have a chance is to create a software platform that is designed to develop an Android and iOS app that increases its reach among the public.

GitHub

GitHub - versia-pub/activitypub: ActivityPub translation layer/bridge for Versia Server

ActivityPub translation layer/bridge for Versia Server - versia-pub/activitypub
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nelson
nelson
@nelson@shrimp.starlightnet.work replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 days ago

@notizie@poliverso.org

  1. I agree with this point, but also, why make anything then? why make new tools and new technology if it's not going to have the same amount of users right away? I dislike this line of thinking.
  2. I really do not want people to keep trying to monetize social networking, social networking is something that should not be privatized as it is quite literally one of the pillars of modern society and the modern internet. I couldn't care less about for-profit investors looking to monetize. Plus, you're factually wrong, Jack Dorsey actually launched the project as a way to extend Twitter, and ended up abandoning it because he seemingly did "Not believe in it." Most (if not all) of Bluesky/ATProto was made from the ground up without his help at all.
  3. The Zot protocol looks absolutely awesome, I want to read more about it! Is it like Scuttlebug or something?

Now that I think about it, the main issue with ActivityPub and Zot is that both of those protocols failed to be sold to the people, more than to investors. Bluesky is easy to sell as simply "A better Twitter that is open source and independent", meanwhile the Fediverse kept its complicated terminology and to this day, no regular person can really decypher what the word "Fediverse" means without having actually read the theory on how the protocol works, a fatal flaw in my opinion.

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Poliverso - notizie dal Fediverso ⁂
Poliverso - notizie dal Fediverso ⁂
@notizie@poliverso.org replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 days ago

@nelson I'll try to answer you specifically.

> I agree with this point, but also, why make anything then? why make new tools and new technology if it's not going to have the same amount of users right away? I dislike this line of thinking.

Creating new things is important, but it's naive to think they can spread just because they're new or because they work well.
Technological creativity and the diffusion of a technology are like the processes of genetic diversification leading to speciation: the latter is a fortuitous event made possible by the former.

>. I really do not want people to keep trying to monetize social networking

I'm not talking about monetization as a goal, but about funding to make a platform's advertising sustainable (and accelerate its diffusion).

> Plus, you're factually wrong, Jack Dorsey actually

Dorsey was the giant planetary mass that made Bluesky's gravitational slingshot possible. Without Dorsey, Bluesky would have fewer users than Minds.

> The Zot protocol looks absolutely awesome, I want to read more about it!

libera.site/help/developer/zot…

> Now that I think about it, the main issue with ActivityPub and Zot is that both of those protocols failed to be sold to the people, more than to investors.

The "protocol" is not a necessary component of a social network, but only of a decentralized platform. It's not the protocols or philosophies that need to convince the public, but the products: frontends and apps.

> and to this day, no regular person can really decypher what the word "Fediverse" means without having actually read the theory on how the protocol works, a fatal flaw in my opinion

It's not a flaw in the Fediverse, but it's a flaw in the so-called Fediverse evangelists...

> The moment you say "server" to a regular person, it's the exact moment they completely lose the thread.

Very true!

> That's simply not something you see happen on bluesky at all! people just think of it... as the app you install and use.

I'm not surprised: having a lot of money allows you to produce good corporate communications.

Help: Zot Protocol

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julian
julian
@julian@activitypub.space replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 days ago

Re: I suggest all of you check out the Versia Protocol, it is very interesting and I feel it has a lot of potential to become a standarized protocol

Hm. Any apps currently using it?

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