What is Reddit's opinion of
Diaspora?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
100 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
Diaspora has been around for years. It’s free, open source, decentralized, no user tracking, no ads, chronological timelines. I love the hell out of it, but I completely failed to convince family and friends to try it.
i feel like this shit should be at the top of their webpage instead of the bottom.
Social network integration Use diaspora* as your home base to post to your profiles on other major social services. This way your friends will still be able to keep in touch with what you’re up to, even if they’re not yet on diaspora*. diaspora* currently supports cross-posting to your Twitter, Tumblr, and WordPress accounts, with more to come.
got to it in under 30 seconds. but really had to dig. still no fucking clue what this service does.
git page: wtf. blank ass shit.
from git page: got to here: https://diasporafoundation.org/
ok... a little better. still uttterly useless. the OP description of this post is more useful a than anything on the git or web page splash.
knowing that and going in, i still am not sure it's even useful for the point i made at the top. who is the target audience? neck beards with bromances?
> if website owners are responsible for all of the content that users post, then it effectively kills any possibility of running a website -- of almost any kind -- at scale.
Frame the problem that way presupposes that "owners running a website" is the only category of solution and thus misses the deeper issue.
The real problem here is the concept of providing these services at scale with a single website and a single owner (i.e., a single point of control) to begin with. Instead, these things need to be built as federated, open protocols instead of proprietary, centralized platforms. It is way too dangerous to have one corporate owner with autocratic control and the ability to censor anything on the platform at whim.
Folks -- especially newer and/or non-technical ones -- have a weird "when all you have is a browser, everything looks like a website" mentality and forget that the Internet was built to facilitate decentralized, and even peer-to-peer, communication. There exist all sorts of protocols, such as USENET, IRC, and bittorrent, that represent a more ethically sound design than handing huge amounts of control to e.g. Facebook or Google and hoping for the best. There are even federated social media protocols now, such as Diaspora to replace Facebook.
Thanks for replying, it sounds reasonable, but I'm talking about a fully decentralized network, much like Diaspora, but reddit-esque. Also, I'm not sure if you guys wanna go the advertisement route, what does that mean and how is that different than the shithole that reddit has become? What are your plans? Does your site embrace bitcoin? How will it raise money? Will you include bots? What about shills and vote manipulations? So many questions, sorry.....
Avoiding Facebook or G+ has nothing to do with "extremism". It's a simple choice of those who don't want to use their privacy as a currency. There are social networks which don't require privacy toll to use them: https://diasporafoundation.org
> I don't think Facebook or Google are "evil" companies,
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Facebook and Google's control over media MUST be abolished in favor of decentralized, censorship-resistant systems, such as Diaspora or a hypothetical DHT-based "usenet 2.0".
It's advertising seen.life, a social site that promises 'nicer' policies than Facebook. But it's still a privately held corporation unifying user data under a single database and corporate ownership.
Want privacy and security with social networking?
https://diasporafoundation.org/
The user owns his/her data. Can be moved from node to node or deleted outright without hassle. Decentralized: no centralized data storage and computational system under one organization. As anonymous as you want. Entirely secure.
I think he should use Diaspora or GNU social instead of Twitter. Or, at least, use TOR on Twitter, nowadays they block your account if you use TOR unless you enter your mobile phone which is stupid. I lost my account that way and I'm totally OK with that. I prefer my privacy over a Twitter account.
Maybe we should have hundreds of different facebooks thru the diaspora project that can link to each other. That way if one becomes a problem we can leave them without losing contact with friends. https://diasporafoundation.org/
When he talks about a nationalized facebook, I think of a decentralized facebook that tried to make the rounds
https://diasporafoundation.org/
It's not collectively owned but it's less corporately owned so that's ok? Too bad it'll never catch on
I shared this video on Diaspora and a friend of mine told me:
>"OMG, I couldn't see it entirely. Now I understand better why you're vegan but I can't understand how I'm not. I feel ashamed for partially supporting this and this is going to change right now. I'll show it to my boy and hope that he'll see it in the same way and change something."
I have no words to describe my feelings now.
If what matters most to you is groups, consider Friendica or Diaspora. I'm not sure how good their compatibility is with Mastodon, haven't really used either, but Friendica advertises support for ActivityPub, the protocol Mastodon uses.
Usually servers running Gab Social or Soapbox, the fork that runs Spinster, advertise that on their about page. It's also quickly visible if you "view source" on their webpage, they'll say something like "To use the Gab Social web application, please enable JavaScript." Fortunately, I just haven't seen that many examples in the wild.
diaspora* is definitely around! We're pushing out steady releases and have a very vibrant community. The project moved to full community ownership 2 years ago and with no large scale media attention, we are free to build an awesome decentralized social network.
Our statistics have 50+K measured unique users steadily using the pods, but it's impossible to say the real amount of users which is likely a little higher. Anyone can run a diaspora* pod.
No, it's not a ghost town ;) And yes, it's full of geeks, which is great :)
https://diasporafoundation.org for project home page http://pods.jasonrobinson.me for stats and pod list http://podupti.me for another podlist
It was a thing before G+, and it's still a thing.
https://diasporafoundation.org/
G+ was an idiot-proof port of Diaspora. If you have friends who are interested, make it live for you.
Hello,
Have a look at :
- Diaspora
- Gnu Social
- Closer to twitter than Facebook but Mastodon might interest you too
I think distributed networks are the answer, rather than sites. A distributed communication forum has no centre that is vulnerable to attack.
There is already one such program - Diaspora.
You made me think of the Diaspora Social Media project. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_(social_network) Won't replace reddit/voat, but will take care of the facebook content controls. https://diasporafoundation.org/
Haven't looked at it in a while, so no idea how far along it is.
>Diaspora is a nonprofit, user-owned, distributed social network that is based upon the free Diaspora software. Diaspora consists of a group of independently owned nodes (called pods) which interoperate to form the network. As of March 2014, there are more than 1 million Diaspora accounts.
Try Diaspora* ( https://diasporafoundation.org ), it's a decentralyzed network worth looking. I'd recommend Disroot Diaspora* ( https://pod.disroot.org ). Give it a try :-), oh, and also, take a look on Disroot itself ( https://disroot.org ).
Direct alternatives to Twitter would be something like GNUSocial which is federated instances where all of them can talk to each other, but are you can host yourself. Facebook's alternative would Diaspora.
If you want to hack on some popular and very well structured + led open source project that endorses good code architecture, testing and other good principles, check out diaspora*: https://diasporafoundation.org
It's one of the most active Rails projects currently and thus is a good addition to any CV to have submitted some work there.
A mi tampoco me gusta facebook, pero bueno... 1) Puedes ver lo que se publica en las páginas de los círculos (y en twitter) sin tener cuenta en estas plataformas. 2) Para mí la participación en el círculo es en las asambleas, grupos de trabajo, etc., no en las redes sociales (ahí compartes noticias, etc.). 3) Creo que se está trabajando para que todos los círculos tengamos una web. 4) Hay alternativas como Diáspora (https://diasporafoundation.org/), aunque la veo poco factible a corto plazo para esto (la mayoría de la gente tiene facebook). 5) Me gusta reddit, pero creo que es algo más "caótico". 6) Muchos círculos tienen capacidades limitadas, no podemos esperar que estén en Facebook, Twitter, G+, etc.
Creo que, en este momento, y sin perder de vista estas preocupaciones, tenemos que centrarnos en los debates clave de Podemos (ético, político, organizativo). Paciencia y saludos compas.
They already have that and it looks pretty great. More than a million users to date. Of course it will never be as popular as Facebook precisely because of the lack of exploitative data methods. People just love gawking at each other's lives.
Allemaal goeie punten waar ik me in kan vinden. Maar het klinkt toch alweer heel anders dan al die doemdenkerij over het einde van het vrije internet. Het zal allemaal wel meevallen, zeker hier in Nederland, juist omdat de lidstaten dus zelf die gaten moeten gaan invullen.
Misschien gaat het de niet-commerciële, decentrale alternatieven zoals Peertube of diaspora* nog wat populairder maken. Die zijn immers vrijgesteld van deze maatregelen, omdat ze geen winst maken. En dat zou juist goed nieuws zijn voor de internetvrijheid.
Compelling private website operators to host whatever crazy bullshit people can come up with is completely untenable (and probably unconstitutional). Treating the internet as a utility is called net neutrality. Treating individual websites as a utility is absurd.
The actual way to deal with this problem is decentralized, open source social networks like Diaspora, but for various reasons that probably won't happen.
That blurb says nothing about storing stuff on the blockchian. In fact, the right to rescind access implies private infrastructure, rather than a public block-chain.
Edit: sounds more like daispora*.
There are some alternatives.
The idea is be able to host your own data, or use someone you trust with the freedom to move on elsewhere if you want.
These systems support federation, which means they can talk to each other.
More people can abandon facebook and join diaspora > diaspora* is completely different from most networks that you use. It is completely decentralized, with no central “hub”. Even so, it’s very easy to connect and communicate with people.
From the wiki > Diaspora is a nonprofit, user-owned, distributed social network that is based upon the free Diaspora software. Diaspora consists of a group of independently owned nodes (called pods) which interoperate to form the network. As of March 2014, there are more than 1 million Diaspora accounts.[3] > The social network is not owned by any one person or entity, keeping it from being subject to corporate take-overs or advertising. In September 2011 the developers stated, "...our distributed design means no big corporation will ever control Diaspora. Diaspora* will never sell your social life to advertisers, and you won’t have to conform to someone’s arbitrary rules or look over your shoulder before you speak."[4] > Diaspora software is licensed with GNU-AGPL-3.0.[5] Diaspora software development is managed by the Diaspora Foundation, which is part of the Free Software Support Network (FSSN). The FSSN is in turn run by Eben Moglen and the Software Freedom Law Center. The FSSN acts as an umbrella organization to Diaspora development and manages Diaspora's branding, finances and legal assets.[6]
https://diasporafoundation.org/
What is this about deleting /bin? I've never heard of Diaspora doing that.
Edit: It's almost a mix between twitter and facebook, only that It's libre and open source
I think the sub is great. I also think it exists at the whim of the people who run reddit and is subject to their putting code in that suppresses this movement. ( as a coder, it is not hard )
I am thinking something like Diaspora but I am not trying to lean anyone. I am just floating the question about something more sustainable. I would hate to see this go tango uniform like myspace.
Hello, I have two questions for you:
1- How does this platform address censorship better than an open-source, decentralized solution such as Diaspora*?
2- More importantly, what are your motivations for creating such a platform? Are you a non-profit organisation? Will you monetize the platform or rely on donations?
Because of their privacy policy. I totally prefer other sites like Diaspora*. I think you'll find more information on r/privacy.
This is the kind of argument that sounds silly for most of people, but it is actually a really important thing we all should care about.
What about contributing to Diaspora, an existing open source social media server that is built on Rails?
Diaspora has a clean architecture, strong test culture and strict style policies - making it a good project for new developers.
https://diasporafoundation.org / https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora
I would donate to projects that are working to provide alternatives to entrenched proprietary (and privacy-invasive) interests.
diaspora* to counter Facebook
mediagoblin to counter media hosting sites (Youtube, flickr, etc)
This is really great that you're doing this.
There already is. It's called Diaspora, and it's a distributed social network. That means that no one central entity controls the data.
But, a social network needs people to be members. And people are happy with Facebook, because everyone is on it and it works "well enough", which is all you need.
Google+ lived before it was Google+, and it's still alive now.
G+ was only ever a Diaspora clone without the stuff that makes Diaspora amazing.
https://diasporafoundation.org/
​
If only this became the facebook killer it has the potential to be...
In terms of security front though, a lot of people have came up with some neat ideas, my favorite one is diaspora project, which is a decentralized social network. They own large number of servers across the globe (called pods) and we choose where to store our data. No pods host large amount of data so the damage is limited in the event of an hack attempt.
​
In this damned age of social media crap, Diaspora does it right, and tends to have better quality content than anything else. Not all pods are connected to each other and tend to be very isolated communities due to how it is all decentralized. This is a bonus, for the obvious reasons of countering "ultimate control", but decentralization can also be a downside for several reasons. If a pod is run by someone who favours certain topics (eg; science), you're going to find more interesting content relating to that without the crud you would expect from a shitshow like facebook.
Either way, it's a fantastic way to use something "similar" to facebook, but it comes without the tolerance of accepting fake news and idiotic nonsense that plagues mainstream social media.
You mean like Diaspora with a subscription?
That's been around for years, it is free, and nobody even knows it exists. So ... try not to do that when you build yours.
>Will people pay for it ? Would you pay for it ?
Anyone discussing and planning for a criminal act. So expect law enforcement as your first subscribers.
https://diasp.org or any other Diaspora pod. Open source, decentralized, ad-free, no user tracking, no real name requirement, no recommendation algorithms, per-post privacy, the list goes on. Only reason it’s not popular is because most people can’t be arsed to sign up and convince friends and family to do the same.
More info about diaspora here: https://diasporafoundation.org/
It's been done for years. It was called Diaspora, and has been around since Facebook's inception. Blame all the users for consistently choosing closed source, closed walled solutions and not giving a damn about the information they share.
I love the fact you're using Streama. I've been watching that project for close to 2 years now, and I hope that it can one day replace Plex for me.
You may want to look into using Matrix (Riot.im/Synapse/coturn) for chatting/instant social media. Also, *diaspora or GnuSocial may fit your needs as a facebook replacement.
Good luck! I'll be watching your blog (and secretly hoping there's an RSS feed :-P)
Of course it is possible.
The biggest hurdle to making a successful social media app isn't the technology. It's getting the users. What is your social media app going to do that no other app does or can do?
Keep in mind, Facebook employs an army of bright engineers that will incorporate whatever it is your app does into facebook before you could secure round A funding.
You need something truly disruptive to the social media in a way that can't be replicated to be successful. Diaspora had the right idea, they wanted to decentralize social media (and, holy shit, they still exist). It's something that Facebook cannot do because Facebook's revenue model is built on holding all the data.
this already exists: https://diasporafoundation.org/
IIRC, a diaspora server can be run by anyone, and they all federate with each other.
A user can join an existing server and or host their own
Maybe this? https://diasporafoundation.org
> Diaspora (currently styled diaspora* and formerly styled DIASPORA*) is a nonprofit, user-owned, distributed social network that is based upon the free Diaspora software. Diaspora consists of a group of independently owned nodes (called pods) which interoperate to form the network. As of March 2014, there are more than 1 million Diaspora accounts.
> The social network is not owned by any one person or entity, keeping it from being subject to corporate take-overs or advertising. In September 2011 the developers stated, "...our distributed design means no big corporation will ever control Diaspora. Diaspora* will never sell your social life to advertisers, and you won’t have to conform to someone’s arbitrary rules or look over your shoulder before you speak."
> Will someone with an ethical string in their body please build another social network that takes effect already
maybe I understood your question wrong but here are alternatives...
You could try Diaspora.
EDIT: I just realized that my post sounds rather fleeting, so allow me to summarize some of the key advantages Diapora has over Facebook:
- You can select what server/Diaspora-based site ("pod") holds your data and profile or even host them on your own.
- Despite the above, you can connect with other users of Diaspora regardless of what pod they or you registered with.
- Diaspora runs on free-as-in-libre and open-source software: you can study its source code in its entirety, alter the software, and redistribute the software whether or not you modified it.
- Pods are managed by communities rather than a corporation.
- No advertisements, data collection, or any other catch.
- Instead of one colossal friends list, you can sort your contacts in "aspects," or categories of friends and associates that you can set your posts' visibility to, as well as sort posts by.
- If a government or any of its organizations unjustly subpoenas one pod's servers, the other pods, along with the data they hold, remain untouched.
- Not all users wil be inconvenienced if a single pod breaks down, has its servers destroyed, or is tapped by a nefarious entity.
> Remember that stupid "social network" Diaspora? They got global coverage about their Facebook alternative. I don't think they ever even finished the product, let alone had anyone use it.
Sometimes it is better to go look for something's existence before declaring it does not exist.
Google is your friend!
Few years ago Diaspora successfully used Kickstarter.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mbs348/diaspora-the-personally-controlled-do-it-all-distr
https://diasporafoundation.org/
It was supposed to be an open "facebook" with full control over your datas...
So it is both a website AND a personal webserver (which is a bit more than just a website)
Friendica can help you but If you want to be focused, just let a message on these social networks explaining why do you use what you're using and an e-mail. Eg: If I only want to use Diaspora, I'll post in the other social networks that I'll use diaspora, why and a contact e-mail (I suggest you to use
myemail [@] server [.] orgformat to avoid SPAM).How old are your students? if they're kids, maybe you could introduce them minimalism as a challenge and how important is to donate and share things. That also can make them more organized and realize the importance of being focused in what are they doing in the moment (my mother is a teacher and she let their students meditate 5 min before and after her classes but it depends of the age).
If you have any questions, just let me know ;)
While you're thinking about it, you might want to experiment with some social networks that DO give you privacy. Set up a Diaspora account, for example, and learn what the features are there and how to use them.
(You can even use Diaspora to post to your FB account, if you want.)
Then, if you do give up FB, you can tell your contacts "hey, I'm not on FB anymore, but you can find me over here on Diaspora (or whatever social network you prefer) instead."
The best part of this, someone has already done this decentralized reddit idea without bitcoin and guess what, everybody ends up congregating on the same server based on region/language. It may as well be a centralized service because all you're doing is creating overhead.
Check this out: https://diasporafoundation.org/
It's a free social network where you keep your rights regarding your information. I think it's supported by the german CCC which has some anarchistic tendencies ;)
is a nonprofit, user-owned, distributed social network that is based upon the free Diaspora software. Diaspora consists of a group of independently owned nodes (called pods) which interoperate to form the network. As of March 2014, there are more than 1 million Diaspora accounts.
The social network is not owned by any one person or entity, keeping it from being subject to corporate take-overs or advertising.
Have you heard about Diaspora? It's a social network that is decentralized, free, and not owned by some stupid corporation. You can be as private as you like there. You can even run your own pod if you want.
> Diaspora tried to take on facebook, tried to get people to pay for something they'e using for free. People are already paying for these, just getting them to care where the profits go. I think these are easier, more achievable targets.
this Diaspora?are you trying to say that Diaspora tried to get people to pay for social networking? I don't follow.
> opposing social network
I've looked into that. I understand the concern about Facebook and all that, but the bottom line is that my subjective use of Facebook outweights that objective concerns for me. It's an easy way for me to keep touch with real life people that I never see in real life. Yes, it's just an image but there's still a human intelligent behind it.
For examples of what alt internet-based social network might look, there's ello and diaspora*. I really like the idea of diaspora but it's a bit of drag trying to find like-minded people or people you know because it's still small.
https://aralbalkan.com/notes/ello-goodbye/
I'd be happier to see Diaspora* or something else decentralized take off... Diaspora had rather disappointing start security-wise, dunno how they're doing these days, but apparently as a project it's still active.
I haven't taken the time to give it much of a chance yet... But there is also diaspora. It was started a few years ago when Facebook was having some privacy settings issues. It's goal is to be a decentralized social network.
You mean like diaspora*?
Sure. We will continue to build networks built on open philosophies. That's what gave us the internet in the first place.
And yes. It is here.
I presume what you're asking about is widespread adoption. This is trickier. Facebook is popular because it is popular. It has reached critical mass and reached demographics that don't even know what the internet is. Measure any other networks against that and they will always seem insignificant.
To expand a bit on how diaspora* works: the source is all open and forkable. The idea is that people can set up their own pods. So you can sign up with an existing pod, like joindiaspora.com and be registered as . Or if you wanted to create one for a local community you could host your own, and customise it how you wanted. User following and communication etc all works across pods fine.. So rather than one single company having to support it, everyone can chip in set up loads of pods to bear the weight.
Diaspora is not-for-profit and I don't believe I've seen any ads; However if a pod decided to fund themselves by showing ads they would be able to. This would only be visible to users who have accounts with and log in through that pod.
But basically this thread sounds like you're asking for diaspora*. It was set up with this very stuff in mind. It probably just seems minuscule when you compare it to goliaths like Facebook.
Silly for 2 obvious reasons;
https://diasporafoundation.org/ a decentralised Facebook that's been around for a long time.
Facebook (and WhatsApp) are not popular because of their superior features. They're popular because everyone else uses them.
Yep, I'm looking for that too. However, I have a few conditions (in no particular order).
- It must be decentralized distributed P2P type tech
- Must use TOR or something like it to protect the hosts from identification
- Possibly use UDP or other connectionless protocol
- Content stored on multiple hosts (redundancy/duplication)
- Dynamic protocol (and timing) obfuscation to protect host end points
- Preferably written in C/C++ for minimal host load (client can be scripting language)
- Make server as thin as possible with a fat client side (spread the load to the clients)
- Be independent of the current DNS infrastructure (yes, that is a big ask, but DNS is the bottleneck which allows state based censorship)
- Be able to tunnel the protocol through other traffic types in order to bypass firewalls
- RAID style tech for distributed data backup/redundancy
- Inbuilt DDoS protection to shield hosts from state based attacks (intelligent traffic throttling?)
- Use power efficient crypto for content verification/validification
- Anything else I have forgotten to add
That is my fanciful wish list. But we will need something like that to bypass evil state based actors as well as all the hackers that it would be an obvious honey pot for. People should be able to host servers on their premises and be anonymous as well as protected from evil network traffic.
There is the https://diasporafoundation.org/ diaspora project, but the IP address of the content host is not obfuscated (as far as I know), so it is open to DDoS attack.
There's the diaspora* project which is decentralized and focuses more on user freedom and privacy. Having no central server means there's no single entity to shut it down or to be bought out.
A proposito: diaspora* es un rete social con un interfacie traducite totalmente in interlingua. Vide https://diasporafoundation.org/ (iste sito es disponibile in interlingua tamben; si tu navigator non es configurate con interlingua como lingua prinicpal, selige interlingua del lista de linguas in basso a dextra).
and all it takes is for Parler to have a link on their website to download the app (.apk for Android) .. iOS users are out of luck. No externally loaded apps unless you root your phone.
Eventually people will discover alternatives like https://diasporafoundation.org/ (more info here: https://wiki.diasporafoundation.org/Main_Page)
Operationally distributed like crypto nodes are ... no centralised entity to attack.
I'm still confused. Parler is a private company using centralized servers. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
If they went over to *DIASPORA, they'd have a decentralized system, that would be much , much more resistant to attempts at censorship, or government control. Get your shit together guys!
Existe a Diaspora que é uma rede social de código aberto e descentralizada. Infelizmente nunca ganhou tração de usuários nas tentativas de implantação. Parece que o projeto foi meio deixado de lado atualmente.
Someone had this idea in 2010, thanks to this talk which makes a lot of the same points as your post. The idea turned into a social nework called [Diaspora](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_(social_network ). They raised over $200K on Kickstarter, but ten years later do not yet have a version 1.0.
I vaguely remember that the Diaspora team ran into what seemed like insurmountable issues over security or authentication or something... but to be honest, I don't remember what they were. I haven't checked on them since maybe around 2013. Worth a look:
I lost my idealism about social media when the only large group to use Diaspora turned out to be ISIS.
There are a fair number of social platforms that prioritize privacy, but people seem to be waiting for one to become the "next Facebook." I don't think there will be another Facebook -- it's an artifact from a specific time. Can we remember when Occupy held a moment of silence for Steve Jobs? When people attributed the Arab Spring to Facebook? I still have a photo somewhere of some bohemian holding a sign that proclaimed Twitter was the new Che Guevara. Hell Deray McKesson used to go everywhere wearing a shirt with the Twitter logo on it under that vest.
Maybe I'm in a bubble but most people I know are using specialized social media for specific, compartmentalized things. Doesn't matter in that case if "everyone is on it" so there is no network effect.
Awesome. That's what I was thinking, but I wasn't sure :)
When it comes to the decentralized server setup, do you plan on making it easy for public servers to share content between each other? If I have a friend who hosts a public group on his server, is there a way to allow other servers to request access to cache that content? For example, as an end-user, I'd prefer to just go to friends-custom-dotsmesh.com and access content that maybe also pulls from the central hub dotsmesh.com. That way I can get the feeling that everything is central. One of the main turn offs from https://diasporafoundation.org/ is I felt isolated from communities. Kind of like how on Reddit you sometimes don't realize your favorite subreddit is right around the corner. But with Reddit, subreddits can be stumbled upon or perhaps sporadically upvoted to the front page and get exposure. But with systems like Diaspora, there is no way to know a hub exists and deserves attention unless it is explicitly visited.
So allowing servers to optionally expose their public content for caching would be a nice way for other servers to host content and potentially allow users to interact with content on other servers without ever leaving their chosen host.
But seriously, many people in the open source/Free Software world have been trying to make a more Democratic social network for years. The problem is that they are nerds and can't get a huge following of people to join their social network. For example, Diaspora works really well and respects user privacy and freedom, but it just doesn't have enough users to be relevant.
I think the worst part of it is that the fundamental principle of decentralization has been largely replaced by centralized, commercial service providers, giants.
Compare E-Mail (1982) to Twitter (2006), to this day anybody can set up an E-Mail server and become part of the global infrastructure, but there are only users of Twitter outside Twitter Inc., which alone provides the background infrastructure, and thus the content.
I'm aware that there's for example Diaspora as an open (AGPLv3), decentralized replacement for Facebook (and seemingly other services), but I don't ever read or hear about projects like that.
However, there are still the countless specialized corners of the Internet. For example, when I search for computer science stuff, it has only become better over the years. I started to get into computer science in the 80's, before the internet was accessible outside universities, learned from books, magazines and later in university (where I first had Internet), the difference is really amazing to this day.
Facebook puts its employee in prison camps and secretly murders them? Well, that's something new I've learnt today.
If there enough people who dislike Facebook just develop a new social media app and infrastructure for it, with the goal of being beholden to no one and not for profit, and find some benefactors to bankroll it until it can stand on its own two feet.
There are already things like...
https://diasporafoundation.org/
... so you don't need to use Facebook et al, you chose to use them.
Diaspora. It's a federated social media network. What this means is that anyone can host their own Diaspora instance ("pods") and freely associate with other Diaspora instances, so you're not tied to one company and their monopoly.
https://diasporafoundation.org
Alternatives DO exist. They just have a userbase/notability problem.
No, the facebook "alternative" is Diaspora*. Mastodon is the twitter alternative, operating on a loose protocol called ActivityPub. I'd rather call it a framework for building protocols than an actual protocol even. As you can see in wiki it can be used to link up multiple instances of the same software, but also instances of different softwares that are alternatives to the usual social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
Anyone serious about providing an alternative to CongressEdits that is less censorable should definitely consider using something that talks ActivityPub
Why isnt diaspora* getting any love? https://diasporafoundation.org/ Its distributed, with no central company, and if it is missing any features of the other platforms, I'm unaware of it.
Plus you can set up autoforwarding as a way to keep in touch with the folks on the other networks.
I did a lot of research for a project of mine that never materialized. I was focused on privacy/anonymity solutions in social media. What I found is that there is an endless supply of technically-proficient people who cannot identify their target audience as being less capable than they are.
Take for example Diaspora, the decentralized social network that has been around for years. It's a great idea on paper, but in execution they forgot that a social network's utility relies on it being used by your friends and family. I strongly suggest people who are interested in industrial design as it relates to the consumer experience try to sign up to Diaspora. Go do it; it's a fun glimpse into how bad design trumps good solutions:
First, you will be diverted to a wiki that explains terminology and system design through a long read, including warning you that changing "nodes" is something you can't currently do. Then you will be offered a choice between multiple 3rd-party sites, which track the nodes that you are supposed to choose from to find your own. I just tried, and one of the sites wouldn't even load. So I picked a node (Mastodon.me.uk), and I end up on a site that makes no mention of any of the Diaspora technical jargon and instead looks like a normal social platform site. Is it a Diaspora node still, or did the site change directions? If it is a node, can it communicate with other nodes, or do I need to find the one that everyone I know is on?
It's tragic. Diaspora, and many projects like it, stagnate in the face of user experience design limitations. I can do it, sure, but my grandparents can't. My kids won't. My friends and coworkers won't. If we are digital librarians, we should be concerned, not just with preservation, but with promoting access. The inadvertent roadblocks do so much more damage than those of us who know how to use scripts and command lines can prevent.
Decentralization is the hallmark of the future of privacy.
Ideally, we'd like to see decentralized social networks such as diaspora take off. Also, the development of personal clouds, with tools such as Nextcloud should help individuals take possession of their data.
There are big hurdles to this, however:
- the tools still require a lot more expertise to install and setup. It can be quite inexpensive to maintain: $300 for a small server at home can take care of all your family needs.
- there is no business incentive to promote this movement. Hence, it will have to happen by word of mouth.
- finally, as an experienced experimenter in this way of doing: just like most crimes are committed by a close relative of the victims, privacy breaches are more often the result of someone close than a corporation or a government. Because trust requirements still need to be very high, I would expect plenty of ugly stories to come together with this reappropriation of their personal data by end users.
It's time for a diaspora! Find a pod you like and trust, or create your own. If you're particularly privacy minded, find one in the EU. Bring your friends and family. Help them break free from Facebook.
It's time for a diaspora! Find a pod you like and trust, or create your own. If you're particularly privacy minded, find one in the EU. Bring your friends and family. Help them break free from Facebook.
I'm currently piloting a diaspora pod, hosted in the EU, as a solution to Facebook. Gonna start by getting all the younger people in my family onboard and get them to bring their parents in later. Hopefully critical mass can be reached and we can break away from Facebook for photos, staying in touch, etc. With the added bonus of getting rid of the GOP/Trump/Russian propaganda.
Either way though, fuck Facebook.
It's a tough one for sure, bit I still wouldn't want to give our current gov that responsibility because it would be a disaster. I agree that we need a new "digital standard" for our online communications and interactions, but it should probably come from collaboration between the industry and the public sector (laughable concept, I realise).
There's been alternatives to facebook for a while, but you'd need to advertise them on facebook for them to become popular, and that's the problem. It's become the norm for too many people.
Depending on you skill level and resources maybe you can set up your own Diaspora pod
Or you could either build it yourself or run a docker container
I have been looking into alternatives to Facebook and have come across the diaspora project https://diasporafoundation.org/
I don’t know enough about how easy it is to use for non techie types, but it is non-commercial, privacy can be controlled by the user, and there is no data mining. In other words, it’s everything Facebook isn’t.
if you believe its 3 months, and you would get someone who could do that in 3 months for $20k its surprising. If you are speaking about USD as that is a fucking low salary for a software developer in America.
Unless you want to outsource it to another country, which even then the application may not work that well
There already is a encrypted secure social media: https://diasporafoundation.org/
i think you're about to #deleteFacebook. https://diasporafoundation.org to join the 'UKC Psychedelics Society' - it's a respectable drug. 1P LSD. is that the best I can between the two to four weeks mark.
Take a look into decentralized solutions. There isn't one for everything but they're getting there. To start you off: [Sylo](/r/sylo_io), Diaspora, and Reddit. Make a throwaway and use a VPN, less likely to be tracked.
For what it's worth, take a look at Mastodon (free/open source version of twitter, e.g www.toot.io) or Diaspora (free/open source version of Facebook, e.g https://diasporafoundation.org/#get_started). Both are rather uncensored and explicit content is fine.
Facebook basically has complete market dominance on social media. I think they should be broken up and standards formed. I can email somebody regardless of their email provider, I can call somebody regardless of their phone company, I should be able to see peoples cat or baby photos regardless of their social media provider. Force them to adopt the diaspora standard, or any other open standard.
Decentralized standards already exist for a ton of different types of services. Off the top of my head, besides email and Mastodon, which you mentioned, there's Diaspora (decentralized social network) and Peertube (decentralized web video platform); for instant messaging there's XMPP, which tons of different IM services used to be built on top of. IRC also used to be huge, but sadly these days everyone and their mom has moved to Discord.
Decentralization and federation would be the best way forward for almost all services of this sort, as it would greatly help prevent monopolies and shady practices. The problem is getting people to use them, as they tend to be a little more complicated. It's also not always clear how the various server/hub operators could monetize the services.
I'm a fan of an alternate solution that was proposed by a redditor in a long forgotten thread. While it's impossible to actually hide from FB, ways can be found to force the self destruction of it. Create programs that can interact with FB and it's derivatives by constantly feeding it incredibly humongous amounts of errant data that eventually becomes so insidious that FB data becomes completely inaccurate. Instead of worrying about the quantity of data FB collects, feed it with as much inaccurate data that companies see no value in it, and abandon it to other more verifiable sources. Wash rinse dry repeat on down the line until they're all diaspora. Also worth a mention, https://diasporafoundation.org
What people? The average Joe doesn't care that the profile they post photos of their butthole to is public (until of course it becomes a tangible issue, like getting fired). In the end that is an afterthought, and it's not the main feature that drives people to use social media. If they were conscious about it, they wouldn't be using it in the first place. They're just happy the service is "free", while being completely oblivious as to what is the source of revenue.
I'm not saying we shouldn't be informing people of their right to privacy and how it should be their right, but at this point the idea of building a serious competitor simply based on the premise of privacy is naive. There are already alternatives like Diaspora, but nobody cares to use it. It's a noble goal, but it's not as simple as "someone should do it".
Minds is a pretty good alternative, and a lot less like Twitter! A little bit like Steemit (can be "tipped" for good informative posts), but as a dedicated social Network. Also it's kind of funny to see who you know is secretly a Unabomber. Some people will just type, and type, and type, and it doesn't have a text limit like twatter/FB, so keep it away from talkative grannies! Nothing like being found by your aunt and having a 7000 word screed drop about the terrible service at Aldi's she received that day, lol.
Minds is also popular enough now to have competition! So it definitely seems like it'll hang around. Diaspora basically follows the very old "wild west of the Internet" ways, kind of reminds me of Usenet/ICQ/Hotline at times, with a mild twist of tumblr.
"Diaspora is intended to address privacy concerns related to centralized social networks by allowing users set up their own server (or "pod") to host content; pods can then interact to share status updates, photographs, and other social data. It allows its users to host their data with a traditional web host, a cloud-based host, an ISP, or a friend. The framework, which is built on Ruby on Rails, is free software and can be modified and extended by external developers."
If you were around for when AIM had the "get/share file" commands, that is basically how the messaging system works. More recently, Dropbox and drop.io but + you can also message on the same site you're doing collab work on.
> But in social networking there are no similar decentralised systems with enough traction to take on the likes of Facebook.
There's Diaspora, but as you say, they don't have much traction. Getting the necessary traction is very much r/restofthefuckingowl when it comes to this project.
Finalmente qualcuno ha il coraggio di proporlo apertamente.
Finora c'erano state solo proposte di aggirare l'accentramento attraverso dei social federati tipo Diaspora.
Con un Facebook di Stato si risolverebbe il problema alla radice.
Here's a link to join Diaspora, for those interested. Also, if you want to do the same for Twitter, consider Mastodon. Like you said though, it's often a lonely experience on both sites.
Yea I do think decentralization has a big role to play in changing society for the better. Perhaps in the developed countries, information is more important than money anyway.
Back around 2003-4 when Facebook was taking over Mypace as the dominant social network, I had an idea for a distributed social network that could leverage a distributed p2p file-system. Unfortunately I didn't feel confident in my ability to create such a thing, and was many years away from breaking free from the comfortable chains of a decent career job. The first kickstarter I ever funded was the diaspora project. I'm not sure if anyone really uses it, perhaps I should go give it some love...
C'est une alternative à Facebook si j'ai bien compris. C'est décentralisé, libre, open source et n'importe qui peut déployer son propre serveur.
Ainsi, pas de tracking, un contrôle plus stricte sur les permissions de tes publications (il y a un système qui permet de catégoriser les gens en fonction de la relation que tu as avec eux, et n'afficher tes publications qu'à certains groupes de personnes), sur tes données, et pas de rattachement à une boite américaine.
C'est dans la lignée de Mastodon (ou plutôt, l'inverse puisque ça a été développé avant) : des réseaux sociaux décentralisés et libres. Le but c'est d'avoir une alternative viable aux GAFAM qui supporte les mêmes fonctionnalités pour l'utilisateur tout en préservant ses droits et sa liberté.
Il existe déjà des instances autour de sujets ou de langues. Tu peux aller sur le site de la fondation pour en savoir plus. Je m'intéresse pas mal à ces alternatives en ce moment, c'est pour ça que je me demande si un peu de taff sur le design aiderait pas Diapsora à grandir (bootstrap, c'est moche à mes yeux).
Insta is owned by the same people, incl. Zuck. jus' sayin' What about a user owned, nonprofit distributed social network like [Diaspora](https://diasporafoundation.org/)?