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Diaspora version 0.7.0.0 released

blog.diasporafoundation.org

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Re: Diaspora version 0.7.0.0 released

#4
post #3

I don't know if these guys have funding or not, but they deserve it. There is too much centralization nowadays. Too many eggs in the same basket.

Yes, too much centralization going on.

But ... isn't Diaspora trying to solve a too big problem? Ideally, shouldn't the decentralization-space be filled by smaller services? For example, in my perfect world, instant messaging and newsfeeds would be two separate projects. That way, not only is the information decentralized, but also the development of the decentralized web becomes more decentralized (in a way).

Re: Diaspora version 0.7.0.0 released

#5
post #2

Is there a bigger community actually using Diaspora? Maybe I'm outside of that bubble that's why I'm wondering.

I'm only peripherally attached (I've got a ... long-dormant Diaspora account), but there are a number of semi-inter-related open-social projects, which talk to various extents. "The Fediverse" includes a few of those, and I think it has bridges/gateways to Diaspora.

Frendica is another, I think, related protocol.

The problem generally is that the communities are small, diversified, hosting is a hurdle for virtually anyone, and individual instances can be finicky.

(On Mastodon -- a different technology entirely, but similar in concept -- I have two accounts on different instances, and since April have found that one or the other has been down, unavailable, or technically unusable for up to weeks at a time.)

Should some nucleating group decide that they were going all-in on Diasapora (or a compatible tech), that might make a difference. Meantime, everything seems stuck in slow-start mode.

Re: Diaspora version 0.7.0.0 released

#6
While I completely support the goal of diaspora, I don't think that I can use it. one of the main benefits of Facebook is that I can look up someone's information / posts without them being informed. Imo that is what made Facebook so big in the first place.

Re: Diaspora version 0.7.0.0 released

#7
post #2

Is there a bigger community actually using Diaspora? Maybe I'm outside of that bubble that's why I'm wondering.

Wikipedia gives 677,000 as the size of the Diaspora community

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_(social_network) citing The Federation: https://the-federation.info

That's ... on the order of Usenet ~1990 or so, per personal conversations with Gene Spafford a few years back. Where "OTO" could be 500k - 5m users. Much of Usenet was far smaller.

Microsoft did some studies on Usenet nodes and behavioural patterns in the early 2000s, and got some usage numbers out of that, though I'd have to dig to find them again.

Re: Diaspora version 0.7.0.0 released

#8
Does event management exist yet? I.e, can my friends and I create events and invite people to them like you can on Facebook?

Also, ISTR from last time I played with it, there was no ability to create photo albums/collections. Does that exist now?

Without those two things I couldn't even begin to consider getting people to start using it.

Re: Diaspora version 0.7.0.0 released

#9
I think it would be really interesting to build something like dispora as a suite of dockerised micro-services which would allow you to add and extend functionality based on a new social-networkong protocol in a language-agnostic way. It would also be very easy to incorporate email and xmpp which are already federated protocols.

Re: Diaspora version 0.7.0.0 released

#10
post #2

Is there a bigger community actually using Diaspora? Maybe I'm outside of that bubble that's why I'm wondering.

I'm only peripherally attached (I've got a ... long-dormant Diaspora account), but there are a number of semi-inter-related open-social projects, which talk to various extents. "The Fediverse" includes a few of those, and I think it has bridges/gateways to Diaspora. Frendica is another, I think , related protocol. The problem generally is that the communities are small, diversified, hosting is a hurdle for virtually…

Cool. I just signed up on Mastadon. Have you tried patchwork yet?

The slow-start mode seems to be default mode for all new social media platforms while FB is dominating the space. I could see a service business rolling Diaspora out on-site to organizations. I think poaching users is fair game and should be perfected across all the platforms. Basically, sharing on FB links that are hosted on a Diaspora instance. So the act of sharing on FB increases exposure for the instance.

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