Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Let’s all go back to Tumblr

theoutline.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 138 posts

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#121

Post by jdormit »

geofft wrote: post #10
tomjen3 wrote: post #3

A radical idea, lets all go back to blogs, hosted and owned by ourselves, on our own sites, which will enrich only us, and where you can write as long and as short as you want, and link to whatever you want.

Is there a good way to get my blog onto the fediverse? It sort of seems like the protocol (ActivityPub) is built in a way that it can support blog-style content as well as toot-style content, and it would solve many of the problems people have with discoverability, RSS dying, shared private posts, etc. I'd be interested in getting my blog (which is self-hosted and using a static site generator) publishing in a way th…

I am writing an ActivityPub plugin for WordPress that will let you federate with Mastodon, PeerTube, etc. If you're interested, I'll be posting updates at @jdormit@mastodon.technology.

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#122

Post by chriswarbo »

phyzome wrote: post #120
chriswarbo wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't sound like a use-case for a Web site to me. How about sending yourself emails, categorised into their own maildir or IMAP folder, or even a brand new account? That would inherit security from your email setup (which is monotonically more secure than systems which delegate password resetting to your email account). You can read and write them online or offline using a variety of readers and editors, inclu…

I agree, websites are the wrong tool. What I'm envisioning is a desktop or phone app where you author posts and comments and read other people's posts and comments. The information is stored locally, but published out via a dumb server, with end-to-end encryption. Essentially, the server becomes an async dumb pipe (can just use WebDAV for this) or optionally a synchronous dumb pipe (if you add in a streaming protocol…

Ah, when you said "private" I thought you meant something that wouldn't be shared with anyone (e.g. a personal diary).

You're right that some other solution would be better for "private but shared" content (although it would likely be tricky w.r.t. both security and psychological/social aspects like getting people to follow good practices to prevent leaks).

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#123

Post by phyzome »

chriswarbo wrote: post #122
phyzome wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, websites are the wrong tool. What I'm envisioning is a desktop or phone app where you author posts and comments and read other people's posts and comments. The information is stored locally, but published out via a dumb server, with end-to-end encryption. Essentially, the server becomes an async dumb pipe (can just use WebDAV for this) or optionally a synchronous dumb pipe (if you add in a streaming protocol…

Ah, when you said "private" I thought you meant something that wouldn't be shared with anyone (e.g. a personal diary). You're right that some other solution would be better for "private but shared" content (although it would likely be tricky w.r.t. both security and psychological/social aspects like getting people to follow good practices to prevent leaks).

Oops, yes, that was definitely less than clear. :-)

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#124

Post by phyzome »

b5 wrote: post #61
phyzome wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But Twitter makes it so that's all up in your face. I haven't used Tumblr hardly at all, but it seems like it's optional to participate in that, since things are a little more partitioned. Anyway, I'm interested in hearing more about the radicalization thing, which I haven't actually observed first-hand, but several people in the comments here have mentioned. What interaction elements do you think lead to it?

I used Tumblr for years. From probably 2008 until 2017. It's not entirely optional to interact with radicalised elements on Tumblr. The tagging system lets them find you, and then they can brigade you if you fall foul of whatever pet cause they have. This happened to me when I'd posted a photo of my dog. She's my pride and joy, and it was a harmless and cute photo of her jumping to catch a ball in the air. My mistake…

Ouch, sorry to hear about that.

Do you think it actually promotes radicalization, though, or is that just the culture that developed there? E.g. Mastodon's interaction design is very similar to Twitter's, but the people are waaaay nicer, because that's just the prevailing culture. Compare to other parts of the Fediverse, such as GNU Social, which is much more Twitter-like in tone.

Either way, I think it's a good lesson in how public-by-default social media is kind of a terrible idea in retrospect. You wanted to share a non-sensitive post, but maybe just to people who are in any way socially accountable to you, not the entire world.

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#125

Post by TheBeardKing »

notriddle wrote: post #119
TheBeardKing wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also not free, and people are getting pretty used to free.

http://getpoole.com/ ? If you're a HN regular, you can probably build a site using GitHub Pages. I'm just not sure about the Facebook-using public...

I meant a webhost or VPS isn't free. And yes, that was directed more towards the general populace using services which are currently free, such as Tumblr and other blog platforms.

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#126

Post by Pete_D »

lmm wrote: post #76
eahman02 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the Twitter platform.

There was a great article I've never been able to find again about how the UI of Twitter naturally guides users into de facto bullying, and most of the advice given by experienced Twitter users (e.g. check existing replies to a tweet before adding your own) is working around UI choices made by the system itself.

Was it this one? https://web.archive.org/web/20180801143131/http://www.shamus...

(archive link because the site seems to be down at the moment)

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#127

Post by davchana »

CM30 wrote: post #39
Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that individual blogs that emit an RSS feed to follow are a great thing. However, most bloggers don’t really have the skills to host their own blog on a dedicated server. So, even if they did avoid Tumblr, they would be relying on another such hosting service like Blogspot or Wordpress.com.

It isn't that hard to install a blog on a shared hosting plan or VPS somewhere. Just find something with CPanel and some sort of auto installer (I think it was called Fantastico or something) and Bob's your uncle. Don't even need to know how FTP works or how to code anything to do that...

Thats how I always used to host my blog. Free ad-free php, cPanel, Fantastico. But it was always a nightmare, hacker exploits a bug in WordPress, upgrade WP, then the free host changes policy & now one or other feature is broken.

Its easy to install, but its not easy to keep up & maintain the VPS WP installation for an average user like me.

Last year I came across GitLab pages & jekyll; & now its easy to maintain. Yes, not easy to start.

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#128

Post by JoshMnem »

jaxtellerSoA wrote: post #111
habi wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You yourself :) WordPress isn't that hard to administer/maintain.

No, your right. It is just one of the biggest targets for hackers, and has a litany of vulnerabilities that grows daily. If playing an endless game of whack-a-mole trying to keep up with the a constant stream of vulnerabilities seems fun, then sure. Personally I wouldn't touch WordPress with a 10-foot pole. I would consider something like Ghost instead. https://ghost.org/developers/

Or https://wp.com/ for a simple, hosted version of WordPress.

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#129

Post by philwelch »

phyzome wrote: post #124
b5 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used Tumblr for years. From probably 2008 until 2017. It's not entirely optional to interact with radicalised elements on Tumblr. The tagging system lets them find you, and then they can brigade you if you fall foul of whatever pet cause they have. This happened to me when I'd posted a photo of my dog. She's my pride and joy, and it was a harmless and cute photo of her jumping to catch a ball in the air. My mistake…

Ouch, sorry to hear about that. Do you think it actually promotes radicalization, though, or is that just the culture that developed there? E.g. Mastodon's interaction design is very similar to Twitter's, but the people are waaaay nicer, because that's just the prevailing culture. Compare to other parts of the Fediverse, such as GNU Social, which is much more Twitter-like in tone. Either way, I think it's a good less…

Even if a platform tends to encourage meanness, stupidity, and radicalization, the specific direction that takes can depend more on founder effects. I don't know of any interaction design that made Tumblr in particular so radically left-wing.

It's also easier for a nice community to become mean than for a mean community to become nice, so maybe give Mastodon some time and exposure and see what happens.

Re: Let’s all go back to Tumblr

#130

Post by androidgirl »

Spivak wrote: post #117
androidgirl wrote: post #116

I don't think that there is a solution as easy as moving to $SOCIAL_NETWORK or $ACTIVITY_PUB_SITE. I feel currently that the issue with social media is it's hyper stimulating. Speaking from a recovering social media addict point of view, the modern web latches onto human tendencies too well. We can be outraged, surrounded by people like us, 24/7. That's immensely fulfilling to most people, including me. I don't use s…

I think this view ignores differences in systems that do actively shape the way we communicate and how communities grow. I don't think that social media fits your description, just that sites like Twitter do. Examples of less-toxic social media: - Messaging: SMS, Email, GroupMe, Messenger, Skype, Snapchat - Micro Communities: Discord - Small purpose-driven communities, small subreddits, Discord - Collaborative: Devia…

Admittedly this is a more relaxed definition of social media than I have accepted, but I see your point!

I still use Discord and Github, and the social interaction there doesn't cause the same feeling that Facebook or Twitter do.

However, I might argue a select few of these sites or technologies can still be polarizing or unhealthy, particularly Instagram and Pinterest.

Post reply on HN