mastodon - Collegamento all'originale
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I dunno, *can* we build #European alternatives to #Facebook and co?
The #EU community managers are at it again with promoting the EU instance on #Mastodon!

PS: the community management team (that's my team) are up for an award. Any chance you'd give us a vote? Project 32 on this link: enonet.eu/survey/index.php/227…

Award for Good Administration 2026

enonet.eu
#facebook #mastodon #eu #european
in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

Gilberto Ficara

I would argue that it really depends on what "Facebook", "instagram" and "whatsapp" mean for this person.

I think we don't really have a valid alternative to the Marketplace for example.

Instagram is pretty much covered by Mastodon and Pixelfed, but would it work at scale? (with millions or billions of photos and videos to store and moderate)

Whatsapp is a lot harder. I don't think that Matrix is a good alternative and unfortunately Signal is under US influence too.

in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

Kyyrypyy

@zompetto
What I'd love would be a "facebook for local bussineses" that you don't need an account to view (a bulleting board, if you please); far too many companies still don't have only FB page for opening hours, menus and other information, so as a result it's easier to plan ahead if you're going to big chains.

I'd love Friendica to be that, but it's actually more strict about browsing without an account.

@Gilberto Ficara
in reply to Gilberto Ficara

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

Luca Sironi

Friendica, would be the fediverse alternative to Facebook, giving the possibility to have private groups.

Here an article from (of course) @_elena

blog.elenarossini.com/the-futu…

There are not that many #friendica instances, unfortunately

The Future of Social is Here: a Show and Tell (part 3: Friendica)

A "show and tell" of my favorite features of Friendica, which has fast become my favorite place in the Fediverse
Elena Rossini
#friendica @Elena Rossini 🌈
Questa voce Γ¨ stata modificata (1 giorno fa)

Eye reshared this.

in reply to Christopher Stark

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

Luca Sironi

@christopherstark

People who use it, seems to love it.
I'm not that much into formatted posts or groups.
Never been on facebook.

For example people with a friendica account, could create a topic or local group
and you could follow that group from your mastodon account.
How cool is #fediverse

@informapirata

@zompetto @hpod16 @_elena

#fediverse @Informa Pirata @Gilberto Ficara @Elena Rossini 🌈 @Christopher Stark @Hannah Grace

Informa Pirata reshared this.

in reply to Christopher Stark

friendica (DFRN) - Collegamento all'originale

Informa Pirata

@Christopher Stark I'm a big fan of Friendica, but it's clear that, while Friendica has achieved a good level of usability, it isn't and never will be as usable as Mastodon.
Friendica is still the most complete software in the entire Fediverse and deserves a larger community of users and, above all, developers: currently, there are practically three of them maintaining the system!

I recommend trying the Raccoon for Friendica Android app (also usable with Mastodon) because it has significantly improved many of the web version's ergonomic issues. The app is currently still in beta, and I recommend downloading it from GitHub because the one on the app store is still version 0.4 and has some significant flaws.

github.com/LiveFastEatTrashRac…

@Gilberto Ficara @Elena Rossini 🌈 @Luca Sironi @Hannah Grace

@Gilberto Ficara @Elena Rossini 🌈 @Christopher Stark @Luca Sironi @Hannah Grace
in reply to Gilberto Ficara

gotosocial - Collegamento all'originale

clouderst is cloudier than the cloudest cloud in the sky of clouds

we do have marketplace alternatives! They usually vary by regions and countries. For example, you have ebay, which is the biggest, but in france, you may use leboncoin, while in some eastern european countries and netherlands there's the olx giant. At least in romania olx is the most popular, the oldest and the main reason why facebook marketplace didn't really take off here
in reply to Gilberto Ficara

friendica (DFRN) - Collegamento all'originale

Informa Pirata

Hi @Gilberto Ficara

I think we don't really have a valid alternative to the Marketplace for example.


That's not the case. There's Flohmarkt, a federated app that's constantly improving and offers a sort of federated Amazon. Furthermore, Facebook has become indispensable for many people thanks to events and Facebook Groups, but even then we have alternatives: Friendica handles "events" very well, but there are also federated platforms specifically designed for event management (Mobilizon and Gancio). Today, it's also possible to federate WordPress events, thanks to the combination of three plugins (Activitypub, Eventbridge, and any event plugin).
As for Facebook Groups, we not only have systems that manage them from the ground up, like Friendica, but also the entire world I call Forumverso (Lemmy, NodeBB, Piefed, Mbin), which natively manages forum or Reddit-like platforms and can be managed very well by Mastodon. Additionally, there are Android apps for Mastodon like Raccoon (version 1.0 coming soon to the Play Store) that allow you to view groups much more intuitively than the standard Mastodon interface.

Instagram is pretty much covered by Mastodon and Pixelfed, but would it work at scale? (with millions or billions of photos and videos to store and moderate)

Large scale won't be a problem if there are many balanced medium-sized instances that don't overwhelm the subscribers (in fact, a few monster instances with more than 50,000 users can create veritable seismic waves on smaller instances). A truly federated and balanced environment offers far better moderation than commercial platforms, if only because in the Fediverse, the moderator-user ratio is a percentage made up of whole numbers, not fractions, as on commercial platforms.

Whatsapp is a lot harder. I don't think that Matrix is a good alternative

As in the previous case, Matrix (or XMPP) could be a good alternative if there's a true federation and not huge, unsustainable nodes in the long term. The Matrix Foundation, for example, is struggling precisely because it manages a huge centralized server for software designed to be distributed...

and unfortunately Signal is under US influence too.

The way Signal is managed, it wouldn't make a difference if it were American or European: the software is extremely reliable, and metadata collection is kept to a bare minimum.

@Hannah Grace

@Gilberto Ficara @Hannah Grace
in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

Petra van Cronenburg

I already wondered who makes this good work! (Clicks link).

I think one problem is that people await a 1:1 copy of these platforms, but why should we imitate them with all their inherent bad sides? FB's strength are their groups where people can talk with their whole village or meet all gardeners of their region. Easy, intuitive for absolute non-techies. I can't do that in the Fediverse. But we don't need a FB clone to invent such places.

Questa voce Γ¨ stata modificata (1 giorno fa)
in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

Vladimir Campos

Focusing on building new platforms is a huge distraction. Mastodon is open source and #ActivityPub is a @w3c protocol. Everything is already in place. It's just a matter of people posting or adopting the protocol on their current social tools. I don't think anything else has to be built. If institutions AND real people, MPs for example, start posting for real, that will create momentum.
#activitypub @World Wide Web Consortium
in reply to Hannah Grace

glitchsoc - Collegamento all'originale

Tamtam

use open source like mastodon. We don't want a facebook because facebook is crap. always has been. build on what's there. It works just fine. Add your support to the development of open source solutions that are already in existence. That'll make them even better. help @dansup make pixelfed even better, there you have your Instagram. Work with the democratically minded parts of EU software development that are already on it for many years, and reflect all our positive values.
Questa voce Γ¨ stata modificata (1 giorno fa)
in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

Father Hardstone

Yes, as long they don't bring the #ageverification and #digitalid shite over those places as well ! There are already very good alternatives to #whatsapp that don' t even require a phone number e.g. @session @Jami 🀘

People value their privacy, as long as it's that's the core you are developing #socialmedia around instead of abusing their data !

#Socialmedia #WhatsApp #ageverification #digitalid @Session @Jami
in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

OddOpinions5

well, Airbus was a success
and CERN is a success

so maybe the EU should hire the managers of Airbus/CERN to run this ?

but seriously, how many years does it take to build up the knowledge and infrastructure to store Tb of data with safe backup hardware/software ?

a lot of skill just in that alone

and moving libre offic calc into the modern era is a huge task, just by itself

in reply to 🫧 socialcoding..

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

Hannah Grace

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@smallcircles

Aaaaand did you see this sentence in the EU open source strategy published yesterday?
Link: digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/…

Communication on European Tech Sovereignty, accompanied by an EU Open Source Strategy

The Commission is proposing the European Technological Sovereignty Package, marking a change in Europe's approach to its tech ecosystems.
Shaping Europe’s digital future
@🫧 socialcoding..
in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

🫧 socialcoding..

yes, I sure did. For a moment some time ago there was talk that the open source strategy would be less pronounced. But this direct reference to decentralized social media, and building out on mastodon is beyond expectations again. Nice!

PS. I maintain the 3 fediverse-related delightful lists that give a good overview of how many ActivityPub based open source projects already exist. See: delightful.coding.social

Delightful Lists

delightful.coding.social
Questa voce Γ¨ stata modificata (1 giorno fa)
in reply to Timothy Roes

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

🫧 socialcoding..

I assume you refer to how in communication references to "mastodon" are made?

There's indeed something problematic in that, about which I've been posting a lot and also blogged about: the app-centric nature of the current fediverse, and the re-centralization forces this sets in motion.

See e.g. coding.social/blog/grassroots-…

Mastodon is a brand. A platform and product that targets the fediverse to offer Microblogging services. The way it is used puts it on a pedestal, makes it more prominent than other microblogging apps like #GoToSocial, #Pleroma, and many other alternatives. But it is the social network as a whole that counts, not individual service provider players.

The word #Mastodon is overused in too broad meaning, similar to how people say "I'll google it" when they want to do an internet search. It sells alternatives short, like DuckDuckGo or Kagi. Some people don't even know about fediverse and say "Join mastodon" when they mean "Join the decentralized web".

Grassroots fediverse evolution

Social dynamics in the grassroots fediverse ecosystem and laissΓ©z-faire practices led to divergence from power and promise of the ActivityPub protocol. Grassroots standards and the ActivityPub API initiative can get us back on track.
Social coding commons
#mastodon #pleroma #gotosocial
Questa voce Γ¨ stata modificata (14 ore fa)

🫧 socialcoding.. reshared this.

in reply to Timothy Roes

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

🫧 socialcoding..

@TimothyRoes
The (over)use of "mastodon" is understandable. Mastodon played a pioneering role in implementing microblogging use cases with the #ActivityPub protocol and is also the most mature product at this point in that 'business domain'. Establishing itself as a brand.

#Fediverse is not a very descriptive name to people unfamiliar with it and the idea that it provides access to many apps that integrate with on a single social network (ideally) interoperably is foreign. They are used to 'platform thinking'. Fediverse weaves a social fabric that allows you to be "social together with others" online.

The europa.eu website now has a #Mastodon icon in its social channel list, that hides all that.

Perhaps most communicative is the name #ActivityStreams (name of W3C standard vocabulary of social actions to support). Then a person would subscribe to EU's activity streams and receive Posts, Articles, Videos, Events, Policies, News. Every service the EU offers adds to the stream.

#mastodon #activitypub #fediverse #activitystreams @Timothy Roes
in reply to Graeme 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

friendica (DFRN) - Collegamento all'originale

Informa Pirata

@Graeme 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 People over 40 still use Facebook thanks to two specific features: events and groups. Local groups, in particular, are an important way to find news about their town and to identify local buying and selling deals.
Some still use Messenger, but it's not a determining factor. The messaging system, however, is crucial for those who use Instagram, which now relies solely on passively viewing reels and actively writing messages to their contacts.

@Hannah Grace

@Graeme 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @Hannah Grace
in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

WesDym

I don't understand this question. The actual THING is stupidly easy to make. Hell, I was often impressed with how weirdly primitive Facebook is, given when it exists. (Some earlier platforms were much more sophisticated.) The thing itself is easy to do. It's the PEOPLE USING IT and how it's managed that make the difference, and that's been done many times and can be done again.

Just make something and see who shows up, and try not to let it get out of hand. Why is this even an issue?

in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

Nicolas Fressengeas

Vote done ! Finger crossed ! Thanks for promoting Mastodon and the Fediverse !

For a Facebook alternative linked to Mastodon through ActivityPub, it's here : friendi.ca/

The overall alternative is already there. It is called the Fediverse. It needs money for servers and people taking care of them. And people like you for promotion.

friendica – A Decentralized Social Network

Home
Tobias (friendica)
in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

acb

@briankrebs The ActivityPub fediverse will not be an alternative to Facebook until it has nuanced privacy controls. At the moment, unless you lock down your followers, effectively going dark to people not preapproved, your posts are effectively public. Which works fine when it’s a small cozy network of kind, thoughtful people, but as soon as the general public start using it, posting anything personal will start to have negative consequences.
@BrianKrebs
in reply to Hannah Grace

mastodon - Collegamento all'originale

tusk

Each of the commercial platforms has 2 sides, behaving like a semi-transparent mirror. There is the side we can see and where we communicate. Technically speaking, this is trivial.
The other side, which can not be seen by us, is the side where the money circulates, where companies and political forces pay for what is deliberately shown to us.
We must not implement the other side.
in reply to Hannah Grace

friendica (DFRN) - Collegamento all'originale

Informa Pirata

@Hannah Grace also remember that, if you have control of your Mastodon instance, you can upgrade to Mastodon Glitch-soc, a well-supported, friendly fork of Mastodon. The advantage is that you can write formatted posts with hyperlinks (of course, you can remove the 500-character limit). I installed it on poliversity.it to accommodate poliverso.org users who weren't comfortable with Friendica and preferred Mastodon.
@Hannah Grace
in reply to DFX4509B (Joshua Mason)

friendica - Collegamento all'originale

Tofm2

European Network Dynamics is precisely answering that point

@DFX4509B You're absolutely right, and the good news is: it already exists! 🌍 European Network Dynamics runs Social. Netdynamics.eu, a Friendica-based instance, self-hosted in the EU, designed as a positive agora for European citizens to connect, share, and speak freely. It federates across the entire Fediverse while keeping your data under European jurisdiction. Registrations are free and open! Why not join us and bring this conversation there? 🀝 Everyone in this thread is welcome, the more voices, the richer the community. ✨

πŸ‘‰ social.netdynamics.eu

Kind regards.

#netdynamics #netdynamics.eu #fediverse #friendica @DFX4509B (Joshua Mason)

@DFX4509B (Joshua Mason)
Questa voce Γ¨ stata modificata (11 ore fa)
in reply to Coal

friendica - Collegamento all'originale

Tofm2

Let us reformulate this question like this : "do you want to join European Netdynamics ?"

Friendica has no defined nationality, it does not belong to a private techno-feodalist company. Friendica was orginally built by an american australian.
Friendica is totally open sourced.One of Friendica's team key members (Tobias Diekershoff) is German Berliner.

European Netdynamics is self hosted in France, by an officially registered company (registration number on demand, by PM)

Registration, participation is free and open to anyone.

@Coal

@Coal
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