Dave Winer: “A Twitter-like webservice at AWS. With better docs and a JavaScript API that doesn’t require developer to run a server (big deal). Effortless install on Digital Ocean.”
The post goes into more depth than the above blurb. I picked this bit because some of these things already exist.
There is an open source software called Mastodon that federates with other Mastodon server instances and is easy to host without running a server.
It also supports ActivityPub. Which will let you publish via a news feed. Manton Reese, founder of Micro.blog, has written how he made it possible for Micro.blog to appear as a Mastodon server so you could follow a Micro.blog timeline as if it were a native Mastodon timeline. It’s quite nice.
As far as running a Mastodon instance goes, I have one. I run it on a host called Masto.host for €5 — just over $5US — per month. If you’re interested you can visit Curmudgeon Cafe, my instance. I’m @fahrni@curmudgeon.cafe if you’re interested in following.
Mastodon is also an open source project.
Check out fediverse.info to locate an instance that’s right for you, if you don’t want your own. 😃
Back to Dave
I believe Dave could federate Scripting News with Mastodon using Activity Pub. It would, in essence, turn Scripting News into a Twitter-like instance. I’d be able to follow Scripting News from my Mastodon timeline. I’d like that.
I have a sneaking suspicion that whatever the Twitter Bluesky initiative comes up with will be over engineered and favor Twitter above all other considerations. I hope they’re considering open protocols. Mastodon is built on them as are many blogging tools and blogs.
More
In a recent episode of Pivot, Scott Galloway says projects like Mastodon, Truth Social, Parler, Gab, and GETTR have all failed.
I somewhat agree, if your only barometer is shareholder value.
Mastodon has succeeded if only to provide an open alternative to Twitter that allows anyone to join and/or create their own instance that can participate with the larger network.
Another interesting point: Mastodon was used by Gab and Truth Social as the underpinning of their respective networks. The technology works. I’d imagine both networks have made significant changes to their code bases and they’ve failed to execute as a business. That is not the fault of Mastodon.