Reading 84K by Claire North.
People and blogs involved with and about the IndieWeb community, the fediverse, and/or the open web in general.
Seville
Seville
Going to Cáceres. brb
Going to Cáceres. brb
I continue to be impressed with Bluesky’s growth. From Last Week in the ATmosphere, covering the 10 million users milestone with 5.5 million monthly active users:
User retention after this new signup wave is also notably high, with daily active users peaking at 1.91 million, and staying at 1.57 million some two weeks later.
I hope the uppercase “AT” can be dropped over time, though. 🙂 Just “Atmosphere” is nice.
I was hoping adding Bluesky video upload would be a quick win this week, but it’s going to take a little longer. The API works differently than photo upload. Need to restructure my code first before I can support it well.
Pre-ordered Directing at Disney a few months ago and promptly forgot about it until it arrived this week. Looks good just flipping through the pages. 📚
I submitted Micro.blog’s Threads support to Meta again with a new video demo, and it was rejected again. Will try again later this week. So I guess this feature is still in beta for a while longer.
I don’t get why people subscribe to a service or newsletter and then mark those emails as spam. You asked for the email! I know everyone is forgetful, but marking as spam doesn’t help anyone (and in fact hurts the email sending reputation of small companies like Micro.blog).
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Responding to work emails after hours contributes to burnout, hostility
[Myoung-Gi Chon in The Conversation]
"We found a disturbing link between work-related communication outside of regular hours and increased employee burnout. Answering emails after hours was linked to worse productivity, employees badmouthing their employers ...
Interesting thread on a simple upgrade for any podcasting client that would create a network of tools people could use for subscribing and listening. I've tried to get people who make podcast clients to listen. Yes I am a user, but I also designed the technology, and did the first implementations, so I know what's possible. The medium could work so much better if they simply adopted the interests of their users. I never want to lock users into my products, I want them to choose them because they're the best.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinking
"Those of us who are makers, who create the source, need to be wary of those who would take our creations and squeeze out the juice. They’re grifters who will hop onto the next fad, but we’re trying to build something big here, something long term—something that lasts for generations."
Matt Mullenweg takes a strong stand for open source, and against companies that claim to be open but aren't quite.
Of course, not everything Automattic does is open source - its commercial operations were kicked off by the centralized Akismet anti-spam service, after all - but I agree that this clarity is useful.
It ends with a call to action: to support organizations that support ecosystems rather than abuse them. It's hard to disagree with that.
[Link]
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Candi Miller Died Afraid to Seek Care Amid Georgia’s Abortion Ban
[Kavitha Surana at ProPublica]
"When the mother of three realized she had unintentionally gotten pregnant in the fall of 2022, Georgia’s new abortion ban gave her no choice. Although it made exceptions for acute, life-threatening emergencies, it didn’t accou...
Going to Seville. brb
Going to Seville. brb
Living In A Lucid Dream
I love the way that Claire L. Evans writes.
Matt Mullenweg
• Matt
WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinking
(This post should be read while listening to Wish by Joshua Redman. The writing is synchronized to the music reading speed.) Contributor day just wrapped up for Portland for WordCamp US. If you ever have a chance to visit a WordCamp, I recommend it. It’s an amazing group of people brought together by this crazy … Continue reading WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinking →
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Mozilla exits the fediverse and will shutter its Mastodon server in December
[Sarah Perez at TechCrunch]
"Mozilla is exiting the fediverse. Though the concept of the open social web, also known as the fediverse, has been picking up momentum ever since Meta last year introduced its first-ever federated app, Instagram Threads, Firefox ...
The new Snap Spectacles are too bulky but they’re the first AR glasses that I can actually imagine becoming as convenient as normal glasses. These will be small and great before the Vision Pro is cheap and light. Assuming Snap wants to eventually make a real product, not a dev prototype.
At first I was surprised that Mozilla.social is shutting down, but Mozilla didn’t seem to have a complete strategy for the social web. Running a Mastodon server and investing in Mammoth were good first steps. Missing was anything that tied these efforts back to Firefox, Pocket, or new products.
On Jack Dorsey’s point that in the age of AI, it’s important to own your identity and content… For me it goes back to trust, and why personal blogs will be more valuable than algorithmic or retweeted posts from strangers. Lean in to the human voice and relationships with readers.
Nic Chan
What an excellent personal website!