I love knowing that a lot of my G+ friends can be located over on Pluspora. I have a place in my heart for Pluspora despite the feelings I have regarding Diaspora (it's complicated).
I've been test driving Friendica. There's a lot to like. At this moment, the only ding I can come up with is that markdown isn't part of posting/comments/profile editor.
If you are interested in having a look around, I'm amongst other G+ refugees here https://social.isurf.ca
thom@social.isurf.ca
https://social.isurf.ca
Apparently, I need to register to read your circle there on Friendica.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Russell circle?
ReplyDeleteShelenn Ayres > circle?
ReplyDeleteIt is the one listed in the post; specifically, the one at social.isurf.ca - iSurf Social (home) .
Benjamin Russell I'm still getting used to Friendica - I'm not sure I'm doing public posts correctly. I'm trying to figure it all out without RTFM to get a feel for what it is like for the average social media user.
ReplyDeleteDespite Diaspora's knuckle dragging re: post/comments editing, the interface was relatively intuitive.
I've posted 3 test posts (one photo & text, one vid from camera, one vid from YouTube) and it's a lovely display - like G+ without the broken aspects or ads. I haven't yet looked at the sharing options closely, but I see only the option thus far to share with contacts (which I do not have). But my posts went into some feed, not sure who can see. Still, I've yet to see any signs of life there, which may mean I'm doing something very wrong, I can't say.... Oh, and there's chat function!
ReplyDeleteIn sum, 1) Google+ should finally honor its "don't be evil" credo and do the right thing, good for the brand, for long-time users, even investors (as all the G+ activity with easy links to YouTube or products generates revenue, no?) - to say nothing of good will and brand reputation. 2) Pluspora/Diaspora work well for many people, provides privacy controls, and has a very friendly, "this is your community" feel. I received welcomes and found some kindred spirits (photography, social issues, music, art, culture, etc.) right away. And they found me. BUT, so far Diaspora has some limitations in terms of "collection" building AND, for me at least, my ID does not give me access to the larger diaspora community; Is it only possible to peruse one pod at a time? And 3) MeWe has, IMHO, the best graphic interface of breed at the moment, but I'm not sure where to go with it (short of making public posts widely & seeing what comes back, which will be another test). So far, radio silence.
And now I sit back and watch, as the Holiday season descends upon us, and Google +ers are being given the hugest chunk of coal ever seen filling the stocking, Google +'s death sentence for its own child. "Sad".
Hope this helps at all. That's my "analysis" thus far.
Thanks, I'll add this to my Pluspora, MeWe, KlasterMe evaluation.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Russell Ah he posted the main server page where a user would sign up. His profile page is at social.isurf.ca - iSurf Social (profile)
ReplyDeleteThere are different themes available in settings to change your user interface. The default theme can be further customized in settings. Finally, anyone can create a theme :) To get to themes and customizations, go to your settings page and select display.
ReplyDeleteThom Thomas I've only been there 2.5 minutes; I don't see a public stream -- or any posts.
ReplyDeleteI really like Pluspora for the image quality and post formatting. It falls down as creating a Group/community or a Collection isn't possible.
I thought KlasterMe was going to be the closest to G+ as you create a Page, which would cover the Collections angle; but you can only create one. So why give it the heading "PAGES"?
John Soanes go to social.isurf.ca - iSurf Social (community) to see the global community posts.
ReplyDeleteMichael Fenichel I've written about my problems and suspicions of MeWe as being tolerant of alt-right and ethnostate (read: Nazis) fascist.
ReplyDeleteEdward Morbius has a pretty in-depth analysis here: old.reddit.com - MeWe: A trip report
I'll quote what I find most damning:
\\
Political Groups
It's curious that MeWe make a specific point in their FAQ that:
At MeWe we have absolutely no political agenda and we have a very straightforward Terms of Service. MeWe is for all law-abiding people everywhere in the world, regardless of political, ethnic, religious, sexual, and other preferences.
There are 403 political groups on MeWe. I won't list them all here, but the first 100 or so give a pretty clear idea of flavour. Again, membership is in (parentheses). Note that half the total political Groups memberships are in the first 21 groups listed here, the first 6 are 25% of the total.
Donald J. Trump 2016 - Present (11486)
The Conservative's Hangout (8345)
Qanon Follow The White Rabbit (5600)
Drain The Swamp (4978)
Libertarians (4528)
United We Stand Trump2020 (4216)
The Right To Self Defense (3757)
Alternative Media (3711)
Hardcore Conservative Patriots for Trump (3192)
Bastket Of Deplorables4Trump! (3032)
Return of the Republic (2509)
Infowars Chat Room Unofficial (2159)
Donald Trump Our President 2017-2025 (2033)
Berners for Progress (1963)
Sean Hannity Fans (1901)
The American Conservative (1839)
I Am The NRA (1704)
Tucker Carlson Fox News (1645)
We Love Donald Trump (1611)
MAGA - Make America Great Again (1512)
Q (1396)
ClashDaily.com (1384)
news from the front (1337)
Basket of Deplorables (1317)
Payton's Park Bench (1283)
Convention of States (1282)
Britons For Brexit (1186)
MoJo 5.0 Radio (1180)
MeWe Free Press (1119)
The Constitutionally Elite (1110)
Libertarian (1097)
WOMEN FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP (1032)
AMERICANS AGAINST ISIS and OTHER ENEMIES (943)
#WalkAway Campaign (894)
ALEX JONES (877)
The Lion Is Awake ! (854)
We Support Donald Trump! (810)
The Stratosphere Lounge (789)
TRUMP-USA-HANDS OFF OUR PRESIDENT (767)
Official Tea Party USA (749)
Mojo50 Jackholes (739)
Yes Scotland (697)
"WE THE DEPLORABLE" - MOVE ON SNOWFLAKE! (688)
Judge Jeanine Pirro Fans (671)
Anarcho-Capitalism (658)
Ted Cruz for President (650)
No Lapdog Media (647)
Q Chatter (647)
Daily Brexit (636)
Tucker Carlson Fox News (601)
The Trumps Storm Group (600)
QAnon-Patriots WWG1WGA (598)
100% American (569)
Ladies For Donald Trump (566)
Deep State (560)
In the Name of Liberty (557)
Material Planet (555)
WikiUnderground (555)
Trump NRA Free Speech Patriots on MeWe Gab.ai etc (546)
Magna Carta Group (520)
Constitutional Conservatives (506)
Question Everything (503)
Conspiracy Research (500)
Bill O'Reilly Fans (481)
Conservative Misfit's (479)
Canadian politics (478)
Anarchism (464)
HARDCORE DEPLORABLES (454)
Deplorable (450)
Tampa Bay Trump Club (445)
UK Politics (430)
Bongino Fan Page (429)
Radical Conservatives (429)
RESIST THE RESISTANCE (419)
The Deplorables (409)
America's Freedom Fighters (401)
Politically Incorrect & Proud (399)
CONSERVATIVES FOR AMERICA ! (385)
Political satire (383)
RISE OF THE RIGHT (371)
UK Sovereignty,Independence,Democracy -Everlasting (366)
The Patriots Voting Coalition (359)
End The Insanity (349)
Coming American Civil War! (345)
Constitutional Conservatives (343)
United Nations Watch (342)
ReplyDeleteA Revival Of The Critical Thinking Union (337)
The New Libertarian (335)
Libertarian Party (official ) (333)
DDS United (Duterte Die-hard Supporters) (332)
American Conservative Veterans (331)
Anarchism/Agorism/Voluntaryism (328)
America Needs Donald Trump (326)
The UKIP Debating Society (321)
Coalition For Trump (310)
Egalitarianism (306)
FRIENDS THAT LIKE JILL STEIN AND THE GREEN PARTY (292)
2nd Amendment (287)
Never Forget #SethRich (286)
Green Party Supporters 2020 (283)
It seems there is relatively little representation from the left wing, or even the centre, of the political spectrum. A case-insensitive match for "liberal" turns up:
104: Conservatives Against Liberal Beliefs C.A.L.I.B (273)
184: Progressive and Liberal Politics (119)
301: Liberalism is a Mental Disorder (33)
302: Resistance Against Liberal Socialism (33)
358: NOT For Liberals (17)
367: Drinking Liberally Houston (14)
400: Stephanie Miller's Sexy Liberal Army (6)
Mainstream political parties are little represented, though again, the balance seems skewed searching on "(democrat|republic|gop)":
11: Return of the Republic (2509)
161: Death to the Democrat Party! (138)
188: Republican Liberty Caucus (113)
306: Twin Cities South Metro Republicans (32)
316: Non-Conspiracy, Non-Republican Libertarians (30)
323: Democrats and Veterans Party (28)
364: GOP Fireworks (15)
391: Saving The Republic: Video News & Opinion (8)
The terms "left" and "right" provide a few matches, not all strictly political-axis aligned:
7: The Right To Self Defense (3757)
80: RISE OF THE RIGHT (371)
150: POLITICS ON THE LEFT (156)
157: 1st Amendment Rights Protected By The 2nd Amendmen (141)
209: On The Left With Jeremy Corbyn (84)
262: Eyes-Left Labour & PP - Social Media (49)
300: Gather Left (33)
385: Defend Washington State Gun Rights (9)
390: Left Coast Conservatives (8)
Socialism and Communism also warrant a few mentions:
121: Revolutionary Socialists United (204)
216: Socialist Thought (79)
220: Stories Of Communism (76)
262: Eyes-Left Labour & PP - Social Media (49)
288: Snuggly Wuggly Socialists (38)
302: Resistance Against Liberal Socialism (33)
And there are some references to green, labour/labor parties:
97: FRIENDS THAT LIKE JILL STEIN AND THE GREEN PARTY (292)
100: Green Party Supporters 2020 (283)
262: Eyes-Left Labour & PP - Social Media (49)
320: Green Party of Ohio Issues & Discussion Group (29)
Conclusion
Whilst there may not be a political agenda, there does appear to be at least a slight political bias to the site. And a distinctive skew on many other topical subjects.
Those seeking new homes online may wish to take this into account.
//
Thom Thomas Well.... I've now been able to see your page - yes, you do have political opinions! From me, "no comment" on any platform's "political bias", or hypocrisy, or whatever. I think the worst evils may be "monetizing" and "censoring" users. MHO.
ReplyDeleteI've read Morbius' take (and love Forbidden Planet!) and other posts about alt-right, alleged Chinese origins, and more. But - relative to say, Facebook?
I think I'll stick, for now, with the "here and now" experience of networking/ sharing / exploring offered by the various services, from quick fuzzy fluff (cat photos) to memes (including conspiracy-themed), to science, history, and music...
Choice is good. I'm not invested enough in any community (other than G+) to worry about hidden agendas; So long as my privacy, data, & human rights are respected.(along with others' rights to same), I'm going to focus on posts & people. Only when something approaches the level of evil routinely seen in say Facebook, TripAdvisor, and Google, do I vocally speak out. (publicly)
But enough about my experience and philosophy! (sorry) I tend to stay quiet unless really inspired or provoked, as G+ is doing now by taking a bulldozer to our shared lives.
While 'here', thanks to Shelenn Ayres for the link enabling viewing of a profile page, beyond sign-in page. I still don't know what I can easily sign into on the network, even after taking the option to sign onto the beta and export data. Not my biggest concern at the moment, though. Also thanks for the reminder on display settings. I'd played with that briefly before, partial towards Egyptian Blue, but it's only really the top and some text that gets more colorful/vibrant. (It cannot compare with either G+ or MeWe). Not that appearance should be sole criterion, but... "it is what it is".
Michael Fenichel You may like other themes like Vier which is very different. Hyacinth Landry who is developing a node for opensimmers has changed the default theme for it to be quite different and very user friendly so far! Anyone can customize their user interface or create a new theme they like. The power is in the user's hands on Friendica. See my public or Google+ Mass Migration community posts for quick tutorials on getting started.
ReplyDeleteShelenn Ayres Thanks! I found the little button -- a better icon would have been a globe.
ReplyDeleteJohn Soanes Some of the themes are different icons or even words instead. My guess for that theme maker was a target as in do you want to target the local or the global community (see links up top to switch).
ReplyDeleteI tried the pirate theme. Varrry funny.
ReplyDelete/sub
ReplyDeleteOf note, Hubzilla and Osada are from the same developer as Friendica, and support Markdown. They're a little more complex to use though.
ReplyDeletemathew murphy There is an addon for markdown in Friendica as well.
ReplyDeleteFriendica is a bit clunky and doesn't respond quickly.
ReplyDeleteShawn Andrew depends on the node and the version like any open source project.
ReplyDeleteShawn Andrew Responsiveness is a major gripe I've got with Diaspora. It's actually a great platform to read on, given the keyboard / hotkey controls:
ReplyDeletej/k: down/up
m: maximise
c: comment
l: like
r: reshare
(I think there are a few others, I posted on those a ways back, at Diaspora).
But opening new posts and going through my Notifications is a drag. Multiple seconds, and new pages required for everything. A large opportunity for improvement (or possibly an argument for a personal server nearby which can respond faster).
My experience with Friendica so far has been superior to Diaspora with a few exceptions. Diaspora pod I'm on seems to load pages faster and it has markdown baked in. The Friendica server I'm on loads about as fast as G+ and I've noticed one notification bug when someone requested to be friends.
ReplyDeleteI approved it, we are mutually friends but the notification will not clear. I have flushed my browser cache yet and I haven't tried on a different machine but plan on it.
I can't tell you how awesome it is to edit posts and comments. AND - as a bonus, I can like and dislike comments. I feel like that helps the conversation be less cluttered and it works as a stand in for non-verbal things like head nodding et cetera.
I'm also able to pull any G+ posts I make into my Friendica feed - so cross posting. It also feeds into my Pluspora (pod on Diaspora) feed, so bonus. There are some finer points I need to iron out in this regard but I've done most of this without reading any documentation yet.
I've mostly ignored the "forums" function but it seems like it might work as a stand in for communities.
I'm still not super clear on the difference between "folders," hashtags and categories.
I'm gonna need markdown - this BB edit thing is killing the vibe for me. But otherwise - good times. My story may change in a month.
Edward Morbius Diaspora is quite good with a nice format for photos.
ReplyDeleteMost apps seem to improve with time. They learn to swim in the app pool otherwise they drown.
ReplyDeleteShawn Andrew I agree on the format. I was referring specifically to responsiveness.
ReplyDeleteThough: one format gripe: If I want to post something, I've got to go specifically to the Stream or Profile page to start a new post. I can't just fire one off from any given page on the site, as with G+ these days.
(I'm trying to think of whether or not G+ always had this dynamic, I seem to recall initial versions did not.)
Michael Fenichel I started with Pluspore and after 2-3 weeks of activity-inactivity just deleted my profile bcos it's looks and feels like nothing. sorry for saying. somehow I also was in this idea that I have to be connected to G+ ppl and followed all these moved there, but excluding a few photographers with which we conversated and discussed there, the place dead before his birth. I'm not talking about multiple discussions about how this place is better than G+ or how to export and import the data between, mostly I saw the people not interesting to me also here. so why?
ReplyDeleteVictor Bezrukov I have found Pluspora increasing responsive to my (few) posts, with invites to connect, and leading to having a few interesting photogs and satire/news fans' posts giving me a steady, but not overwhelming or spam-filled feed. Honestly I've discovered some new groups of street, nature, and landscape photographers, some of whom are tagged as #gplusrefugee s. I've really had very few discussions on G+ versus x "there", while nearly buried in them (understandably) "here", where we are the designated victims, facing eviction or worse. Well, as they say "YMMV", and as I say: "Context and perspective!" Best luck.
ReplyDeletePS, still hoping to take some of my "regular" contacts/friends of G+ "over to the other side", wherever that may be. ;) But while our individual menu of wants/needs can all be met by G+, and I think no other one place.