One person's request for Fediverse applications —
Alex wants to be able to choose what the preview image is for a video, chosen from the frames in the video.
...
I can imagine editing tools (in Fediverse applications) would also be useful.
It is also common elsewhere for people to be able to use custom images for preview images.
#FediDev #FediDevs #FediUX #Fediverse #FediverseUX #PreviewImage #Video
![From Alex (@folduptoys@socel.net):
"I wish i could set the thumbnail preview on these [videos] lol"](https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/719/543/903/064/088/original/a068a4d07cb8e76e.png)
Some people want BREAKING NEWS.
RE: https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1710701583988896115
![From Noah Smith (@Noahpinion@twitter.com):
"""
Because this platform [Twitter] no longer shows news headlines, today I found myself searching Google News instead of searching Twitter for news about breaking events, for the first time in many years.
Every other change to the platform so far has been cosmetic, but the removal of headlines [from OpenGraph cards] disabled a core functionality. Twitter was always a news feed; now it's just a series of images and seemingly random comments.
This opens the door for real Twitter-disrupter to emerge -- not a Twitter clone, but some thing that gets people posting breaking news that's more targeted and relevant than Google News.
Whoever figures out how to do that will make a lot of money.
"""
"""](https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/719/456/983/990/171/original/8ecd5319e287b7df.png)
What one person wants from an alternative to a Twitter:
• choice of home-feed algorithm,
• editable posts,
• ability to moderate replies
This is an area I think we could improve on the Fediverse —
Nested Comments
This (in the attached screen-shot) is from someone on Twitter who is also on Mastodon and Bluesky.
He seems to be a fan of the nested comments UI on Bluesky.
We have some great applications on the Fediverse. They could be made even greater with this improvement.
Something Fediverse related that I am working on —
Toddlerverse
Basically, what I have been thinking about is —
What would take to make areas of the Fediverse geared towards toddlers.
(The document I am writing is still a work in progress.)
(I am a parent of young children, so I have first-hand experience with kids usage of online media, including social-media.)
#FediUX #Fediverse #FediverseUX #SpreadFediverse #Toddler #Toddlers #Toddlerverse
"Signal was great, but I wanted something I could truly own. Enter Matrix — a protocol, not a platform. I now run my own homeserver, complete with bridges, Maubot automations, and rooms that feel more like digital living rooms than rented chat spaces."
https://laurahargreaves.com/growing-my-fediverse/
RE: https://mastodon.laurahargreaves.com/@laura/115536140849221234
What is involved in moving your account from one server to another seems much, much more difficult than it should be.
There are simple services that exist that — when a user fills-out & submits a <form> on the Web that simple service e-mails someone that data.
These simple services are alternatives to more complex back-end with a database.
An alternative to this alternative could be — instead of e-mailing someone the submitted data, send that data via the Fediverse using ActivityPub.
ActivityPub them. (Can “ActivityPub” be a verb‽)
Probably as a private DM.
RE: https://mastodon.social/@cheeaun/115381698564197327
This is an argument for (also) having a recommendation-engine based feed.
(I.e., what some mistakenly call "the algorithm" or an "algorithmic feed".)
“I know the comparison here is 450 followers to 4,500, but follower number isn't indicative of the full picture. Think about TikTok, and how you can have 50 followers but have posts that reach millions of views.”
RE: https://cara.app/post/2e0d29d3-a57a-4b70-b0d0-9cefc15176ca
The WAFRN idea of custom themes is very cool, too.
Decades ago, being able to 'theme' and 'skin' things was common.
I like that WAFRN has this feature.
3/
I would assume that, from an ActivityPub & JSON-LD point-of-view, that these WAFRN "bites" / "pokes" are probably some type of custom Activity type.
RE: https://wedistribute.org/2025/10/wafrn-chaotic-good/
#ActivityPub #FediUX #Fediverse #FediveseUX #JSONLD #SpreadFediverse #wafrn
2/
It might be fun to make able to use your own custom verbs, too.
For example:
"Joe Blow has throw a water balloon at you."
I think it wouldalso be nice if other Fediverse software supported the displaying of these types of activities (even if they don't support creating them.)
1/
I like the idea of having "fun" things that are part of (at least some of) the Fediverse.
The WAFRN idea of "bites" / "pokes" seems like one of them.
I would assume notifications for it might look something like:
"Joe Blow has bit you."
...
If we were to do a regular online Fediverse meeting —
(Maybe once a month.)
WHAT DAYS OF THE WEEK WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO ATTEND?
A regular (online) meeting for Fediverse developers, for those who care about the Fediverse as a social movement, and for those who care about the success of the Fediverse.
Sunday?
Monday?
Tuesday?
Wednesday?
Thursday?
Friday?
Saturday?
(You can pick more than one day)
PLEASE REPLY WITH YOUR ANSWER.
#ActivityPub #FediDev #FediUX #Fediverse #FediverseUX #SocialWeb
2/
I spend time thinking about how this (the importance of files and file data-formats) intersects with user-experience (UX).
For example, what types of files could you get regular people to create?
I don't think you can get regular people en masse to write JSON (including JSON-LD).
I think even getting them (regular people) to write HTML is difficult.
Something similar to Markdown probably has the best chance or success. Maybe something similar to INI, too.
1/
Something I said before (and felt even longer) is —
An open protocol is better than an app.
But an open file data-format is better than an open protocol.
I.e.,:
file data format ≫ protocol ≫ app
https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113495330687127439
With that in mind —
I have found that I have wanted this, too.
I follow a lot of hash-tags. Which is great.
But, sometimes I just want to see a feed of just the people I follow without the hash-tag posts.
This is a pattern that I've already seen people do on the Fediverse, Twitter, and other places.
Although, usually people take a screenshot of the post, and then mark-it-up.
It seems like Threads payed-the-cows-path and made something people were already doing easier.
I wonder if the user-experience (UX) could be improved.
Perhaps their front-end client app could warn them when an ActivityPub Group actor is included in the reply tree.
Although, as I said here:
https://mastodon.social/@reiver/114113739165883616
— if you post anything publicly, strangers across the Fediverse may see it, too.
So, even if there isn't a Group actor, their message cloud still get around.
RE: https://atomicpoet.org/objects/f8f8a0be-3cb9-4aaf-9635-9eb02057d15b
I think it would be better if Forgejo / Codeberg (also) provided a QR code for generated access-tokens hexadecimal string.
Generating an access-token on your laptop, and then — manually typing in that (access-token) hexadecimal string into your phone is error-prone and tedious.
A QR code that you could scan from your mobile phone would help reduce that error and tedium.
