Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
> Mastodon users can now opt-in to having their posts searchable.

I think it's the other way around... I'm managing two Mastodon
accounts. On one, there's not search reference (I assume the version
of Mastodon there isn't up to date). On the other, I see an option
to opt out of search indexing: i.e. it's an opt-out rather than an
opt-in. (Which means you're searchable by default, and have to opt
out to remove yourself.)
  

    
Are you looking at the management options? At the user level, it's opt-in.

Although my experience is that it doesn't work very well.
  

    
I'm looking at Preferences/Other. The option is "Opt-out of search
engine indexing." It's unchecked by default.
  

    
(At the user level, I don't see anything called "management
options.")
  

    
In the version I use, v4.2.1, the full text search option is in
Public profile / Privacy and reach.
  

    
Found it: "Include public posts in search results."
  

    
Still looking for discussion of <48> re. IndieWeb.
  

    
Re: <48)

> To what extent do you have to be tech savvy to get value from
IndieWeb - are the tools accessible to users
with limited understanding of web technology?

i'll try to answer with the caveat that i'm almost certainly missing
existing relevant indieweb projects. the post in <41>:

> I think that usability isn't optional

seems consistent with indieweb principles:

https://indieweb.org/principles
UX and design is more important than protocols, formats, data
models, schema etc. We focus on UX first, and then as we figure that
out we build/develop/subset the absolutely simplest, easiest, and
most minimal protocols & formats sufficient to support that UX, and
nothing more. AKA UX before plumbing.

in practice, the principle of prioritizing UX and design for
indieweb has produced great UX experiences after software
installation.  however, installing indieweb tools is often too high
a bar for non-tech users.  therefore, sites like https://micro.blog
(i'm a delighted customer) are needed to skip that installation
step.  it is not a free site, but the user experience for non-tech
users is great.

> How well is IndieWeb progressing as an alternative to corporate
centralized web  platforms?

we need more sites like https://micro.blog.  however, at the moment,
it seems unlikely that any big tech sites will support a sufficient
set of indieweb technolgies and i don't think that is a bad thing
since big tech sites would probably serve ads and pull the rug from
under people anyway.
  

    
I wonder if The WELL community is willing to re-asses the idea of supporting
some form of federation for The WELL? (My guess is no, but I would be
pleased to be wrong about that.)
  

    
Those indieweb principles, especially “make what you need, use what
you make,” in some ways describe the early environment of the Well.
(Maybe not so much the “document your stuff” part.) It’s true that
rolling our own has allowed this platform to be unusually long-lived
by internet standards.
  

    
> re-asses the idea of supporting some form of federation for The
WELL

The WELL will soon have an official Mastodon instance, so I think we
are supporting federation in that sense. What else might we do?
  

    
A federated Well would be better able to manage its unruly sudden
growth.
  

    
<karish> That doesn't make sense. 
  

    
Nonetheless it's true. Whether the current growth rate justifies
doing this is another question. And whether there's another reason
to build a federated Well is still another question, which <matisse>
might answer.
  

    
It would be true, if the WELL was experiencing unruly sudden growth.
I don't think it is. The reason to federate might be to extend the
reach of the community, but that could happen via the Mastodon
instance. I'm not clear that we could federate the current
discussions, or that the technology we use could be propagated
across a system of separate federated servers, as Mastodon is. It
could be interesting to consider that possibility, if there was a
demand for it.
  

    
Is Echo still, uh, echoing? It was sort of a sister city, iirc.
  

    
> I don't think it is.

Duh.

> The reason to federate might be to extend the reach of the
community

What does this mean? The community faces inward, not outward.
  

    
I know we talked about this back in the 90s, but I still think having
regional versions of general areas of discussion is a good place for
federation.  We kinda-sorta have this on the well, but it's mostly a
number of bay-area conferences with topics linked to general topics of
discussion (ex: <restaurant>).  Meaning if you don't live in the bay
area but read <restaurants> you have to forget/ignore a fair number of
discussions where you simply have no interest.
  

    
There are other regional discussion areas - I'm pretty sure there
is:

- "northbay" (north of the Bay Area)
- "mountain" (Rockies-centric?)
- "east" (east coast, but mostly New England, and most of that,
Boston-centric)

Plus, some city-focused discussions:
- "sanfran"
- "oakland"
- "newyork"

I'm sure there are many more - I most often find out about the
regional conferences when I mention upcoming travel plans.
  

    
Creating topics in regional conferences is up to users, as is
creating new regional conferences. As would be creating and
maintaining and managing regional services, which would entail much
more overhead.
  

    
We've talked some about making the Fediverse and the Independent web
more user-friendly and accessible to a wider audience. I wonder if
there's any specific groups who are dedicated to that task broadly,
vs each platform doing its own thing? What are the most important
features that independent and decntralized platforms should
prioritize?

Similarly, are there specific groups focused on privacy and security
for the Fediverse and the Independent web?
  

    
Just noticed this, posted on Mastodon by Evan as a poll question:

Evan Prodromou
@evan@cosocial.ca
"Discussions about the fediverse should happen on the fediverse."
- Strongly agree 27%
- Somewhat agree 41%
- Somewhat disagree 23%
- Strongly disagree 9%

(Those percentages are as of 1:51pm CT, 11/18/2023).
  

    
That question has implications for evangelism.
  

    
I wonder whether anybody has any predictions what the next, say, 5
years will bring in terms of social functionality on the web,
broadly speaking. Whether that be the Well, or the Fediverse, the
Indieweb, centralized social platforms, or all of the above.

All more or less the same? Incremental changes? Dramatic changes?
Which ones?

As I said in the introduction, due to various trends intensifying,
to me it feels right now that far more possibilities are open than
there were even just a few years ago. Which will be seize? Which
will we miss?
  

    
Or will we walk away from social media in general?  I'm seeing some FB
feuds between people who used to be friends over the most trivial
disagreements.

My brother is also a security professional (well, I'm retired) and has
pointed out to me how FB and social media have stripped away all the
systems of polite communication we've built up over centuries.  He
spends time in a SCIF as part of his job and I suspect being "locked
in a room" with a bunch of people reminds you of good manners and
polite discussion.