Ilya, [27/07/2023 17:52]
Studying the structure of social networks was interesting. I read about how bluesky, mastodon, and nostr are organized. And honestly, I don't know which approach is better.
They all have their issues.
Mastodon has problems with account portability and lacks text search (but do we really need text search? I believe tags are sufficient). There's also the drawback of excessive data duplication. A large instance will have to receive almost all data from the entire network.
Bluesky has issues with BGS (Big Graph Service). It receives all content from PDS (Personal Data Server) instances and generates a firehouse feed - a feed of all content in the network. It's currently very challenging and not cost-effective to decentralize. There's no initiative to host a massive dumpster of all content in the network. It's possible to host only a portion of the content, but then all the other content becomes inaccessible to users of that particular BGS. Also, when all these components are well thought out and implemented in production, using anything other than default settings will be even more complicated than with Mastodon (there will be even more components to choose from: Feed generator, BGS, PDS, Labaler).
Nostr is a cool idea. But if a relay deletes all your content, then it becomes your client's task to repost that content to another relay. Some relays are paid. Also, finding users by their long public key seems too complicated for average users.
All these networks fail to solve the moderation problems. They are all too complex for ordinary users if they don't use default settings (except for Nostr, which is always complex).
And, in my opinion, if we reason logically, mastodon.social (the central instance of Mastodon) provides a better user experience than the central instance of bluesky.
Studying the structure of social networks was interesting. I read about how bluesky, mastodon, and nostr are organized. And honestly, I don't know which approach is better.
They all have their issues.
Mastodon has problems with account portability and lacks text search (but do we really need text search? I believe tags are sufficient). There's also the drawback of excessive data duplication. A large instance will have to receive almost all data from the entire network.
Bluesky has issues with BGS (Big Graph Service). It receives all content from PDS (Personal Data Server) instances and generates a firehouse feed - a feed of all content in the network. It's currently very challenging and not cost-effective to decentralize. There's no initiative to host a massive dumpster of all content in the network. It's possible to host only a portion of the content, but then all the other content becomes inaccessible to users of that particular BGS. Also, when all these components are well thought out and implemented in production, using anything other than default settings will be even more complicated than with Mastodon (there will be even more components to choose from: Feed generator, BGS, PDS, Labaler).
Nostr is a cool idea. But if a relay deletes all your content, then it becomes your client's task to repost that content to another relay. Some relays are paid. Also, finding users by their long public key seems too complicated for average users.
All these networks fail to solve the moderation problems. They are all too complex for ordinary users if they don't use default settings (except for Nostr, which is always complex).
And, in my opinion, if we reason logically, mastodon.social (the central instance of Mastodon) provides a better user experience than the central instance of bluesky.
Foxpy, [27/07/2023 17:53]
I think text search is essential, in my humble opinion.
I think text search is essential, in my humble opinion.
Ilya, [27/07/2023 17:54]
For effective text search, a centralized component that stores all network data is necessary. Sadly, that's the case.
For effective text search, a centralized component that stores all network data is necessary. Sadly, that's the case.
Foxpy, [27/07/2023 17:55]
Well, it doesn't have to be extremely efficient.
Well, it doesn't have to be extremely efficient.
Foxpy, [27/07/2023 17:55]
It just needs to be able to search within the instance itself.
It just needs to be able to search within the instance itself.
Foxpy, [27/07/2023 17:55]
That would be sufficient.
That would be sufficient.
Ilya, [27/07/2023 17:55]
It seems like that might be possible. But I'm not sure.
It seems like that might be possible. But I'm not sure.
Foxpy, [27/07/2023 17:57]
Well, that's good then.
Well, that's good then.
Ilya, [27/07/2023 17:59]
"It deliberately does not allow searching for arbitrary strings in the entire database."
Oh, wait, you can only search for your own statuses, not everything :/
"It deliberately does not allow searching for arbitrary strings in the entire database."
Oh, wait, you can only search for your own statuses, not everything :/
Foxpy, [27/07/2023 17:59]
f u c k
f u c k
1 Comments latest
Ilya_MZP Author
2023-07-29T14:35:59ZThere really is no truly decentralized, easy to use and popular social network right. I hope Locutus (freenet.org) solves that issue someday.