I just saw a software update that mentioned GoToSocial so I looked it up to see what it is. And honestly, it’s kind of a thing I want, but barely.
So, think about posting, reading other people’s posts, you know, that whole online conversation thing. What do I really want? I want to hear from people I know and like. I want to hear about stuff they think is important. I want to be able to share what I’m up to with my friends, whom I may not see particularly often.
Do I especially care what my geographical neighbors think is important or interesting? Nope. If I did, I’d probably be more involved in the local ham radio scene, or even be walking up the driveway just to visit. But I’ve got very little (other than a ZIP code) in common with them.
So a single user Fediverse instance seems kind of attractive. But that brings in the problems of deliverability and discoverability. If I want people’s updates, either I need to poll their servers to get them or I need to spin up and keep my own server running and available. This is a problem. Because I feel like having a server that’s always on, whether I’m using it or not, is…kind of wasteful. Like, all that electricity and heat? Could we just…not?
What if, like, I don’t know…FidoNet or something? Like, have a server that spins up when the phone rings and then you use your momentary connection to upload your stuff and download everyone else’s stuff, and then you hang up and the server goes back to sleep? This is possible. We sort of did it once. External drives are cheap. Cell phones are a thing. Low power computers are a thing. “Instant” sleep/on is a thing. This could be made to work. Sure, it’d be slower, and a narrower pipe, and maybe inconvenient. But we could go outside and walk on the Earth, and we wouldn’t even need environment suits to do it.