micro.blog
{{short description|Microblogging site}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Micro.blog
| author = Manton Reece
| released = 24 April 2017
| license = Proprietary
| genre = Social news
}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Micro.blog}}
Micro.blog is a microblogging and social networking service created by Manton Reece. It is the first large multi-user social media service to support the Webmention and Micropub standards published by the World Wide Web Consortium, and is part of the Fediverse, supporting ActivityPub.
History
Micro.blog has features similar to Twitter or Instagram, and provides for posting status updates, articles, photos, short podcasts, and video. Micro.blog also supports long-form blogging.
It was launched on April 24, 2017, after a Kickstarter campaign that reached its funding target within one day. The service was built using Jekyll, but later transitioned to Hugo.{{cite web |last1=Reece |first1=Manton |title=Custom templates, categories, new theme, and more |url=https://www.manton.org/2019/01/30/custom-templates-categories.html |access-date=25 January 2023}} Users can post using hosted accounts or import RSS feeds from other self-hosted blogs to syndicate them into the network from other websites they run. Users can also import their posts from Twitter, WordPress, Tumblr, and the defunct microblogging service App.net.
Some of the Kickstarter Campaign rewards involved access to a book on Indie Microblogging that Reece committed to writing. A full draft of this now exists (as of 2022-12-22) and is publicly available.
The web hosting service DreamHost supported Micro.blog's Kickstarter campaign, and announced their intent to help customers create independent microblogs hosted at DreamHost that are compatible with Micro.blog.
Philosophy
Micro.blog encourages users to publish under their own domain as part of its
support for the IndieWeb "POSSE" principles—Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere. This publishing model involves the end user posting content to their own domain name based site first, then using web standards to syndicate to multiple other social networks and platforms.
Micro.blog supports syndication to Facebook Pages, as well as to Twitter, Facebook, Medium, LinkedIn, Mastodon, and Tumblr accounts. It also supports importing from data exported from WordPress, and supports cross-posting from Instagram to micro.blog.
Micro.blog eschews many of
the common features of Twitter and other microblogging platforms.
For example, Micro.blog does not show
follower counts, does not have
does not have equivalents of
or quote tweeting,
does not algorithmically recommend users and like
Mastodon, and does not have full-text search
or client apps. Reece says in his book:
"It mirrors a philosophy we have with Micro.blog to launch without follower
Unusually, for a social network, Micro.blog's first full time employee
was a Community Manager,
who—among other things—produces a hand-curated "Discover" section on
Micro.blog.
Reece explains some of this in his book, saying:
"I think more social networks should do things that don’t scale,
prioritizing safety over profit. For example, in Micro.blog the
featured posts in Discover are curated by humans instead of
He also writes:
Micro.blog doesn't make it particularly easy to discover new users,
and posts don't spread virally. While some might view this as a
weakness, and it does mean we grow more slowly than other social
networks, this is by design. No retweets, no trending hashtags, no
unlimited global search, and no algorithmic recommended users.
Micro.blog limits search and avoids public likes and reposts so
that the snowball starts small and stays small. Instead of going
viral and becoming a major problem, fake accounts can be spotted
early and shut down if
Client applications
See also
References
{{Reflist |refs=
|url=https://indieweb.org/indieweb_network
|title=indieweb network - IndieWeb
|website=indieweb.org}}
|url= https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/can-indie-social-media-save-us
|title= Can "Indie" Social Media Save Us?
|last= Newport
|first= Cal
|date=2019-05-18
|publisher= The New Yorker
|access-date= 2019-11-18
|quote= In 2017, Manton Reece, an IndieWeb developer based in Austin, Texas, launched a Kickstarter for a service called Micro.blog. On its surface, Micro.blog looks a lot like Twitter or Instagram; you can follow users and see their posts sorted into a time line, and, if you like a post, you can send a reply that everyone can see. When I checked Micro.blog’s public time line recently, the top post was a picture of a blooming dogwood tree, with the caption “Spring is coming!” Even as it offers a familiar interface, though, everyone posting to Micro.blog does so on his or her own domain hosted on Micro.blog’s server or on their own personal server. Reece’s software acts as an aggregator, facilitating a sense of community and gathering users’ content so that it can be seen on a single screen. Users own what they write and can do whatever they want with it—including post it, simultaneously, to other competing aggregators. IndieWeb developers argue that this system—which they call posse, for “publish on your own site, syndicate elsewhere”—encourages competition and innovation while allowing users to vote with their feet. If Reece were to begin aggressively harvesting user data, or if another service were to start offering richer features, users could shift their attention from one aggregator to another with little effort. They wouldn't be trapped on a platform that owns everything they've written and is doing everything it can to exploit their data and attention.}}
|url= https://www.cultofmac.com/617968/microblog-videos/
|title= Micro.blog now lets you post videos
|last= Sorrel
|first= Charlie
|date= 2019-04-19
|publisher= Cult of Mac
|access-date= 2019-11-18 }}
|url= https://help.micro.blog/t/writing-longer-posts/27/6
|title= Writing longer posts
|date= 2021-03-31
|publisher= Micro.blog
|access-date= 2022-12-22 }}
|url= http://www.siliconhillsnews.com/2017/01/04/indie-microblogging-kickstarter-project-in-austin-reaches-its-goal-in-one-day/
|title= Indie Microblogging Kickstarter Project in Austin Reaches its Goal in One Day
|last= White
|first= Nicholas
|date= 2017-01-04
|website= Silicon Hill News
|access-date= 2017-06-07 }}
|url= https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/manton/indie-microblogging-owning-your-short-form-writing
|title= Indie Microblogging: owning your short-form writing
|last= Reece
|first= Manton
|date= 2017-01-03
|website= Kickstarter
|access-date= 2017-06-07 }}
|url=https://book.micro.blog
|title=Indie Microblogging (book)
|website=micro.blog
|access-date=2022-12-22}}
|url=https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/pitching-support-open-web/
|title=Pitching in to Support the Open Web
|last=DreamHost
|date=24 January 2017}}
|url=https://wptavern.com/micro-blog-project-surges-past-65k-on-kickstarter-gains-backing-from-dreamhost
|title=Micro.blog Project Surges Past $65K on Kickstarter, Gains Backing from DreamHost
|date=26 January 2017}}
|url=https://micro.blog/about
|title=Micro.blog
|website=micro.blog
|access-date=2019-02-28}}
|last1=Krycho
|first1=Chris
|title=Some Thoughts on micro.blog
|url=https://v5.chriskrycho.com/journal/some-thoughts-on-micro.blog/
|website=Sym·poly·mathesy
|access-date=2023-01-17}}
|last1=Reece
|first1=Manton
|title=Popularity Contests
|url=https://book.micro.blog/popularity-contests/
|website=Indie Microblogging (book) |publisher=Manton Reece
|access-date=2023-01-17}}
|last1=Reece
|first1=Manton
|title=UI impacts behavior
|url=https://book.micro.blog/ui-impacts-behavior/
|website=Indie Microblogging (book)
|publisher=Manton Reece
|access-date=2017-01-17}}
|last1=Reece
|first1=Manton
|title=Fake news
|url=https://www.manton.org/2016/11/22/fake-news-and.html
|website=Indie Microblogging (book)
|publisher=Manton Reece
|access-date=2023-01-17}}
|last1=Reece
|first1=Manton
|title=Discovery
|url=https://book.micro.blog/discovery/
|website=Indie Microblogging (book)
|access-date=2013-01-17}}
|url=https://indieweb.org/POSSE
|title=POSSE - IndieWeb
|website=indieweb.org
|access-date=2019-02-28}}
|url=https://help.micro.blog/2016/cross-posting-twitter/
|title=Cross-posting to Twitter, Medium, Mastodon, and more
|website=help.micro.blog
|language=en
|access-date=2019-02-28}}
|url= https://wptavern.com/micro-blog-adds-tumblr-cross-posting
|title= Micro.blog Adds Tumblr Cross-Posting
|last= Gooding
|first= Sarah
|date= 2019-08-26
|publisher= WP Tavern
|access-date=2019-11-18 }}
|url=https://help.micro.blog/2018/setting-up-wordpress/
|title=Setting up WordPress
|website=help.micro.blog
|language=en
|access-date=2019-02-28}}
|url=https://help.micro.blog/2017/instagram/
|title=Cross-posting to Micro.blog from Instagram
|website=help.micro.blog
|language=en
|access-date=2019-02-28}}
|url=https://www.macstories.net/reviews/microcasting-on-microblog-with-wavelength/
|title=Microcasting On Micro.blog With Wavelength}}
|url=https://www.macstories.net/reviews/sunlit-20-released-as-a-microblog-and-wordpress-photo-blogging-app/
|title=Sunlit 2.0 Released As A Micro.blog And Wordpress Photo Blogging App}}
|url=http://manton.micro.blog/2018/05/09/icro.html
|title=Icro 1.0}}
|url= https://gluon.app/
|title=Gluon }}
}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://micro.blog/}}
{{Microblogging}}
{{Online social networking}}
Category:Microblogging software
Category:Blog hosting services