mixmix
commented
6 years ago Hi all, I'm one of the humyns who put this application in, happy to answer any questions!
Whakapapa (genealogy) of Scuttlebutt
Scuttlebutt is a p2p database that was born in the South Pacifc ~5 years ago. The internet down here is a little slow and unreliable, and a friend wondered "what if our communication could be gossiped more like git?". (The name is nautical slang for gossip - the first dev lives on a very small boat at anchor)
Over the last 3 years, a village has gathered which holds values like inclusion, pluralism, subjectivity, independence and inter-dependence, and local-first (you can read more here )
The project contains grand social and technical vision, but is all about building working software and using it. We have hundreds of people (just in my visible gossip neighbourhood) using scuttlebutt daily.
scuttebutts from the UK, USA, NZ gathering to share stories... the database is pretty much the same
The medium is the message
The tech is exciting, but mostly because it's a substrate which supports social spaces that are completely novel (to digital). It's a decommodified space - a space without advertising or an owner looking to shape your engagement to maximise selling you as a product. This means the interfaces are designed for humans (is that so radical?).
Gossip only happens with those you're close to, which makes more space for listening, and less space for strangers abusing each other.
It doesn't need constant internet, or any internet (it can run on a sneakernet/ meshnet/ spacenet), meaning it works really well where other systems punish you for not being adjacent to the backbone of The Internet.
Message types are up to the users, meaning maximal flexibility for play, exploration, and evolution (we currently have chess, gathering, books, vote, and dark-crystal to name a few).
This and a bunch of human care lead to a social space which supports learning, where being yourself and sharing feels easy. It's common to hear new people say "this feels like the web in the 90s", or "I don't share things on social media any more, but this place feels different". It's easy to find conversations on parenting, feminism, mycology, solar setups, vegan-junkfood, and our FOSS show-and-tell.
All of this has been consciously chosen and guided to grow. I'm excited to expand more on what we've learnt about agency, authorship, (self-)governance, boundaries, grant management, inter-dependance, and many more topics.... and I don't want to fill up this whole thread. So please ask here, on twitter, or scuttlebutt
You can find out more at www.scuttlebutt.nz
Here's a couple of the apps I maintain on Scuttlebutt: Patchbay (a social media client) and Ticktack (a blogging client)
I also helped build Loomio (a FOSS tool for online decision making), and have taught Javascript and Empathy at Enspiral Dev Academy.
@staltz is also an active community member and dev. He's currently leading the development of mobile apps for Scuttlebutt.
rdbartlett
KadeMorton
[ UUID ] 7802d8ae-fdd0-4842-95e5-e9b39d5b94e0
[ Session Name ] Offgrid connections: from the South Pacific to Mars [ Primary Space ] Decentralisation [ Secondary Space ] Digital Inclusion
[ Submitter's Name ] mix irving [ Submitter's Affiliated Organisation ] scuttlebutt [ Submitter's GitHub ] mixmix
[ Other Facilitator 1's Name ] Andre Staltz [ Other Facilitator 1's GitHub ] staltz
What will happen in your session?
This session will be a brief introduction to how Scuttlebutt works (with visual analogies, and conversation), followed by a hands on session where participants will be invited to install a p2p client, and we will simulate communicating over poor connectivity (e.g. talking with a mars colony, or my family in rural New Zealand)
What is the goal or outcome of your session?
There's an emerging branch of the internet (scuttlebutt, DAT) which is radically different to the current mega platforms. It harkens back to the much more personal 90s web, but is a different space again - where communities host themselves / each other, communication is secure by default. The shape of agency, ownership, governance, and identity are radically different here. I want to offer attendees the opportunity to join a living community which 100s of welcoming humans already, and hopefully help them to dream brighter and richer (healthier) futures together. (The future could use any tech, but here I want to focus on joining a sociotechnical space that is alive and thriving)
If your session requires additional materials or electronic equipment, please outline your needs.
Just a projector would be great. I might need a dozen USB sticks, but I can likely source those
Time needed
90 mins