I am back now. Atmospheric Confwhere I traveled on an overnight train with @mmccue and Ryan Barrett to join others in the work to decentralize the social web!
And now Mike and @marci_mccue are here to launch something that’s been over a year in the making: Social websites.
The idea should be familiar, but Implementation And Scale what’s new
Now anyone can create and launch their own corner of the internet and pull social content with familiar publishers like @Bluesky , @Mastodon , @Pixelfed , @Threads (and more!). the edge, Decoder, Vergecast, Version date, Wired, The Politics of Rolling Stone, 404 media, Close fullcast., MMQB, Deviantart: The Game!, All net, Film feedand The Oregonian Participant
Creating a social website
to use surf.socialAnyone can create a surf feed, publish it with a subdomain and launch it as their own social website.
Feeds may include sources from Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, YouTube, podcast services, blogs and newsletters (RSS). Users can also assign a community hashtag, allowing people to contribute to the feed just by using the hashtag. They can also set filters and exclude profiles or terms to keep conversations on topic.
More tools for customization (eg adding custom headers and colors) and managing feeds are coming soon. Most importantly, social websites can now be integrated outside of the surf, into online communities or into websites.
The Android app is now available. iOS app coming soon..