newsonaut
Turning inner space into outer space
Monday, June 15, 2026
A place where we can be Canadian with each other
When I’m travelling in another country and meet a fellow Canadian, there is a feeling like we can relax and relate. With anyone else, there is a bit of barrier, even if we’re trying hard to be friendly.
Now that I’ve had a chance to spend a few days on Gander, a Canadian social media app just out of private testing, I have that same feeling of being with my peeps.
We can all just sort of chill with each other.
Gander isn’t restricted to Canadians, but it would be tricky for a non-Canadian to join. For one thing you have to prove you’re human before you can post. I did that by downloading Canada Post’s Identity+ app and, among other things, scanning in my passport.
This process was more complicated that I expected, but if it keeps the bots out, I’m all for it.
You have the option of going international by federating your account with Bluesky using the AT protocol. I won’t be doing that. Bluesky has a good reputation, but I fear there are way too many posts about U.S. politics, which I can do without.
More posts in the Social category
Sunday, June 14, 2026
This way to the town square
So, Cauê Napier has created this nifty little thing you can add to your site called Town Square. Of course, I signed up for it right away and implemented it on Newsonaut.
Where is it? Right over here.
It's a joy to use. A stickman version of you hangs out with other stick people, tossing out messages that disappear after a few seconds, never to be seen again. You can move around, jump, watch the birds, and Cauê has more planned.
I wasn’t sure about adding it to the bottom of every post, so I gave it its own page. For one thing, over on Cauê’s site, there was lots of activity and conversation, but I didn’t see anything like a discussion of the post it was attached to.
Then I thought, well, maybe it could just be a town square in general. So that’s what I have on Newsonaut. I’m still thinking about how I can feature it.
I’m also thinking Cauê might want to create something like townsquare.com. It would be a version of his Town Square with a bunch more features. I’m not sure what those might be, but one thing that comes to mind is the Club Penguin my kids used to play.
On the other hand, having a central location like that might go against the spirit of the indie web.
In any case, the idea as it stands is genius, and I look forward to the new features coming up.
Also, thanks Cauê for linking to my site. That was not expected. Now he’s looking at creating a map to join up all the town squares. When I read that, I figured I’d better get this post up so visitors can actually find it.
More posts in the Social category
Friday, March 29, 2024
What if we did social media IRL?
Have you ever seen someone on social media chastise you for spending too much time on the computer? Go outside, they say. Hang out with friends.
Setting the irony aside, this does conjure an image. What if you did hang out with friends, but you were so conditioned by social media that it wound up being an IRL template?
Here’s what it might look like.
Imagine a group of, say, a dozen people sitting in a circle in your living room. These people would be in that circle because they “follow” each other.
They come and go as they please. Some are there all there all the time. Some might be there for a few minutes.
The purpose of this group is to be social so some talking is expected or it won’t work.
Someone holds up a picture of a deer in their back yard. A few give a thumbs up because they like the picture. Others couldn’t care less about deer and don’t react. Some are distracted and don’t notice the picture.
Now things get rolling, and people have lots to say.
Person 1 says something. It’s interesting but before you can react . . .
Person 2 ignores what person 1 said, and says something unconnected. That’s also interesting.
Person 3 and person 4 bring up two other topics at the same time. It’s getting hard to keep up. You ignore what person 4 said because there is only so much you can take in.
Lots of people are saying lots of interesting stuff, but it’s all unrelated. You start thinking about the witty thing that person 5 said, but before you can fully digest it, person 6 has said something profound that deserves some thought.
After awhile, it’s apparent that there are two types of people in the circle. There are the few who talk over each other, hoping to get everyone’s attention. They’re usually nice about it, but sometimes they’ll say something outrageous just to make you look.
The other type of people are those listening for an entertaining tidbit here and there in the din.
Finally someone says something that makes sense. Get on the computer, they say. Social media is better organized. You don’t have to have people in your house.
And off you go.
More posts in the Social category
Monday, July 17, 2023
The best social media alternative is no social media
There's been a lot of controversy lately at Twitter and Reddit, resulting in plenty of articles about alternatives. I've tried some of them, and I have to say they're just fine. Mastodon is a fine alternative to Twitter. Lemmy is a fine alternative to Reddit.
But I've been thinking there might be an even better alternative.
That's because I still find myself getting sucked into worrying about issues I have no control over. I know they exist, I wish they didn't. I don't, for example, need reminders about climate change — all I have to do is look out the window.
What I really need are alternatives that help me chill for awhile. Or at least only be involved in things I do have control over. And those alternatives are not social media. Here are a few that work me.
Books
If you're used to scrolling and scanning, then reading a book will take some adjustment. But hang in there — it's worth it. I just finished a 350-page novel that left me floored with the twists and emotions at the end. The payoff was much more satisfying than a bunch of memes.
Even better, I'm reading this as part of a book club, so I get to discuss it with them later. And no, you don't need an app for a book club. Some friends or co-workers will do just fine.
As a change of pace, I'm delving into a non-fiction book, and I'm already three chapters in. Believe me, this was not an easy transition. You can't scroll and scan a book. You have to read and comprehend pretty much every word.
For some reason, book authors have largely escaped the huge dumbing-down created by social media. I know they're under pressure to crank out a blockbuster series because publishers don't think they'll make enough money from a standalone book. Despite this, there are a lot of great writers today who easily stand shoulder-to-shoulder with great writers throughout history.
You might be thinking you need Facebook or Instagram to keep in touch with friends. Technology does make this easier, but there's no need to upload all your personal data in return for a free app. Instead, use email with this one simple trick — contact groups.
I use the Contacts app that comes with all Macs, but I'm sure there are plenty of other apps that do something similar. If I want to contact everyone in the club I belong to, I drag and drop the name of the contact group into the "To:" section of my email app, write my message and hit Send. People who want to respond to the group use "Reply All".
Nobody needs to sign up for anything. Nobody needs instructions.
RSS feeds
You'll need an app for this, but there are free ones that respect your privacy. For Mac users, I recommend NetNewsWire.
With RSS, you can subscribe to whatever news sources you want. It doesn't even have to be news — you could subscribe to newsonaut if you were so inclined.
You can arrange the feeds however you want, and read them in chronological order. They're all treated equally — same size heading, for example — so you can decide for yourself which is most important.
With some configuration, you may be able to read the entire article in the app without visiting the website it come from. In other words — no ads!
RSS is not great for breaking news, but ask yourself: other than idle curiosity why do you need to know right now about something that doesn't affect you? It can wait. And if it does affect you, you'll find out soon enough.
Writing
I wish I wrote more, because it really is a good way of getting things out of your system. It's sort of like going on stage. You're nervous as hell right up until the time you step out — then everything is fine.
My writing outlet is is this blog. I coded it myself and host it on a shared server. While I certainly advocate this over Facebook because it puts you are in charge of your own content, I realize it's not that easy for many people.
So if it needs to be Facebook, the go for it. Just try to make it a little more in-depth, a little more original. And remember there are other alternatives such as Tumblr and WordPress.
Or maybe, just maybe, an IRL journal.
The best advice I can give on writing is to put down the words, and keep putting them down, until they make you happy.
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, November 19, 2022
I was wrong — Twitter is useless for news
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how you can use Twitter for news even if you don't have an account. It was my attempt at making it easier to delete your account if the only thing holding you back is breaking news.
I was wrong.
With Twitter getting ever more toxic, searching a subject for news has become useless. You'll get news, but it will be mixed in with an ugly mess of hate and misinformation. Unless you're someone who enjoys watching barroom brawls, it's not a pretty sight.
And it's not just my imagination that things are getting worse. Researchers at a digital civil rights group have found an increase in racial slurs. It's probably because the moderation system has fallen apart.
The thing about the misinformation is that is doesn't always come from trolls. Often it's just ordinary people repeating rumours they hope are true. They find evidence that their side is winning and want to share it with the world. Sometimes they will warn that it needs to be backed up, but you can still find yourself going down a rabbit hole that leads nowhere.
I haven't deleted my account, but I have deleted the app. And I have joined Mastodon.
As for the news, my advice as always is to find an RSS feed reader and subscribe to news sites you trust. Breaking news might take a day or two longer to get to you, but at least you'll know it comes from a reliable source.
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, November 5, 2022
You don't need a Twitter account for Twitter news
One of the main reasons many people stick with Twitter is that it offers a stream of breaking news. If you can't wait to know about the latest developments in, for example, an election, Twitter news updates are as good as it gets.
But if that's the only reason you're maintaining a Twitter account, feel free to delete it. Go to twitter.com and log out. You'll be left with Explore and Settings. Explore has a News tab with links to trending news developments. Chances are, the news you want will be one of these. If it isn't, use the search bar. This works even for local news — just search the community you're interested in. Adding a hash tag can be helpful.
This is where I'm at right now. I haven't deleted my account, but I'm logged out. Whether I go ahead and delete the account is up to the new owner. I'm keeping a close eye on what Twitter turns into.
More posts in the Social category
Friday, April 15, 2022
Why Twitter fears Elon Musk's version of free speech
The caretaker at an apartment building in Medicine Hat, Alberta, imparted wisdom to me one day that applies to many things in life.
I was kept awake at night by a neighbour playing loud music. Ironically, and weirdly, the song was Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel.
I complained to the caretaker and he took care of it — by kicking the guy out. This seemed harsh for a minor offence but he had an explanation.
If you let the bad ones stay, the good ones will leave, and eventually you'll be stuck with nothing but bad ones.
I've seen the truth of this in online forums over and over again. What thoughtful, intelligent person would want to express an opinion knowing that they will be shouted down by some anonymous schnook?
Very few would. This is why Twitter is often dominated by obnoxious loud mouths you would never allow in your home.
Twitter tries to keep things down to a dull roar by banning the worst offenders. If they don't, Twitter will turn into a cesspool of lies and hatred. No advertiser would want to be associated with it.
Now Elon Musk wants to take full ownership because he says he's concerned about free speech. It's bizarre that anyone would see Twitter as an important forum for free speech. It's more like a forum for snarky remarks and snide asides that contribute nothing to the kind of consensus needed for a healthy democracy.
But let's say he's on to something: Twitter needs a wider range of voices — no holds barred! What would that Twitter look like?
You want to spread misinformation? Come on in — it will all get sorted out in the big mix of free speech.
The wise caretaker in Medicine Hat would be appalled by this vision. Twitter would soon be nothing but toxic trolls arguing with each other while the rest of us move on. The only advertisers left would be scammers looking for suckers.
It's no wonder the Twitter board is mounting a defence against Musk's takeover bid. He would put them out of business.
More posts in the Social category
Sunday, May 27, 2018
How to block Facebook login / signup pop-up
I’ve been thinking about deleting my Facebook account, but I’m worried that I will still need access to it from time to time. For example, I might want information about a local event, and they’ve decided to post about it only on Facebook.
You can visit Facebook pages without signing up or logging in, but you have to contend with an annoying pop-up that covers a big chunk of the bottom. It grows to cover the entire page if you scroll down.
I found a way to stop this, but it took a fair bit of searching. So I thought I’d post it here in the hope that this will make things easier for other people in my boat.
First, install uBlock Origin as an add-on or extension to your browser. This is a great open source ad blocker that works flawlessly. It has the option of allowing you to whitelist sites that you favour, so there’s no need to feel guilty about denying ad revenue to the good guys.
Open uBlock, and click on the dashboard icon at the top right.
From there you can click on the My Filters tab. This is an area that allows you to customize what gets blocked — including Facebook’s annoying pop-ups.
Copy and paste the following into the dashboard, and click Apply Changes.
www.facebook.com###pagelet_growth_expanding_cta
That should do the trick. You can check out Facebook to your heart’s content without Facebook knowing about it.
More posts in the Social category
Sunday, October 16, 2016
No one seems to want poor Twitter
Despite being a household name, and despite efforts at adding new features, Twitter can’t make a profit. This has been going on for several years. So why not just sell the company and pay off the shareholders?
As it turns out, even this is next to impossible.
According to reports, there was a lineup of suitors in recent weeks ready to take over the company. But one by one, they took themselves out of the running. Early rumours had Apple and Google showing interest, but they were quickly eliminated. Disney (the media conglomerate, not the amusement parks) was at one point considered to be a dream buyer, but it soon lost interest.
The last hope was Salesforce, a company that makes money from selling software that manages interaction with customers. They have a market capitalization of $55 billion, so the money was there. But the spirit, in the end, was not.
Twitter is still hoping to find a buyer, but at this point it’s hard to imagine who that might be.
Many people with more insight than me have tried to explain Twitter’s troubles. But the main reason may be quite simple. Twitter is failing for the same reason that Google Plus failed, and for the same reason other social networks have failed. In a word: Facebook.
Think of it this way. Let’s say you want an easy way to keep in touch with friends and relatives. Most likely you would ask them — what’s the best way to keep in touch with you. I’m willing to bet the vast majority of them would suggest Facebook, because that’s where they are already.
Facebook got a big head start, established itself, and relentlessly invested in growth and new features. Twitter and whatever Google is doing will always be second choices.
Apparently, when Twitter was first starting out, Facebook offered to buy them. That’s a likely scenario, given that they have a history of taking over competitors — or at least trying. If they can’t beat them, they try to match them with similar features. A good case in point is the obvious copying of Snapchat, which refuses to sell out.
Twitter is better than Facebook for keeping up with the latest news, but that’s not a feature that’s going to win most people over. While finding news on Facebook happens mostly by accident, this is more than enough for anyone who isn’t a news junkie.
There’s still a chance that Twitter might find a way to innovate its way to profitability. For example, they are now live-streaming NFL football games — a good move to attract young people who are turning away from TV and getting pretty much all their entertainment from the Internet.
I really do hope they find a way of surviving. I would have to go through severe withdrawal if they ever folded.
More posts in the Social category
Saturday, September 24, 2016
How the Yahoo hack freed me from its shackles
It has been a glorious morning of liberation, all started by a massive hacking of Yahoo accounts that came to light last week.
In 2014, information was stolen from 500 million Yahoo accounts. I’d say that’s pretty much all of them, so it was safe to assume my account was among the compromised.
In the past my reaction to this kind of news has been to change my password and hope for the best. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I seldom use this account, so why not just get rid of it?
It took about half an hour of battling with Yahoo, but I was finally victorious. At one point I had to change my password. They declared “bastard” to be too weak and wouldn’t accept it. So the victory wasn’t quite as satisfying as I had hoped.
Also, I was informed that while my account was deactivated, it would take 90 days for it to be actually deleted.
“This delay is necessary to discourage users from engaging in fraudulent activity.”
Not only that, but “information may possibly remain in our archived records after your account has been deleted.”
A class action lawsuit started in the U.S. accuses Yahoo of gross negligence over the hacking. Too bad there isn’t one in Canada as well.
In any case, emboldened by new-found freedom from Yahoo, I moved on to Instagram.
I have posted a grand total of five pictures to Instagram. I kept one of Justin Trudeau that I took when he campaigning for leadership of the Liberal party in Kamloops. The rest are no loss.
To Instagram’s credit, deleting this account took only a few seconds.
Then I moved on to LinkedIn. I don’t want to say anything bad about this network, because I believe there are members who genuinely try to help each other. I would be surprised, though, if it ever did anything other than waste my time.
Deleting this account was easy, but I first had to run a gauntlet of guilt. They showed pictures of some of my connections, and pictures of some of the people who had endorsed me. And it did indeed make me feel a little guilty. I would sincerely like to thank everyone who ever endorsed me.
But the guilt soon passed. When I saw the screen that said, “We’ve closed your account,” I pumped my fist in the air.
Now if I could only summon the courage to delete Facebook . . .
More posts in the Social category
