Posts by fname@kamloops.social
 (DIR) Post #B47HCkwnILbM0koI9w by fname@kamloops.social
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       @mike “First you build it, then you figure out how to profit from it” is the new techbro model.
       
 (DIR) Post #B4DXbMED6LDwniT7k8 by fname@kamloops.social
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       So, my lastest project is complete—sort of.It all started with the question: why do people still cling to platforms like Facebook when the user experience is terrible and/or outright hostile?Part of it, for sure, is network effects (all their friends are there), but I think part of it is also that Facebook does ‘local’ really well. Pretty much all the local news and community stuff is on Facebook. Yes, there’s a Fediverse equivalent (Friendica) but it’s pretty empty in there. So how, I wondered, could that local feel be brought over to Mastodon?The solution I came up with was to create a number of regional Mastodon instances that would act as friendly, localized ‘on-ramps’ onto the Fedi for folks that are maybe a bit intimidated by the global nature of it all. Along the way however, I realized that I have little interest in being responsible for running a Mastodon instance, with all the cost, stress and responsibility that goes along with it. (My hat is off to those that do—don’t forget to tip your server!)So, what I ended up doing was creating regional local news-bots that would curate news feeds relevant to folks in particular geographic areas of BC. The five regional news accounts are:@local@local@cranbrook.social@local@princegeorge.social@local@kelowna.social@local@nanaimo.socialEach regional bot posts stories with hashtags related to the keyword that their feeds are drawn from. The process is automated, so the feed may draw in some anomalous content from time-to-time. By following (or muting) certain hashtags, one has full control of what content one receives (or doesn’t receive).Overall, I’m quite pleased with the end-product. Hopefully other folks out there can get some value from it as well.Feedback is welcome, but please be kind. 🙂
       
 (DIR) Post #B4DXbOCrkJKww7r4vQ by fname@kamloops.social
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Nice! Today the wife saw something on the news about an incident in a specific B.C. town. I just pulled up the hashtag and boom, there were all the stories about it, posted by the bot.Love it! 😀