d310cad787
Two 4-column tables replace the box-drawing character grid, which rendered poorly in the gaia theme's proportional font. Dense class applied to keep both tables within slide bounds. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
199 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
199 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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marp: true
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theme: gaia
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class: invert
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paginate: true
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---
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<style>
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table { font-size: 0.65em; }
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th, td { padding: 0.25em 0.6em; }
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section.dense table { font-size: 0.5em; }
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section.dense th, section.dense td { padding: 0.2em 0.5em; }
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</style>
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# SoMe Taxonomy
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What are we talking about when we say "Social Media"?
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MakerFLOSS · May 2026
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---
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## Why a Taxonomy?
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"Social Media" is a catch-all term that hides very different tools:
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- A **group chat** is not a **blog**
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- A **wiki** is not a **forum**
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- A **video platform** is not a **microblog**
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Understanding the categories helps us:
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- Choose the right tool for the job
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- Find FLOSS alternatives in each category
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---
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<!-- _class: invert dense -->
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## The Categories
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| Category | Purpose |
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|----------|---------|
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| **Messaging** | 1:1 and group real-time chat |
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| **Microblogging** | Short public posts, feeds |
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| **Forums** | Threaded discussions, Q&A |
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| **Wikis** | Collaborative knowledge bases |
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| **Media Sharing** | Photos, videos, audio |
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| **Professional Networks** | Career, business connections |
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| **Collaboration** | Team workspaces, documents |
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---
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<!-- _class: invert dense -->
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## Messaging
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Real-time 1:1 and group communication
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| Platform | Owner | FLOSS Alternative |
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|----------|-------|-------------------|
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| WhatsApp | Meta | **Signal**, **Matrix** |
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| Messenger | Meta | **Matrix**, **XMPP** |
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| iMessage | Apple | **Signal** |
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| Google Messages | Google | **Matrix** |
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| Telegram | Telegram | **Matrix**, **Signal** |
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| Teams Chat | Microsoft | **Mattermost**, **Rocket.Chat** |
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| Slack | Salesforce | **Mattermost**, **Zulip** |
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---
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## Microblogging
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Short posts, public feeds, social networking
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| Platform | Owner | FLOSS Alternative |
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|----------|-------|-------------------|
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| Twitter/X | X Corp | **Mastodon**, **Pleroma** |
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| Threads | Meta | **Mastodon** |
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| Bluesky | Bluesky | **Mastodon** (federated) |
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All FLOSS alternatives use **ActivityPub** or similar federation protocols.
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---
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## Forums & Discussion
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Threaded discussions, communities, Q&A
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| Platform | Owner | FLOSS Alternative |
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|----------|-------|-------------------|
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| Reddit | Reddit Inc | **Lemmy**, **Kbin** |
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| Facebook Groups | Meta | **Discourse**, **Lemmy** |
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| Stack Overflow | Stack Exchange | **Discourse** |
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| Quora | Quora Inc | **Discourse** |
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---
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## Wikis & Knowledge Bases
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Collaborative documentation and knowledge sharing
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| Platform | Owner | FLOSS Alternative |
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|----------|-------|-------------------|
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| Wikipedia | Wikimedia | **MediaWiki** (same!) |
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| Notion | Notion Labs | **Wiki.js**, **BookStack** |
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| Confluence | Atlassian | **Wiki.js**, **XWiki** |
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| Google Docs (collab) | Google | **Etherpad**, **HedgeDoc** |
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---
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## Media Sharing
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Photos, videos, audio, streaming
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| Platform | Type | FLOSS Alternative |
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|----------|------|-------------------|
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| YouTube | Video | **PeerTube** |
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| Instagram | Photos | **Pixelfed** |
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| TikTok | Short video | **PeerTube** |
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| Spotify | Audio | **Funkwhale** |
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| Twitch | Live stream | **Owncast** |
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| Flickr | Photos | **Pixelfed** |
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---
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## Professional Networks
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Career networking, business connections
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| Platform | Owner | FLOSS Alternative |
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|----------|-------|-------------------|
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| LinkedIn | Microsoft | **OpenSocialLinked**? |
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| Xing | New Work SE | (no clear alternative) |
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This category has the weakest FLOSS alternatives — network effects are hard to overcome.
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---
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## Collaboration & Productivity
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Team workspaces, project management
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| Platform | Owner | FLOSS Alternative |
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|----------|-------|-------------------|
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| Microsoft Teams | Microsoft | **Mattermost**, **Rocket.Chat** |
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| Slack | Salesforce | **Mattermost**, **Zulip** |
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| Trello | Atlassian | **Wekan**, **Kanboard** |
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| Asana | Asana | **OpenProject** |
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| Google Workspace | Google | **Nextcloud** |
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---
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## Legacy / Classic
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Still around, still relevant
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| Platform | Type | Notes |
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|----------|------|-------|
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| **Email** | Messaging | The original! Federated by design |
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| **NetNews (NNTP)** | Forums | Usenet — the original Reddit |
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| **IRC** | Messaging | Still used by many FLOSS projects |
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| **Mailing Lists** | Forums | Listserv, Mailman — still going strong |
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| **RSS** | Feeds | Subscribe to anything |
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---
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<!-- _class: invert dense -->
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## The Big Picture
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| Messaging | Microblog | Forums | Media |
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|-----------|-----------|--------|-------|
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| WhatsApp | Twitter/X | Reddit | YouTube |
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| Messenger | Threads | FB Groups | Instagram |
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| Signal | Mastodon | Lemmy | PeerTube |
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| Matrix | Bluesky | Discourse | Pixelfed |
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| Wikis | Professional | Collaboration | Legacy |
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|-------|--------------|---------------|--------|
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| Wikipedia | LinkedIn | Teams/Slack | Email |
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| Notion | Xing | Mattermost | IRC |
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| Wiki.js | | Nextcloud | NetNews |
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---
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## Key Takeaways
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1. **"Social Media" is not one thing** — it's many categories
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2. **Each category has FLOSS alternatives** — some better than others
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3. **Federation is the key** — ActivityPub, Matrix, Email
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4. **Network effects are the barrier** — the tech exists, adoption is hard
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5. **Legacy protocols still work** — Email, IRC, RSS are battle-tested
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---
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# Questions?
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_Slides made with [Marp](https://marp.app)_
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