#onlinecommunity — Public Fediverse posts

KMUW: In ‘Unread,’ a man rallies the forces of TikTok to finally learn to read. “His new book, Unread: A Memoir of Learning (and Loving) to Read on TikTok, chronicles how [Oliver] James became one of more than 45 million functionally illiterate adult Americans — and how he used the very tools of our post-literate society to finally master the complexities of reading.”

Hacker News in Uncompromised Detail

https://vale.rocks/posts/hacker-news

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49409448

#HackerNews #HackerNews #UncompromisedDetail #TechNews #OnlineCommunity

Finger: Social network that never died

https://en.andros.dev/blog/54572bc7/finger-the-1971-social-network-that-never-died/

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49342472

#HackerNews #Finger #SocialNetwork #History #1971 #TechInnovation #OnlineCommunity

New York Times: After 31 Years, a Quirky Gay Gossip Website Shuts Down. This link goes to a gift article. “At around 5 p.m. on July 30, one day ahead of schedule, the DataLounge, a long-running online forum that became a gathering spot for (mostly) gay men, went dark. Just like that, tens of millions of posts spanning more than three decades simply disappeared.”

NiemanLab: Can public media build its own social network? Chicago Public Media teams up with New_ Public to try. “Chicago Public Media is already the parent nonprofit of two existing news sites, WBEZ and, since 2022, the Chicago Sun-Times. For chicago.com, though, the news org is teaming up with New_ Public, a nonprofit working to reimagine online public spaces, to launch a network of online […]

I have been attending lectures, and working through several assessments. A lot of my thinking has centred on the practical and ethical complexity of supporting people well: care, boundaries, autonomy, responsibility, safety, and what it means to respond thoughtfully when there is no simple answer.
>
I’ve also been reflecting on accessibility and participation in online spaces, especially what meaningful inclusion looks like beyond good intentions. Alongside that, I’ve been exploring future work possibilities and considering how to contribute in ways that are sustainable, useful, and aligned with my values.

It has been a full and mentally busy week, but there has been genuine progress. I’m trying to keep focused on the next task, make room for rest as well as momentum, and remember that steady progress still counts.

#WeeklyUpdate #CounsellingStudent #Accessibility #OnlineCommunity

Another Corner of the Internet Has Been Ruined

https://www.freeformatter.com/

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49211758

#HackerNews #internetculture #onlinecommunity #technews #socialmedia #trends

What is a basic online video community platform that isn’t evil?

I’m thinking for musicians (bagpipers) to share their music with each other online in a private group. No social media. No ads. No AI surveillance. No tickets. No fees.

Needs pretty good latency management.

Just…a bunch of people getting together to play music for each other. Mostly for learners to practice performing.

#OnlineCommunity
#HiveMind
#Musicians

Today on NovaLandia: "I've Withdrawn From Second Life"

Since 2015, I've run a store in Second Life under the name, "REVOSA", and for a semi-shorter amount of time, "Ayashi Systems". And over that time, the stores have made continuous sales, every month, f...

https://mkultra.monster/secondlife/2026/07/28/an-sl-goodbye/

#lindenlabs #virtualworld #onlinecommunity #rentals

PR Newswire: New Online Resource Hub Empowers Gallbladder Cancer Patients and Caregivers with Critical Guidance and Support (PRESS RELEASE). “Facing a rare and aggressive diagnosis like gallbladder cancer can leave patients and families feeling overwhelmed and isolated. To bridge this critical gap, the Gallbladder Cancer Foundation has expanded its digital portal to provide comprehensive […]

The Problem With WordPress Likes and Robotic Blog Comments

Yes, yes, I’ve already spoken about the ‘like’ button, and so have many of you. However, there is still much more to discuss, but not all from me.

The ‘Like’ button is one of the most controversial topics I have encountered in the world of blogging. My recent post, ‘The Truth About WordPress Like Buttons: Support or Empty Gesture‘, sparked many bloggers’ discussions.

The Context of the Debate

If you didn’t have a chance to read the post, take a look at the comments section; it taught me a lot about one of WordPress’s simplest tools.

I’m glad I wrote and published the post because I thought it was a subject many bloggers shy away from for fear of upsetting others. It’s a mystery why they think they’ll upset other folk, so imagine my surprise when another blogger followed up on my post with one of his own on the same subject.

Shahbaz’s Perspective on the Issue

I’m sharing a link to Shahabaz’s post, titled ‘Do WordPress Likes Mean Anything?‘ One of the things that struck me most about his post was this line:

‘Just got bored with unintentional likes and robotic comments of praise,‘

This line is, sadly, from a blogger who has given up blogging because she’s disillusioned with people clicking ‘like’ without reading her posts and leaving what she calls ‘robotic comments of praise.‘ I see those types of comments all the time, usually from the same bloggers on the same blogs.

For copyright reasons, I stopped reblogging other bloggers’ posts years ago. It’s rare for a post to strike a chord with me so strongly that I feel I must share it.

Join the Conversation

Please read Shahbaz’s post and the comments it has already received, and contribute to the conversation if you have anything valuable to add. After all, discussion is what keeps the blogging world alive.

I’ve closed comments on this post, but you are welcome to leave a comment on my post, ‘The Truth About WordPress ‘Like’ Buttons: Support or Empty Gesture?’.

Thanks for listening to me talking about the ‘like’ button again.

The featured image in this post was created using the WordPress image generator. AI was used to check for grammar and spelling mistakes and to help with the layout of the post.

Copyright @ 2026 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

You can follow me at the following sites.

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Coywolf: You can now chat using RSS. “Dave Winer, the person who made Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0) the standard for following blogs in feed readers, asked whether RSS could be used for online chat, and quickly concluded that it could. … The rss.chat site shows public chats using the new approach that look similar to social media posts and support message threads.”

ZDNet: Why we’re all posting less on social media these days. “New research from Incogni suggests Americans are quietly pulling back from social media, especially compared to just a few years ago. They’re not necessarily deleting every account, but they are sharing less, posting to smaller audiences, removing stressful apps, and becoming more mindful about mental health and the effects of […]

The Time I Sent a YouTuber Fan Mail

https://jaimedavid.blog/2026/07/09/23/45/42/analysis/jaimedavid327/11325/the-time-i-sent-a-youtuber-fan-mail/

Associated Press: Members of a sexual predator network on Telegram tried to hide their crimes with code words. “They called themselves the ‘German driving school for experts,’ but prosecutors say the true purpose of their Telegram chats was to brag about the women they raped and share tips about how to drug them.”

You Need a Webring

https://shub.club/writings/2026/july/you-need-a-webring/

#HackerNews #webring #webdevelopment #onlinecommunity #nostalgia #technology

PsyPost: Social media users tend to face more political hostility in less democratic and more unequal countries. “Social media is often blamed for turning political debates into toxic battlegrounds, but a new study provides evidence that offline societal inequalities actually play a role in shaping this digital aggression. The findings suggest that users in less democratic and less economically […]

Bring Back Crappy Forums

https://tedium.co/2026/07/01/online-web-forums-retrospective/

#HackerNews #BringBackCrappyForums #OnlineCommunity #InternetHistory #WebForums #RetroWeb

Bored People Chat – Anonymous global chat room

https://boredpeoplechat.com/

#HackerNews #BoredChat #AnonymousChat #GlobalChat #RoomChat #OnlineCommunity

Mashable: Twitch’s CEO says passive scrolling can’t beat the community of live streaming. “If there’s one thing Twitch CEO Dan Clancy wants people to know about what makes Twitch special, it’s that the live streaming site is all about community.”

Gay City News: Facebook group Gay Barchives captures glory days, forges connections. “About five years ago, LGBTQ culture maven Art Smith created a Facebook group called Gay Barchives as a way to preserve the histories of LGBTQ bars and clubs. The original idea was to capture logos, photos, and personal recollections of fun times at defunct, often legendary gay nightlife venues. Over the years, […]

How Do You Build a Membership Business From Scratch?

https://kierendaystudiosofficial.wordpress.com/2026/06/26/how-do-you-build-a-membership-business-from-scratch/

rmoff’s random ramblings: AI Slop is Killing Online Communities. “No one forces me to read this stuff. Why am I so bothered by it? Because like bindweed, it’s slowly strangling the organic life out of communities. When I open up Reddit now, it’s increasingly overrun with vibe-coded AI stuff. Whilst much of it is

brainstormscommunity.org for ppl (mostly over 60 years of age) who seek civil conversations in long-form, long-term threads about a variety of topics -- it has been active for 26 years

#onlinecommunity

Cauenapier: Turn your site into a place people can bump into each other. “A few weeks ago, I added a silly, funny experiment on this website. I talked about it on this blog post. It was a tiny Town Square at the bottom of every page 2. When you visit the site, you’ll see a small strip populated by stick figures. Each figure represents another visitor currently browsing the website. You can see […]

Virtual Communities ---> Social Media

#onlinecommunity #socialmedia

https://www.patreon.com/howardrheingold/posts/virtual-social-161568647

Mark Greville: I threw my last “5-star” book against the wall. So I built BookTribes.. “I built BookTribes for myself. I want to know the most loved books from the people in my tribe. The idea is simple: rate some books, and BookTribes finds other readers who rate those same books the way you did. Not people who like the same genre. People whose tastes overlap with yours. Your tribe. Then […]

Hollywood Reporter: ‘Backrooms’ Sends Hollywood Running to Reddit for New Ideas. “As Hollywood appears poised to pivot to digitally native creatives like Parsons and Obsession director Curry Barker, Reddit is emerging as a focus point (alongside obvious suspects like YouTube and TikTok) for agents and execs seeking the Next Big Thing.”

Engadget: Open-source Discord alternatives: What Stoat and Element actually fix . ” There’s a growing number of Discord alternatives out there, but open-source chat platforms where you have complete control over your data and don’t have to worry about features being locked behind a subscription will likely be your best option.”