[Freedombox-discuss] Friendika

[John Walsh]

Hi James,

> This looks like an interesting approach.  Has anybody used 
> it/hacked it/loved it/hated it?  Is this something you want 
> to see in the FreedomBox?
> 
> http://project.friendika.com/
> 
I have used Friendika.

What I like
Distributed Social Network software.
Create multiple profiles for a single account - a better UX than Facebook
When you connect to a contact you are presented with contacts details
allowing you to choose the profile for that connection.
Wide selection of social networking apps e.g. photos videos etc.
Option to publish to public and to your contacts - Facebook doesn't have
this option.
Directory options to be unlisted, local directory or global directory.

What I dislike
When you sign-up you are booted out and have to sign-in again - there is
probably a valid technical reason.
I don't like the large Avator/Photo size. 170x170?
The UX feels unnecessarily cluttered at times;
* the "do you know question" at connect time, the list of relationships. 
* What is friend/fan option at connection?
* Yes/No questions in settings instead of a list of options. 
* Advanced settings for account confusing.
I would like to see the connect process simplified but maybe that's not
possible.
Friendika has publicly stated that connections to Facebook will cause posts
to be leaked.

Friendika Wish List
Signed-in People only have access to the directories to protect people's
privacy.
Https login
Profiles include fields for the users preferred languages (seen at hi5.com)
so that you can connect via the directory to people who share the same
language.
I would like to see a moderated hidden/public groups feature like
Yahoo/Plaxo/hi5 Groups, which may require renaming the existing groups to
circles/lists to avoid confusion. I think hi5.com groups are the best
designed and hi5.com have had circles for years ;) I think these concepts
are more familiar to people than the Friendika Soapbox/Celebrity concepts

Friendika is my favourite social networking site and I am surprised at my
short wish list, although I haven't used Google+ yet.

My biggest issue with all social networking software is that when you post
to a wall you have no way of knowing who will see your message because you
have no idea of knowing who are friends of your friends. IMO, a
privacy-respecting social networking site software should have posts go to
your friends first for triage before they can publish to their friends. I
think the Wall UI has proven you can have a better UI than the existing
email inbox UI.

I hope you find my little "review" of friendika helpful.