Overview of MyStatusTool
MyStatusTool is a proof of concept for a microblogging tool relying on local files for data storage and rssCloud for notification. I was motivated to do this to show how rssCloud could be used to support a Twitter-like experience. With the chaos underway at Twitter, multiple microblogging services have been getting more attention (Mastodon, Micro.blog, etc.). It seemed like a good time to try something different.
Why use MyStatusTool?
There are many tools/services that people can use to publish their thoughts on the Internet. The features that MyStatusTool brings to the table are:
- Web application
- Can post from a web page (PC, tablet, mobile)
- Can instantly notify people that your feed has updated (if they are using an rssCloud-enabled reader tool/service)
- Can instantly get updates from other rssCloud-enabled feeds (like MyStatusTool feeds, WordPress.com feeds, and WordPress.org sites using the RSS Cloud plugin)
- Hosted by the user – no dependence on a silo service (think Twitter/Facebook, even Mastodon) – you own your content
- Individual pages with URLs for all MyStatusTool posts
In the above description, note how Twitter-like this list of features is. People like using Twitter, so I wanted to leverage the best parts of the user experience.
There has been some recent discussion about being able to have small group conversations on the web. A group of users could use MyStatusTool to support those conversations, with each of the users subscribing to the other users with whom they want to have a conversation. It can be as small or as large as you like – no limits!
How can I get started?
Check out the Github repo and give it a try if you have a Linux server online! I have an instance running here, so you can see how it looks. There is also an alternative implementation written in PHP (MST-PHP, created by Colin Walker) which can run on most web hosting services.
If you do try it, let me know how it goes for you – I am interested in improving the user experience wherever I can….