Introduction To Building Neb Script

Preface

I'm building a social network. It's called "neb". Named so by combining "networked" and "websites" into a portmanteau. I'm going to live stream some of my working sessions. This is the intro script for the first one that gives an overview of the project.

Introduction

Hey folks, I'm Alan and this is the first in a series of live coding sessions I'm doing to build a new social network called "Neb".

Since this is the first video, I want to start off with a little intro which I'm gonna read because I want to get it right on the first take.

So, here we go:

The name "Neb" comes from a combining the words "networked" and "websites" into a portmanteau.

And, that's just what it is. A collection of individual websites joined together to form a network.

Any website can join the network. The only thing that's required is to drop a few files in specific locations and publish an RSS feed.

The project itself is open-source. And, because it's made from individual sites, there's no way that I know of that it can be taken over and enshittified by corporations.

The network is mostly built with existing technologies. Specifically, HTML, CSS, RSS, and Web Components. The only thing I'm really doing is designing an API to tie things together.

I'll get way more into the technical details over the course of these videos, but before we do that it's worth talking about why I'm doing this.

I've got a lot to say on the topic. I'll be getting into it on my blog and during these session.

Lots of it is technical and philosophical stuff that most folks won't care about.

What they will care about is what the network can do for them.

Current social networks are extremely limiting.

For example, they have rigid constraints on the way things can look, how many characters you can type, and how photos are displayed.

Basically, you can only do what they let you do. And, they don't let you do much.

Neb allows you to use the full power of modern web tools. Using HTML, CSS, and Web Components, you can make your posts look however you'd like.

No more having to thread posts together because of arbitrary character limits.

Said another way, Neb give yous the freedom to create what you want to see in the world.

And, beyond what you create, Neb gives you the freedom to decide what you see.

Content comes from the feeds you follow. That means if the folks you follow don't post ads, you won't see any.

The same goes for enforced algorithms.

Timelines default to showing posts in reverse chronological order. But, you can change them however you want.

For example, you can push all the posts for a specific tag or person to the top of your timeline so you see all their stuff first.

Finally, a note about financials. I'm doing this on my own dime. A feat that's only possible because I'm standing on the shoulders of so many giants. That, and the fact that websites can communicate directly without requiring me to set up servers in the middle.

My main source of income will be folks buying domain names through affiliate links.