What's it like using the Hubzilla network?
Some people have asked me: “What's it like to use this network?”
I'll tell you below what my experience is like on the Hubzilla social network.
When I log into my account, I first see a screen showing information about one of my channels – Hubzilla allows you to create more than one channel in your account. (In practice, it's like having different accounts under the same login. The channels are entirely independent of each other, can be named with different identities and can be used for different online activities). So, I initially see the introduction page of one of the channels and access its timeline, where I see the posts of my “connections” (friends, contacts). I read these posts and interact with them. I may write one or more posts (there is no character limit). I check the existing notifications (I chose exactly which types of notifications appear on the screen). I can also – using the Guest Access feature – make posts (and share files and media) privately with people who are not my contacts (or who don't use any network).
Then, unless I want to do something else, like send someone a direct message (with the option to use encryption) or request a “connection” from someone on this network or other networks – Hubzilla also communicates with several other networks – as I have more than one channel, I do the things I've just described – but now on another channel.
All the time I'm on the network, I see a screen with a clean, beautiful design (in the settings, I chose its color scheme for this channel) and “quiet”, in which nothing happens to disturb or distract my attention from the posts (where I read texts, see photos and videos, listen to music) – that's because there's no advertising on Hubzilla. That's also why no boosted or paid posts appear in the timeline – nor do posts from my contacts (those I've chosen to receive posts from) stop appearing in the timeline. What's more, the timeline doesn't have an algorithm doing things that I don't know about, don't understand or don't want – the timeline works exactly the way I've chosen and configured it. What's more, on Hubzilla sites, the public timeline is sometimes disabled, so in this case, each person will only see the posts of the people they have chosen to connect with on their timeline.
When I'm on the network, I also enjoy the good feeling of knowing that there is no activity going on there to collect my personal data, to count my “likes”, to track and compute my activities on other sites, to create or update my profile of interests or psychological profile, to exploit and sell my data to third-party companies. None of this happens because, as Hubzilla is not a commercial social network, it is not looking to make a profit, and none of these actions make sense or are useful. And, above all, because Hubzilla takes care, deliberately and by design, to respect the privacy of participants and the ethical functioning of the network.
Nor is my time (and attention) on the network disturbed by receiving unauthorized messages. On each channel, I decide exactly who can send me messages – as well as who can like, comment on or view my posts.
I usually access Hubzilla on my computer. There's also a great PWA app for accessing the network on your cell phone (you don't need to download it, as it works in the browser).
So, this is a social networking experience that I find enjoyable, interesting and smooth. You can “follow” people if you like. But Hubzilla is, above all, a social network for connecting with friends, with people with whom you are interested in mutual contact and exchange – and this, in a safe online environment that works the way you choose.
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Find out more about the features and resources of the Hubzilla network.
Network website: Hubzilla
[October, 2024] Updated: November 10, 2024