The next step: PostOwl

In April, Nils and I released the proof of concept of Home, Not Alone, a social network made out of independent websites, that can talk to one another. We didn’t develop this further since, because for something like HNA to exist in the real world, we’d need to lay some foundations first.

So — today, I’m happy to announce PostOwl. Together with Tom Atkins, we developed a minimalistic self-contained web app that offers you:

• The easiest way to blog using in-place editing (no technical skills needed)

• Sharing private letters with friends and family (they receive a secret link)

• Journaling, just for yourself (it’s safe!)

Why is this important? Because the only truly dynamic (frequently updating) websites out there are the big social media sites. To make yourself independent of those, you can now run PostOwl at your own domain. Use it as an independent publishing channel, and post a copy of your best writing in addition to the established social media channels. Nobody will be able to take it down, except yourself. And people are much more likely to find your content in a Google search, even years after you published it.

Meanwhile Nils, Tom and I will continue working on a stable version of the Home, Not Alone protocol. Given that hundreds or more PostOwl sites exist in a few months, we can then connect them directly. Then you’ll be able to send private and public letters from PostOwl to PostOwl without depending on any other service (like email or RSS). By logging into your PostOwl, you’ll see what’s new in your trusted, friendly neighbourhood. :)

It will be a journey supposedly taking years till we can make this happen for a critical mass, but together we can now take the next step.

So — make yourself and us happy in the future and start your PostOwl today. And if you happen to enjoy using it, please spread the word! 🙂