…back with a brand new edition…
One of the issues with joining any socially-aware network is not knowing anyone. Here I’d like to focus on a sub-problem which is that of locating accounts of people you already know from real life, forums or other social networks. By this I don’t mean enumerating every account all your peeps have. Simply being able to find existing friends and family so that the Fediverse becomes an immediately viable alternative to traditional platforms. A few accounts for many would make this a solved issue because with that reward, a little more investment will bring more connections over time.
So first, is this the right problem? Maybe it’s the case that being able to find interesting people is enough. Maybe it’s just not feeling lonely while staring into the abyss of a public timeline that’s a problem. Second, is this worth solving? I can’t imagine how it isn’t. If you imagine someone’s social sphere as a graph, doesn’t it provide more value if more of that graph can be accessed/enjoyed through the Fediverse?
Edit: if you want to talk solutions, I would recommend reading this ActivityPub thread