<![CDATA[It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people.]]>It really bugs me that is still the go-to platform for local information for most people.

Everything I’ve done with myLocal NewsBot project is intended to make Mastodon/the Fediverse equally useful for up-to-date local news and information, and for the most part I think it’s been successful; I’m able to stay up to date, even ahead of traditional news sources.

The remaining nuts that need to be cracked IMO are local business pages and groups (and maybe Marketplace). We need something on the side that speaks to those needs.

]]>https://citiverse.it/topic/767e9165-3b1d-45ab-983d-fe3e02e2471d/it-really-bugs-me-that-facebook-is-still-the-go-to-platform-for-local-information-for-most-people.RSS for NodeSun, 26 Jul 2026 23:06:34 GMTSat, 25 Jul 2026 21:29:13 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sun, 26 Jul 2026 14:02:39 GMT]]>@crispius @MikeImBack

Oh NEAT

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://beige.party/users/TeflonTrout/statuses/116986646330040452https://citiverse.it/post/https://beige.party/users/TeflonTrout/statuses/116986646330040452Sun, 26 Jul 2026 14:02:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:46:03 GMT]]>@MikeImBack
I spun up a test instance: https://market.kamloops.social/

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116986581074530667https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116986581074530667Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:46:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sun, 26 Jul 2026 12:18:50 GMT]]>@MikeImBack
There is actually a Fediverse buy & sell app (Flohmarkt). I’ve played around with it a little.

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116986238111952809https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116986238111952809Sun, 26 Jul 2026 12:18:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:48:00 GMT]]>@justbob @crispius I've spent ages trying to figure out how I'd do it in a federated way. I couldn't come up with anything that didn't let one party dominate other than a web-of-trust like (with variable trust amounts) approach.

(I thought that it'd be interesting - because you'd be able to have multiple types of algorithms, and trust some more than others - maybe even permitting some paid account ones)

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mastodon.social/users/lachlan/statuses/116984701300884218https://citiverse.it/post/https://mastodon.social/users/lachlan/statuses/116984701300884218Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:48:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:05:11 GMT]]>@crispius
I quit listening or going to Facebook for ANY news in 2016!...
I then went to twitter, and we now know why that no longer qualifies!!...

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mas.to/users/DrSprockets/statuses/116984532926428581https://citiverse.it/post/https://mas.to/users/DrSprockets/statuses/116984532926428581Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:05:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:01:28 GMT]]>@crispius revive Kijiji?

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://disabled.social/users/MikeImBack/statuses/116984518288409448https://citiverse.it/post/https://disabled.social/users/MikeImBack/statuses/116984518288409448Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:01:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:24:53 GMT]]>@jfmezei
Was it a different cat or the same cat?!

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982958896507458https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982958896507458Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:24:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:24:11 GMT]]>@jd
The nice thing about hashtags is folks that search for or (for example) will pull up articles posted by the bot. This allows for much more granular following as folks can follow the tag for their particular town/area without having to follow the whole feed. Of course hashtags can be used in the reverse and tags for areas folks aren’t interested in can be muted/blocked.

The bclocal.news bots are Mastodon searchable though, so folks searching for the keyword for their area will bring up posts from those bots as well.

The interesting part is that I intended the second group to be a test to see which method was the better, but I’m finding that both setups produce feeds that are valuable in their own way, so I’ve kept them both going. 🤷‍♂️

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982956150909176https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982956150909176Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:24:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:15:18 GMT]]>@jd
The second group is hosted on a server I spun up as a testbed (bclocal.news) and they use a slightly different setup which allows me to include posts from the Black Press properties, but because of the way they work they don’t include hashtags.

They are:
@cranbrook
@kamloops
@kelowna
@nanaimo
@princegeorge
@bcnews
@national

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982921224121438https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982921224121438Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:15:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:14:39 GMT]]>@crispius
Cool!

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://ottawa.place/users/jd/statuses/116982918625719347https://citiverse.it/post/https://ottawa.place/users/jd/statuses/116982918625719347Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:14:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:10:35 GMT]]>@jd
Well, there’s actually two separate groups:

Group one is graciously hosted over at SocialBC.ca. They were the first iteration. And the challenge I was having there was that a lot of duplicate posts were getting scooped up, so I ended up blacklisting a bunch of sources (mainly Black Press properties) that spam out the same stories accross multiple owned channels.

They are:
@cranbrooknews
@kamloopsnews
@kelownanews
@nanaimonews
@princegeorgenews

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982902656417346https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982902656417346Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:10:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:09:46 GMT]]>@crispius Sorry, a glitch in the matrix !

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://cosocial.ca/ap/users/116053131523440173/statuses/116982899424248814https://citiverse.it/post/https://cosocial.ca/ap/users/116053131523440173/statuses/116982899424248814Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:09:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:02:12 GMT]]>@crispius
Where would I find bumph on the LocalNewsBot project, Crispius?

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://ottawa.place/users/jd/statuses/116982869670633149https://citiverse.it/post/https://ottawa.place/users/jd/statuses/116982869670633149Sat, 25 Jul 2026 22:02:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 21:54:16 GMT]]>@jfmezei
Is this reply meant for a different post? 😉

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982838491357415https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982838491357415Sat, 25 Jul 2026 21:54:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 21:46:48 GMT]]>@justbob
Very cool!

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982809165745258https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982809165745258Sat, 25 Jul 2026 21:46:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to It really bugs me that #Facebook is still the go-to platform for local information for most people. on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 21:40:40 GMT]]>@justbob
More information needed: what is ?

]]>https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982785014045564https://citiverse.it/post/https://mstdn.fname.ca/ap/users/116427924379067962/statuses/116982785014045564Sat, 25 Jul 2026 21:40:40 GMT