Friendly reminder: Mastodon has never been about privacy. So if you are looking for secure communications, there are more suitable platforms for this matter.
Everything you send through Mastodon is viewable internally by someone. Even DMs can be viewed by an admin.
Besides the ActivityPub server-to-server API which every fediverse app needs to support, the spec also specified an optional API for client-server communication between apps and servers, but Mastodon didn't implement it, and Pleroma implemented Mastodon's client API + its own additions, and other apps are creating their own...
GraphQL could allow fediverse apps to share compatible client apps in a more flexible way, without having to limit themselves to the spec or Mastodon's API
Are two of the common complaints about federated systems, picking an instance and discoverability, only problems when you try to take people out of the loop? Before the web, when you were faced with making decisions or finding things or people and you lacked information, you would reach out to others. People you knew and trusted, or people you could probably trust (e.g. librarians). Trying to automate away reliance on others isn't always the right choice.
So I see a lot of new people on here interested in ActivityPub who want to explore it but don't know where to get started.
Actually a great place to get started is the ActivityPub spec itself! We included a little "tutorial" in the Overview section of the spec that should help you get your feet wet. https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/#Overview
@Antanicus More or less. Each web-app "recipe" can also contain some JS to find the unread count and display that in a badge (and to display notifications as well, if the app doesn't do it natively).
Mastodon isn't a website. It's software you use to connect to the fediverse.
Thinking of it as a website is kind of like thinking of your email client as an email address. "Are you on Gmail?" It doesn't matter; I can send email.
Fediverse. This is the important idea. I follow people who aren't Mastodon users, and I don't care.
Three ways to get to #Mozfest: #1 Submit a proposal #2 Volunteer #3 Buy a ticket
2) Volunteer in #London for a minimum of 4 hours and get full access to the whole weekend, including food, tea/coffee, *party*, MozFest tshirt, and get vouched in our network of #Mozillians from 121 countries!
Applications open REAL SOON & onboarding from July. #Volunteer opportunities October 22-28