Ajinkyans.in; A Tech Platform for community building

A mastodon based micro blogging platform that I hosted and maintained for 3 years. Its not active as it was brought down due to less traction.

Tags: Ajinkyans Community

Ajinkyans.in: A Tech Platform for community building

Alumni of Sainik School Satara are called Ajinkyans.

Ajinkyans.in is a micro-blogging platform where individuals can connect with the rest of the Ajinkyans and express their thoughts. It is designed to bring all the Ajinkyans on a single platform for better communication and information sharing. It’s a social network exclusive for the community. It’s powerful, secure and salable.

It doesn’t track you (No location or GPS needed)
It doesn’t require your private information (eg., Phone number, Home addresses)
Its build on Free and Open source technology (The code is open)
No advertisement & No Spams
Platform is trusted and used by millions

Aren’t we already connected over Whatsapp or Telegram?

Yes, you are. But with limited individuals and with limited groups. It is still a small subset of our entire community.

Whatsapp and Telegram can not connect the entire community mainly because of two key design problems.

First, it is a broadcast communication medium by default; which means every single message is delivered to every other member of the group and this could be a noise for some. How tough we set the group rules they are difficult to enforce.

Second problem is there is a limit on the maximum number of individuals who can be a part of the group; roughly capped to 250. But remember, the bigger the group, the more unwanted or non-interested conversations that will happen.

What is micro-blogging?

A micro-blog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregated file size. Micro-blogs “allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links”. Individual can share his thoughts using a micro-post or a series of micro posts called a thread.

Every individual has an unique handle (a.k.a username) on the platform. Generally referred to with ‘@` at its prefix. Eg., @yogeshpowar or @admin. An individual can follow any other individual on the platform. Likewise, an individual can also be followed by any other individual.

An individual can only see the posts that are shared by the ones he is following. Eg., there 1000 individuals on the platform but only 50 of them are the ones you follow. Then you will see the post only from those 50.

Any post that you make will automatically be shared to your followers. Similarly if you find some interesting post then you can re-post for your followers to get it.

An individual can re-post, reply and like any post.

An individual can follow, un-follow, message and direct message any individual.

Is it similar to Twitter?

Yes, Twitter is a popular micro-blogging social network. The platform is run using a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) named Mastodon. Unlike Twitter, its’ a private social network; accessible only for Ajinkyans community. This software is hosted on our server. Which means we, the community, own the data.

Did you know that the micro post on Mastodon is called Toot.

Only Ajinkyans can be part of this network. Registration is not open to the public.

How to access this network or platform?

Easy way is to visit https://ajinkyans.in and login to access the network using a web browser.

There are many Apps that can be installed on the mobile devices which automatically login to the network to get the updated posts and notifications. Search for Mastodon on Google Play or ios store.

For Android users there are apps Tusky, Twidere, and Fedilab.

For iOS users there are apps Amarok and Tootle.

Fore more https://joinmastodon.org/apps

Registrations are invitations only. Please reach us on ajinkyans@googlegroups.com or @ajinkyans on Twitter or contact your batch coordinators. You can also write to me on yogesh.powar@gmail.com.

Whats’ Next?

Create and decorate your profile.

Add your picture.

Tell us your school number and house.

Where are you currently working/posted? Follow friends, batch-mates, seniors or juniors.

Like/Boost/Share a Toot.

PS: If you are not an Ajinkyan and want to explore Mastodon please refer https://gnu.io/social/

Tags: Ajinkyans Community
Updated on: 2020-05-09