The new Sill app brings together the best links from the Bluesky and Mastodon networks

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Want to keep up with what everyone is talking about on alternative social media sites like Bluesky and Mastodon, but don’t have the time to constantly scroll through their respective apps?

Recently launched link aggregation service called threshold You may be able to help.

The service is similar to older startup Nuzzel, which Twitter eventually acquired as part of its deal for Scroll in 2021, and then integrated into the Twitter app. Popular with news junkies, Nuzzel helped users keep track of, read and reshare what everyone on Twitter was talking about that day. This feature is located within Elon Musk’s X app called “Top Articles,” and is available to premium X subscribers.

Sill now offers the same kind of functionality, but for Twitter/X alternatives that embrace open protocols, like Mastodon and Bluesky. As part of the Open Social Network, the two social platforms are promoting the idea of ​​decentralized social media as a counterweight to applications run by central authorities like X and Meta. However, Mastodon and Bluesky rely on different protocols and infrastructure. Mastodon is part of the federation system, supported by Activity barwhile Bluesky is building its own site AT protocol.

The launch of the service comes at the same time that X appears to be deprioritizing links within its app, according to mail From Owner X Elon Musk. He suggested adding links to responses instead, in response to a complaint about the change by Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham.

To start with thresholdFirst, you have to link your Bluesky and Mastodon accounts to the new service.

Sill uses Bluesky’s new OAuth for the AT protocol instead of app passwords, which means Sill won’t be able to access your password directly, says app developer Tyler Fisher. Once connected, you’ll be able to see the most shared links between the links you follow across the two services. You can also sign up to receive a daily email listing all 10 of the most popular links in your network.

A link’s popularity is determined by the number of unique accounts that share the URL across your social apps, Fisher explains, including accounts that may have reposted the link (similar to a retweet). Sill aggregates those links and shows you what people are saying about them. You can also organize your links by muting phrases, domains, and accounts you don’t want to see included, Fisher male In a blog post announcing the launch of Sill last week.

He previously served as CTO of the nonprofit newsroom nineteenth A software engineer at The Washington Post, the creator of Cell has experience building technology for the news ecosystem. He says Ciel will stay Open source project So people can host their own version themselves, but it will later offer paid plans that will provide advanced features to maintain the app. This may include features such as support for custom lists or feeds, analytics, support for multiple accounts, or perhaps native apps.

The Sill launch was first spotted by Apple News Six colors and Neiman Labwhich focuses on journalism in the digital age. The latter noted that Sill had about 300 people in the private beta before launching the public beta. It’s now open to anyone.

Be aware that Sill, as a beta project, may encounter performance issues and bugs. (For example, it took us a few attempts to complete our initial registration, and Sill warned that Bluesky might be down even when the app was working.) These issues will improve over time as Sill moves toward a general release.

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