Signups opened this week for Loops, a short-form looping video app from the creator of Instagram alternative Pixelfed, reports TechCrunch.

  • originalucifer
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    5027 days ago

    so far it seems like an over-marketed unfinished piece of vaporware. there was nothing to look at when it was first dripped months ago. or when the magical countdown stopped. or when no one received beta invites despite it being ‘this week’

    just seems like a lot of spamming the fed community now. happy to be proven wrong

    • wander1236
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      2627 days ago

      Dan seems to have trouble sticking with a single project. Sometimes it feels like he announces some new thing every week that never gets finished.

      • @[email protected]
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        326 days ago

        Yeah I still remember his fediverse direct messaging platform. Haven’t heard about it since he announced it.

        Maybe he’s just too busy?

    • @cm0002
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      2327 days ago

      Yea this was the last email I got…a promise for another email…5 days ago

    • rigatti
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      327 days ago

      Yeah it would have been enticing to see, you know, an actual video or the interface or at least something other than a logo.

  • @[email protected]
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    27 days ago

    Can’t see this doing well, who’s gonna want to host it and pay the bandwidth and storage costs?

    I know people would be willing to do that for a YT alternative, but I don’t think there’s many people who want to shell out so some kid can post their cringe dance video.

    Also, who tf gonna use it? I’d imagine Tik Tok users are the social media group that cares the least about the fediverse, open source, and privacy…

    • AlexanderESmith
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      1527 days ago

      PeerTube already exists, and has basically no usage (because no one is willing to foot the cost)

    • Aatube
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      827 days ago

      i like cringe dance videos but i think the problem’s gonna be the volume

    • @[email protected]
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      826 days ago

      Also, who tf gonna use it? I’d imagine Tik Tok users are the social media group that cares the least about the fediverse, open source, and privacy…

      Perhaps it’s one way to change that

    • @[email protected]
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      025 days ago

      It’s just like Peertube. Cool concept in theory, but breaks down once you consider the less fun parts of it (storage volume).

      Gonna be really hard to figure out how to make solid Fedi alternatives to image/video-based social media.

  • @[email protected]
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    2027 days ago

    Have you ever seen a TikTok video? Why on Earth do we want that on the Fediverse? Not everything that exists deserves to be copied.

    • @Maggoty
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      4027 days ago

      There are good short form videos. There are also bad ones. No different than long form video.

      • jawa21
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        427 days ago

        Sure, but why? PeerTube already exists and it isn’t like there are length limits.

      • @[email protected]
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        227 days ago

        It’s also one of the best ways to advertise as a small content creator. The internet hates self-promotion with a passion, but short form videos? People love that shit.

    • Chozo
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      3427 days ago

      Because wanting braindead content that you don’t have to think about or form a critical opinion over is a valid request. There’s a big reason the Fediverse doesn’t see widespread adoption: the content sucks, it’s all politics from the farther edges of every end of the spectrum and FOSSbro tech discussion that’s about as insufferable as cryptobro subreddits.

      If the Fediverse wants to attract more people, then it needs to start expanding into what those other people actually want. They don’t want to have a furry with a Stalin profile pic explain Linux kernel to them, they want to laugh at inconsequential videos of children falling into things that they can leave a “heart” on and quickly share a link to their friend with.

      • @[email protected]
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        -526 days ago

        If the Fediverse wants to attract more people, then it needs to start expanding into what those other people actually want.

        I’m okay with more people, but not those people. We are here in the Fediverse for some degree of quality, of which furries explaining the Linux kernel is one example of kind.

        • Chozo
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          1326 days ago

          I think you’re underestimating who “we” includes when talking about the Fediverse. Normies want a place here, too.

        • @[email protected]
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          426 days ago

          Yeah, the fediverse would be much better place without narcissistic gatekeeps like you here to bring the mood down all the time.

    • xigoi
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      027 days ago

      Wiser words have never been spoken.

      • @Maggoty
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        326 days ago

        You’re glad other people can’t access it because you don’t like it?

          • @Maggoty
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            226 days ago

            You wrote -

            Glad there’s no IOS client

            That doesn’t sound like letting other people do what they want.

  • @[email protected]
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    2025 days ago

    I really hope this gets a proper foss “for you” algo. Personalized content and people discovery features are lacking on the fediverse.

    • LukácsFan1917
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      825 days ago

      This is entirely possible through Mastodon/Misskey apps but not having it bound to local data would be awesome. Predictive engines are something most people want an ethical alternative for.

  • @Misk
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    1326 days ago

    People who care about decentralisation, privacy and data sovereignty etc are usually smart enough to understand that endless feeds of short form video is the new asbestos. You’d have better luck selling big macs to vegans.

      • @Misk
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        125 days ago

        I meant the ones made out of meat 😛

    • @[email protected]
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      25 days ago

      hear me out. The toxicity of social mefia comes from algorithms and advertising. Lots of short videos by the community can be fun/interesting and not addictive/ brain rotting.

      endless feeds of short form video is the new asbestos

      that’s like saying Mastodon is bad because Twitter ruined society, I mean how often do you find yourself raging endlessly at Mastodon.

      I would love to have a chill way of scrolling these videos without having to live with one of the evils.

      That being said i am also sceptical if this is it, I mean why do they want my email?

      • @Misk
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        225 days ago

        Excellent points 👍

        • @[email protected]
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          324 days ago

          There are lots of reasons to want alternatives to social media mega-corps, and the people with those reasons have varied likes and hobbies.
          Even amongst the people who care about privacy, decentralization, etc, people still have varied interests. All you have to do is look at the popularity of Tiktok content about privacy, security, programming, etc.

          Dude is a basement dweller, and just assumed that was the norm for everyone who shared an interest with him.

          I have my own thoughts about hurdles that loops will face, but “fediverse is for snobs” isn’t it.

          • @[email protected]
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            23 days ago

            Fair enough, but endless feeds and short form videos are also widely regarded as dangerous to mental wellbeing, so I agree with them on that point.

            But I’m more interested in getting people away from the adtech platforms, so also happy to see decentralised alternatives pop up.

            The great thing about decentralised social media is I’ll always have my anti dark pattern folks in one corner or other.

      • @Misk
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        -225 days ago

        Shhh 🤫 grownups are talking.

    • @RememberTheApollo_
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      025 days ago

      Yep. Agreed - except it is yet another avenue for monetization should it take hold. People keep acting like the fediverse is some kind of incorruptible platform.

  • JaggedRobotPubes
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    1226 days ago

    Everybody’s heads are up their asses about this. It’s a great idea for a fediverse thing.

    The real issue is nobody can use it because the damn confirmation emails don’t get sent.

    • Pika
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      125 days ago

      yea this is really their biggest thing here, by the time conf emails get sent everyone will lose interest lol

  • atro_city
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    1027 days ago

    I don’t really get why people scroll through short-form video, but at least there’s an opensource alternative in the works… Will be interesting to see if they allow non-loops users to contribute bandwidth because hosting all of those videos will be expensive af.

    • @[email protected]
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      426 days ago

      It’s because it gives a nice dopamine hit. Just like a still-image meme but more so because it’s video.

    • FarraigePlaisteach
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      226 days ago

      I like it for language learning. The books gets tedious as hell but some people have excellent short videos to help remember things and hear them pronounced by native speakers.

      • atro_city
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        126 days ago

        I never really considered there’d be useful content on there.

        • FarraigePlaisteach
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          126 days ago

          It’s easy block keywords so you don’t get dancing or politics, or at least, you can reduce it. The algorithm is also very good at serving your interests so if someone tells me all they’re seeing is dancing videos then it tells me they’ve been lingering on those for some reason :)

          I’ve also found it a great resource for novel and practical info about:

          • Cooking
          • ADHD & Autism
          • Music production with Logic Pro
          • Human rights news
          • Creativity
    • Fuck Yankies
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      2125 days ago

      Screw the privacy policy, bruh, read that TOS:

      When you post Contributions, you grant us a license (including use of your name, trademarks, and logos): By posting any Contributions, you grant us an unrestricted, unlimited, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, fully-paid, worldwide right, and license to: use, copy, reproduce, distribute, sell, resell, publish, broadcast, retitle, store, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part), and exploit your Contributions (including, without limitation, your image, name, and voice) for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, your Contributions, and to sublicense the licenses granted in this section. Our use and distribution may occur in any media formats and through any media channels.

      In other words, you put any content up there, they can resell it to some movie studio AND make an AI copy of you with no consequences… at least according to their ToS.

      EU law however… well, time will tell how fast and violently EU lawyers will inject themselves into the urethra of the service provider.

      • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️
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        25 days ago

        They even contradict themselves in this shit. There’s what you quoted, but there is also this bit further up in a previous section:

        We do not assert any ownership over your Contributions. You retain full ownership of all of your Contributions and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your Contributions. We are not liable for any statements or representations in your Contributions provided by you in any area on the Services. You are solely responsible for your Contributions to the Services and you expressly agree to exonerate us from any and all responsibility and to refrain from any legal action against us regarding your Contributions.

        “We can use your shit however we like, but if your shit is illegal, you’re the one who’ll be responsible; not us.”

        • Hellfire103
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          119 days ago

          Apparently, that’s required for the App Store and Google Play. The guy behind it has said he has no intention of taking advantage.

      • Fuck Yankies
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        325 days ago

        And before you go “it’s to avoid liability”, fucking duh - it doesn’t make it right though.

  • @[email protected]
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    726 days ago

    Tiktok is the type of social that is meant to redirect people elsewhere, I don’t know, I think that this could work with the Fedi. Tiktok doesn’t really pay it’s creator well AFAIK.

  • @[email protected]
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    526 days ago

    I’m interested, and I hope it’s successful.

    I’m not sure how they’re going to attract creators, when Tiktok already has the same features, has a larger audience, and pays… But I hope they can because I’d love to dump Tiktok for something open source.

    I wonder how their FYP will work, because honestly that’s a huge part of what makes Tiktok good.

  • @[email protected]
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    25 days ago

    Sick, that’ll get rid of like 60% of my reason to use YouTube (bc I use YouTube shorts, aka Google giggles). Edit: signed up, waiting on my email

  • Twotone
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    120 days ago

    Them editing content too? Wonder how far they’d go with that lol

    We may remove or edit your Content: Although we have no obligation to monitor any Contributions, we shall have the right to remove or edit any Contributions at any time without notice if in our reasonable opinion we consider such Contributions harmful or in breach of these Legal Terms. If we remove or edit any such Contributions, we may also suspend or disable your account and report you to the authorities.