Proposal for Scuttlebutt Resources for the non-technically minded.

Part of our SSB Revamp Vision

Goal

This project will develop a set of resources that articulate the spirit of Scuttlebutt and all its awesome potential, but targeted to people who are not developers or technological hobbyists. With these resources, our network is accessible to a larger group-- who can get onboarded and active without needing to understand github, node dependencies, or the malleable and nuanced definition of a pub.

These resources would proudly display our existing, beautiful solarpunk weirdness, so people are drawn to the culture of this community as much as to the promise of its tech.

How it Would Work

We would create a set of videos, articles, and other illustrative materials that succintly articulate what scuttlebutt is, why it's unique, and why someone would want to join. We would also create an equally rich set of materials that help people once they've joined, to help them make sense of the space and quickly feel at home. These resources would all live on scuttlebutt.nz so we have a simple link to give friends interested in Scuttlebutt, but would be clearly separate from the existing tech documentation already there.

While the resources would work together to give a nuanced, helpful introduction to our 'verse; they would also be designed to work on their own and without any context. In this way, each piece could be shared through the old internet's existing channels as interesting standalone pieces, but they would lead people to scuttlebutt.nz and all the other riches to be found there.

Who These Resources are Meant for

There's millions of people with computers who quality as "non-technically minded". I do not think we should try to make materials that would speak to any of these millions. Instead, we should focus on the types of non-technical people we'd love to have in our community now, and focus our language to them. This aims for a slower, more organic growth that builds upon our awesome, emerging culture.

I've written up a list of personas that I think fit the type of people we should direct our efforts to. It can be found here: Personas

If you think there is someone missing from that list, please feel free to make a pull request!

Examples of Resources to be Made with this Grant

Introduction to Scuttlebutt in Less than 3 Minutes

A video that explains the key, cool concepts of Scuttlebutt, and how its different from other social networks. This video would be 3 minutes or less, and offer a bright and humorous entry point to our world to encourage folks to learn more (and lead them to longer, more in-depth videos like "an SSB love story")

Revised Landing Page for Scuttlebutt.nz

A simpler homepage for scuttlebutt that succintly explains the spirit of our community. This page would then invite people to learn more on either two paths: one path is if you want to join this community, and another would be for if you want to build stuff for this community. With this, we can more clearly delineate the awesome technical stuff from the awesome non-technical stuff, and not overwhelm the curious with too much information at once.

Simple Animation Explaining what to Expect when you first join Patchwork

Patchwork is the most accessible of our clients, currently, but can still be confusing to new people. But we can build a simple GIF that shows what you can expect when you first install and open it, what you'll see when you join a pub, and how to start talking. This GIF could then live on our revamped page, so people have context for this client their currently downloading, and what they'll want to do next.

What It Means to "Send a Message" or "Post an Update" on a Centralized Network

In the same spirit of writing accessible introductions to the technical processes of Scuttelbutt, we should write how analogous things work on a centrallized network. These networks have obfuscated their technical side so that it all just seems like simple magic, It's harder than to express why exactly a decentralized network is important to someone who doesn't understand how their facebook feed is "centralized" in the first place. This would be a video/article that breaks down step by step what happens when you send a FB message to your grandma, and what happens when you post a status update about your feelings on twitter. Through these illustrations, the core flaws of these programs will be made more clear, and offer better context for discussing why the technical aspects of SSB are important.

Resources:

Understanding Centralized Models, or, How to Send a Message to your Grandma On Facebook: A Step by Step Guide

How to Throw an SSB Party

An awesome way to get started with SSB is to have a bunch of your friends all join on the same local network and you see how the tech works on a personal level. Also, there are many users who find SSB on their own and then want to get their own friend group on board. This article would detail a good way to throw an SSB party, and things to consider beforehand, and the proper preparations to take. The list would be written in a humorous style so it can be enjoyed on its own, though each point will still be valid.

Markdown Style Guide

An easy-to-miss stumbling block for our clients is not knowing how to properly write messages in them. Markdown is common in tech, but not as common outside of it. Producing a markdown style guide that can be incorporated into our clients would help people confidently post. This guide would be short and sweet but incorporate SSB's peculiarities (how to attach your own images, for example, or how to mention different channels and people) and the examples of the guides would give a way to share our culture in small silly ways.

SSB Compared to other Clients/Networks

SSB is it's own beautiful thing, which means it's kinda like (but not quite like) a bunch of other things. When I introduce SSB to my friends, I find this often creates a mental blocker for getting started. They will think "Oh! So this can replace our signal group" or "I can use this instead of slack" or some other application, and then are frustrated when it doesn't quite match what they expect. A small guide comparing SSB and its various clients to other well-known messaging/socializing platforms can help people find the right context for joining and keep them from being frustrated that SSB doesn't do something it wasn't necessarily setting out to do (at least yet).

What is Solarpunk?

This identification has gained an incredible life within the scuttleverse, and it is a relatively new genre/marker within the larger world. While the word sounds so nice, it's not immediately clear what "solarpunk" means. Having an article outlining how we define solarpunk and how it's expressed within the network (from Spider-Farm to Dominic coding ssb on a solar-powered computer to our practical discussions of airship manufacturing and governance without oppression) will help people understand this term and encourage solarpunk seekers to be a part of this community.

Tips for Getting Started

Someone can install patchwork, and join a pub, and see a feed starting to fill up...but still not know how to participate or what any of it means. Some cultural tips for getting started on SSB can give that proper foothold. This would be a video/article about how to post, and what to post. How to subscribe to a channel, and what a channel means. The difference between public and private posts, Some popular topics to check out, and other encouragement to help new folks express their unique selves within our unique 'verse.

And more to discover as all these get made!

Why I Want to Work on this Project

I am not a developer, and would not describe myself as technically minded. While I'm definitely interested in technology and how it affects humans and history, that is not what drew me to SSB. Instead, I found this place while I was on Tumblr, browsing through the solarpunk tag, and saw Andre Staltz' article. I am so thankful for that article because Scuttlebutt has become such an important home for me. And I can remember how intimidating it was to make my first post into this world, and how welcoming everyone was immediately. So I have a personal relationship to the cultural, non-tech-specced side of SSB and know the impact it can have on a person.

I've worked on articulating SSB in non-technical ways (the SSB Love Story video on scuttlebutt.nz being the most immediate example), and know I have a good aptitude for it, and so want to continue on the path I've found myself on.

Lastly, my experience is in art/comedy, and this world is where much of my physical friend group lives. I have a personal attachment to creative scenes, and can see how much the current online systems oppress and depress them. I know so many people would flourish on this network, and am excited about the awesome things we can all build together when devs and non-devs share this space. And so I want to try to reach out to as many different groups as possible and welcome them onboard, so they can help us build the future together.