Open-Media-Network
/
MakingHistory
8
2
Fork 0
Code Issues 1 Pull Requests Releases Wiki Activity

Update README.md

master
hamishcampbell 2026-03-30 14:51:42 +00:00
parent 857e709258
commit 9aedbad5be
1 changed files with 33 additions and 11 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

44
README.md
View File

@ -2,6 +2,39 @@
## Overview
The #makinghistory project is a decentralized, open-source archiving and storytelling network designed to preserve and amplify grassroots histories. It’s founded on the idea that history isn’t written by the winners – it’s made by those who resist, build, and care. Using digitized collections like the CampbellFamily archive as a seed, the project invites communities to reclaim their narratives through shared, federated networks. This isn’t just another data repository – it’s a living, breathing ecosystem where collective memory is gathered, enriched, and kept accessible for future generations and movements.
The application functions as a community-installable tool that allows anyone to host their own archive node. These nodes, whether local or remote, connect into a wider peer-to-peer network of storytellers, archivists, and activists. Core features include uploading and organizing digital files, enriching metadata flows, and linking material to broader narratives using human-created tags and annotations. The platform follows a participation-first path, encouraging affinity groups to contribute not just data, but context, weaving a rich web of interlinked histories.
But #makinghistory goes further than archiving. It’s a space for collaborative storytelling, publishing, and public exhibition. Its narrative layer draws from the archive to trace connections between people, places, and events, transforming scattered fragments into stories of solidarity, resistance, and change. These outputs feed both digital commons and real-world installations like the Resistance Exhibition, where history is brought to life in public, participatory spaces. This is the infrastructure for radical memory work, a composting system for movement knowledge. Developers are not just needed to build features, they’re invited to help shape the very flows and protocols that keep history in the hands of those who live it.
Developer Roadmap: #makeinghistory – Testing & Prototyping
Phase 1: Core Object Listing
Implement a single-column interface that lists objects (text, image, link).
Set up two test instances that can post and sync objects between them.
Default view lists objects by most recent. Super simple.
Phase 2: Hashtag Columns
Add support for hashtag-based columns (inspired by Mastodon’s Tweetdeck interface).
Reuse and adapt existing open-source implementations where possible.
Phase 3: Story Objects
Introduce a new “Story” object that composes and links existing media objects, with added narrative context.
These stories are published through collective/community accounts (discussion needed on access/trust models).
Phase 4: Federation & Flows
Begin mapping and testing how edits, hashtags, comments, and objects flow across federated instances.
Align this with the #OMN trust model and the work from the #indymediaback reboot (estimated 90% overlap).
User Interfaces
Desktop: Use a Tweetdeck-style interface, similar to Mastodon’s current layout.
Mobile: Build a simplified UI with a single-column scroll. Objects open fullscreen with sideways swiping (like Tusky for Mastodon).
Every Object
Has edit capabilities (if user has login/auth).
Editable hashtags.
Comment threads.
All changes sync across instances via federation/trust flows (option 4).
The current test interface and images will need refreshing, as they’re based on early-stage mockups. But the concept remains: keep the interface minimal, usable, and focused on narrative composting. This project is both infrastructure and imagination, grounded in the old but reaching toward the new.
https://unite.openworlds.info/attachments/58327ecc-d1da-4c82-8aa0-b1bc3310b42f
MakingHistory is a project of the Open Media Network (#OMN), a long-running initiative to build community-governed, federated media infrastructure on the #openweb. Where the #OMN provides the broader ecosystem and values framework, MakingHistory is the concrete first-stage build: a working proof-of-concept that puts those values into running code.
The project creates a decentralised, participatory network for documenting and sharing grassroots movements, historical events, and underrepresented narratives. It empowers communities and institutions to take control of their own stories - preserving and amplifying them outside corporate-controlled platforms. At its technical core, MakingHistory develops a trust-based "flow layer" that connects existing Fediverse infrastructure into a coherent, media and archiving network.
@ -35,17 +68,6 @@ The key technical components are:
- A **distributed archiving layer** using redundant federated storage with metadata tagging for long-term preservation and retrieval
- A **reference implementation** demonstrating these flows in practice, with the MakingHistory archive as the user-facing test environment
---
## Makeinghistory roadmap:
Single column listing objects - two instances that can post to each other - objects (text, image, links). Listing objects by last posted. Very basic.
Ten hashtag columns - mastodon has this, can mostly copy existing implementation.
Add stories, simply another object that uses existing objects and links with context text. Think of this as a human story index. (a collective community account publishes this (how does this work)
We need to think about flows between instances, federating etc.
---