Setting up a privacy and security focused social network for non techie people

Discuss
, ,
1

Discuss

I just asked a similarly long and vague question about setting up a family server, but this is a different project potentially using the same hardware - maybe not.

I have an unused windows desktop with 6 TB that I am attempting to use to replace google. That may be useful for this or it may make sense to choose third party hosting outside the US. I would like to make a private virtual community for fellow fans in order to start getting more active politically. I’ve made large active communities on discord before but I don’t want to use discord now - basically i don’t trust them and I think they’re coming under the microscope.

Since I am setting up the community and I think the people I will be inviting to join will be even less tech and security aware than I am - I feel responsible for doing the most I can to make sure their information and our conversations are protected. Not that I really think we’d be discussing anything radical - mostly like encouraging each other to get more involved locally in volunteering and stuff - but who knows what will be categorized as antifa in the future. Also - we’re all fans of a musical group and I don’t want anything negative to happen to the group if it ‘gets out’ that fans are organizing this way. I think I’m being overly paranoid but I just want someone to tell me with these (probably unrealistic) worries that yes X platform is fine and recommend to use and you should take the trouble to use a VPN to hide your traffic to a local host or definitely use a german server or something.

I think I’m most interested in Discourse or Flarum and I could see a use for Miro Talk and Pixelfed as well. I’d like something that is easy for people who don’t usually use non standard apps to use - so even something like matterbridge is interesting because it appears you can use anything to chat? Though I don’t really understand how that is meant to work or what it looks like.

Anyways - the apps are actually less important. What I am most concerned with is what are is the standard of security you think I should try and meet? I hope this question made some sort of sense and I’m happy to try and clarify any of my ramblings. Thank you.

2

gotosocial is a lightweight and easy to configure alternative to have a social network X/IG style. It can be easily configured to be local-only (does not federate with other servers) so your users would have a safer space to talk in that style (sharing text, video, pictures, etc) and you could manage/moderate the conversation with less work. It also has a allow-list federation mode, so it would only federate with selected (and trusted) servers, in case you need it. Plenty of clients for desktop and mobile to fit your user’s preferences.

or just go to old plain forums :smiley: (like this one we have here), best for keep topics organized and clean

or IM-based, like synapse or tuwunel (matrix), or movim (jabber), and keep them local-only (for security and privacy). Maybe matrix-based, with public rooms, spaces (room’s collections), private messages (E2EE), is a more suited alternative manage diferent topics.

any of them in our catalog so you can test.

Wait other people’s replies so diferent opinions arise

2 Likes
3

I second @ghose with GoToSocial or a simple private forum ^w^

If you prefer something that looks more like discord, you could use Prose with Prosody, which can also be used as an instant messaging with a basic XMPP client like Gajim

1 Like
4

Thank you so much for responding. To ask something horribly basic but those second three services you mentioned, are they meant to be used together and all doing parts of the whole. Or would I choose one? They seem to do similar but slightly different things but I’m not sure I understand how they connect.

5

Prosody is making the two others working, as they are just clients

6

Thank you so much for responding! I was nervous, but everyone’s been kind.

2 Likes