For example, for me, here are some things I wish to see (or would implement in my design) :
- design around ease of self-hosting. A non technical user must be able to self host easily and at a very low cost.
- Embrace content sorting and filtering algorithms, but on the client side, with optional control by the user.
- Standardize tags on all content. So many of the different ways different platforms classify or organize content can be implemented as tags, which increases interoperability between them.
- Abandon obsession with real-time-first implementations for use cases that don’t explicitly need it.
- Transferable user identity (between instances)
- User identity and authentication as separate service from social network instance
Would love to hear yours!
The first issue you bring up would be resolved with the idea of separating identity and authentication as separate providers from instance providers. In fact, it’s much better than just relying on a small difficulty, as that is more likely to discourage a well meaning non-technical person than a malicious actor.
Wktn separate identity providers, your instance can trust the identity providers that have good reputation. And if I want to be seen by your instance, then I have to have one of those identity providers approve me.
Different identity providers will have different standards and requirements.