Introducing Postmarks: Your New Social Bookmarking Companion

The successor to Web 2.0 bookmarking site del.icio.us is here, but this time, it’s built for the open web and the fediverse — the decentralized collection of social networks that includes the Twitter/X competitor Mastodon and others.

Portland-area web developer Casey Kolderup has launched Postmarks, a fediverse-enabled social bookmarking service that offers a web interface for saving your favorite links and annotating them, similar to bookmarking sites of years past.

Share Links and Annotations with Your Followers

Unlike traditional bookmarking sites, Postmarks allows you to share your links and notes not only with your followers on its platform but also with users on federated social networks such as Mastodon or any other network on the fediverse.

Inspiration and the Power of the Fediverse

Kolderup was inspired to work on federated social bookmarking after witnessing the success of his friends’ ActivityPub-powered projects. ActivityPub, the protocol that powers apps on the fediverse, has paved the way for the creation of innovative platforms. Projects like Hometown, Bookwyrm, and Shuttlecraft provide remarkable examples of what can be done using open protocols and interacting with vast communities.

Create Your Instance and Curate Your Collection

With Postmarks, users have the freedom to establish their own “instance” using the software, creating a personalized web interface. This interface allows users to add bookmarks, annotate them with descriptions, tag them for organization, and establish associations between different bookmarks.

A No-Frills Experience with Infinite Possibilities

Postmarks follows in the footsteps of well-known bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and Pinboard, focusing on simplicity and usability. Its no-frills interface allows users to curate and browse their collections, granting others access to their notes and organization.

Embrace the Freedom of Self-Hosting

Postmarks’ open-source software, available on GitHub, is still in its early stages and requires users to have some technical expertise to administer their own websites. Fortunately, Glitch’s project remix feature simplifies the installation process to a three-step procedure. Self-hosting allows users to customize their Postmarks experience, whether by updating the theme, redesigning the site, building a unique bookmarks database, or any other desired modifications.

Connect with the Fediverse

Once you set up your Postmarks instance, your About page will feature an @username@domain identifier, similar to an account on Mastodon. Users can follow this identity from their own Postmarks instance or other apps on the fediverse, such as Mastodon. Every time you create a new bookmark, it will be published as a “note” for all your followers, appearing on their Network page on Postmarks or in their Home feed on Mastodon.

The Rise of the Fediverse

The concept of the fediverse has been around for years, with Mastodon, a popular Twitter-like service, being launched in 2016. However, recent events, such as Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, have brought decentralized social networking into the mainstream. Dissatisfied with the changes made to Twitter, many users turned to platforms like Mastodon, where interconnected servers with their own rules provide a more customizable experience. As the movement gains traction, more apps like Medium, Flipboard, WordPress, and even Instagram’s Threads are joining the fediverse, promising broader reach and expanding the potential for innovative projects like Postmarks.

Empowering Users with Control

Although Postmarks aims to follow in the footsteps of successful bookmarking sites that came before it, Kolderup emphasizes the importance of self-hosting, granting users an unprecedented level of control. Users can tailor their experience, ensuring that Postmarks meets their specific needs and preferences.