Richard MacManus

Everyone here loves a CSS-in-JS system, right? I took a look at Meta's StyleX and how it compares to the more commonly used Tailwind. While "just use CSS dammit" is the normal response to such tools, it does seem like StyleX has a very specific (and rare) use case: highly scaled apps. https://thenewstack.io/stylex-vs-tailwind-metas-take-on-css-in-js-maintainability/ #CSS cc @nmn, a StyleX core dev, who I was pleased to see is on the fediverse.

RE: https://stefanbohacek.online/@stefan/115899500197045760

Both Wikipedia and Drupal began on 15 January 2001. What an amazing day for the open web.

Congrats @dries and the #Drupal community for 25 years on the open web! Love this lesson from Dries' blog post: "You cannot force a community to exist, but you can create the conditions for one to grow." (the opposite is also true: if the conditions suck, people will leave — X, Threads, etc.)

p.s. I'm talking to Dries in a couple of hours for a post for @TheNewStack. Let me know if anyone has a question for him about Drupal's 25 years.

https://dri.es/25-years-of-drupal-what-i-have-learned

25 years ago, on 15 Jan 2001, Wikipedia was founded. We've grown a bit, via values of neutral knowledge for all. Thanks for the work by so many volunteers globally who devotedly make it; to the donors who make it all possible; and to our readers who make it worthwhile. To the next 25! #Wikipedia25

@dansup

Mastodon = locally owned family grocery store

X = Walmart with AI

RE: https://mastodon.social/@blu256/115887329279999236

If you're also a journalist on Mastodon, please help @blu256 out and fill in this questionaire. I just did it and only took 5 or so minutes. I'm looking forward to seeing the results. #journalism

The Calishat Jams of 2025: All Free, All Ad-Free

In 2025 I made 13 new tools for better search and content curation, using Google, Wikipedia, RSS, WordPress, and more. They're all free and ad-free.

https://www.calishat.com/2026/01/14/the-calishat-jams-of-2025-all-free-all-ad-free/

If you put the Apple icons in reverse it looks like the portfolio of someone getting really really good at icon design

Thanks @tchambers for including @classicweb. What a great list of follows and love this idea for other instances. https://indieweb.social/@indiewebadmin/115894148692287689

I’d like to announce that I’ve hired a Chief of Staff at Cybercultural: please welcome Richard MacManus (aka ricmac) to the team.

if in Stuttgart or not far away.

Save the date

January 13 19:30

The opening of my students (plus me) exhibition NAKED WEB

all about it
⬇️
https://pad.profolia.org/s/NAKED_WEB#

A history of web design, from the grey web pages of 1993 to the colorful, mobile-centric web designs of 2012. A celebration of the peak years of personal websites and blogs. By Richard MacManus.

https://cybercultural.com/p/history-of-web-design/

RE: https://jaz.co.uk/2026/01/13/there-is-one-fediverse-there-are-a-thousand-ways-to-join-it/

"There is no “pick a server” screen or “find your instance”. There is no friction. This is not “a Mastodon app”; it is the Tŵt app, purpose-built for our community."

This is a vision of the Social Web which I'm sure many won't agree with or, potentially, won't even understand.

But, like @jaz I'm pretty certain this is the future. We need to make spaces which are accessible to the general user, that just take them where they want to go without a scavenger hunt.

I'm so excited for this app and seeing how it can serve the existing community, Welsh people, and everyone else who wants to call it home 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

#SocialWeb #Technology #App #SocialMedia #Fediverse #Mastodon

Recently, I was sitting with my sister-in-law talking about social media. She has that nagging, familiar concern about corporate social: the feeling that we are all just products in someone else’s machine. I pulled out my phone, showed her my toot.wales feed, and started explaining how she could “save the web site to her home screen”.

She listened politely, then said the thing I believe most people genuinely feel:

“It’s lovely! If only there was an app…”

She does not want a “protocol”. She does not want to hear about “the Fediverse”. She just wants that feed on her phone without a homework assignment.

When I started toot.wales, I knew this instinctively. In the early days, I even paid a developer to fork a couple of open-source apps and hard-code them to our server. It was expensive and eventually I simply couldn’t sustain it, but I never lost sight of that goal.

Now, working with our brilliant friends at the Newsmast Foundation, we have finally delivered it: a simple, opinionated, “people-first” social app.

The biggest design decision we made was the simplest: the app is hard-locked to toot.wales.

There is no “pick a server” screen or “find your instance”. There is no friction. This is not a Mastodon app; it is the Tŵt app, purpose-built for our community.

I’ve spent years building tools like StartHereSocial to help people navigate the maze of the Fediverse. But for toot.wales, I realised the answer isn’t a better map, it should be an inviting, open front door. If you want to join, you should be able to step right in.

Alongside the app, I built a promotional web site at croeso.toot.wales. Croeso is Welsh for “welcome”, and that is exactly what it provides. It strips away the jargon, no talk of federation or decentralisation. Instead, it offers clear language about why this is “Better Social”.

It is joyful and unthreatening on purpose. We’re not here to preach at you to quit X or Facebook, and we’re not shaming anyone. We are simply inviting you to try something different. If you like the vibe, stay. If not, no worries. People stay because it feels good, not because they have been coaxed into a boycott.

Some people see the Fediverse as one giant global town square. I see it differently. For me, it’s a community of communities.

When people tell me “mastodon.social is too big”, my gut feeling is no, your server is too small. Communities only grow when we intentionally nurture them. It’s not up to a company in Germany to grow Tŵt. That’s on us, it’s our problem.

I want everyone in Wales (and the world!) to have a social option that is not drowned in surveillance and ad-tech. To get there, we have to design for clarity rather than complexity.

We have made some very deliberate choices to keep the app “human-shaped”:

• Private Mentions have their own space. You can’t create a private mention in the main composer and you will not see them in your timeline. We’ve put them in a dedicated “Conversations” tab to reduce mistakes and keep privacy intentional.
• Three simple tabs. You get Home (your personal feed), Tŵt (the “local” feed plus local replies), and Explore (your lists and hashtags, plus curated feeds for news, sport, culture and more). This creates a natural flow from your own interests to the wider community.
• Search is just search. There are no “trending” nudges or unsolicited content. If you’re looking for something, we help you find it. We don’t try to distract you along the way. (Trending is it’s own Channel.)
• True Bilingualism. English and Cymraeg sit side-by-side as equal choices. Digital spaces should reinforce our identity, not flatten it.

The Tŵt ecosystem is already thriving because Welsh media organisations took a leap of faith into the open web. Groups such as Nation.Cymru, Golwg360, Swansea Bay News, and Wrexham.com did not wait to see which way the wind was blowing. They just started building, and are long-time Social Web citizens.

Whether it’s weather updates from North Wales Storms or local sports teams, these partners make the app feel “live” from the moment you log in. The app offers two pathways to consume this content, via Channels you can drop in and out of, or Starter Packs you can follow to bring them into your feed.

For those already comfortable with the Fediverse, using a web interface or the app of their choice is fine. But for everyone else, “just install the web site” is not meaningful advice.

People want “the app”. From the trusted app store. They want to tap an icon and feel at home, rather than feeling like they’re doing a technical chore.

If you run a community and like our approach, please feel free to use it. Whether it’s the onboarding flow, the “Better Social” messaging, or the focus on language equity, you are welcome to use my work as a template. If we want a healthier internet, we need more communities feeling empowered to build their own front doors.

The Tŵt app is our doorway. It is built for Wales and the Welsh, at home and abroad. It’s simple, it’s ours, and I can’t wait for you to try it. We plan on launching on Dydd Dewi Sant, a special day for Cymru, in the meantime you can get a preview at https://croeso.toot.wales/en/less-clutter-more-cwtch/

Today I'm launching season 5 of Cybercultural: the history of web design from 1993 till 2012. It will be a celebration of the peak years of personal websites and blogs! My intro post explains the structure and a few of the main themes I'll be exploring (e.g. personal web design vs platform peer pressure). I invite you to subscribe now for weekly updates via email or RSS. https://cybercultural.com/p/history-of-web-design/ #WebDesignHistory