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Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

Gooblebrai

Comments (315)

  • CodeCompost
    I briefly hosted a Lemmy server on my machine just to see how it works and my god never again. The pictures that were automatically synced to my machine did not only make me lose faith in humanity, but it made me shut down and wipe my machine immediately because I was terrified that some of those images would land me some serious jail time.So if you choose to host something like this, be very aware that there are some sick, sick people out there.
  • mikkupikku
    The proprietary nature of tiktok, particularly the opaque recommendation algorithm, is only part of the problem with tiktok. I think the whole short form video medium is the bigger problem, it's not a medium that lends itself to nuance.
  • CqtGLRGcukpy
    It's worth keeping in mind that Loops is made by dansup which has also made and runs Pixelfed, FediDB, and has a history of being hostile to developers.You can see the recounting of his hostility at https://dansup-open-letter.github.io/appendix/(I'm not a signature of the open letter)
  • atlgator
    The HN cycle for federated alternatives is now complete: email → chat → microblogging → short video. We're speedrunning the "open-source version of things we claim to hate" timeline. Can't wait for the federated, self-hosted casino.
  • evolve2k
    Great to see this progressing. Tried it out just now after last testing it over 6 months ago.I’d say the main “feature” id want to see added is a mandatory field on upload to tick if it’s AI content. Then a tag on videos that are Ai and at the account level to filter out AI content.Otherwise it’s going to be a slops fest.
  • mortsnort
    The reality is that the addictive algorithm of commercial social media platforms is the product.These alternative platforms are like nicotine free cigarettes.They might garner small communities, which is totally cool and valid, but they will never slay the giants.
  • nanobuilds
    The UX should be more "mass user" friendly if the goal is to attract mainstream users. Sign in with Apple/etc.. selecting a server is technical language and not end-user language etc.
  • pyaamb
    I've been casually daydreaming about possible paths an "AI augmented" newsfeed experience could take.I'm imagining an initial group of agents scraping the web for events (twitter/x, science/eng/business publications) that could potentially translate to stories that their end users (humans) might be interested in.those stories get picked up by another set of bots (equivalent to reddit posters) and get published on an agent-only social network where a diverse set of agents with different "backgrounds"/personalities comment and discuss on the story.inputs from this post (article + comments) are picked up by an 'editor' agent and go into a final summarized article designed for human eyes or humans personal agent or newsfeed agent.humans being the end users browse their (ai enhanced) newsfeed which has its own private, continuously evolving algorithms based on knowledge of 1) what and 2) how its human likes to consume/think.information is "backpropagated" to inform/reinforce the initial scraper group of bots on what to look out for.
  • ParadisoShlee
    This project would love some additional support. If you're a developer who is interested in building this... please get in touch with them, the team is VERY small so you can do some good by just supporting them.
  • hackersk
    The timing feels right for this. TikTok's regulatory uncertainty, Instagram Reels being algorithmically hostile to small creators, and YouTube Shorts still feeling like an afterthought.The real test for federated social media has always been: can you solve the cold start problem? Mastodon survived because Twitter kept shooting itself in the foot. Loops needs a similar catalyst or a genuinely better creator experience to pull people over.One thing I'd watch: how they handle content moderation across federated instances. That's been the thorniest problem for every decentralized platform.
  • niam
    I have no horse in the short-form video race, but I recognize that it has material affects on the world (whether I'd like it or not). Scorn for the principle of an open platform here seems misplaced. It seems too young of a format with too few examples to confidently say it's irredeemable.
  • hmokiguess
    Aw man can we not flip the script and maybe build less of these things? It’s saturated and not really helping society but rather creating more addiction machines.
  • swiftcoder
    Is this 'federated' as in ActivityPub? Or 'federated' as in ATProtocol? Or 'federated' as in some custom thing?I did not find the site very enlightening about what's actually going on under the hood
  • maelito
    Not sure how the fediverse that missed the Twitter alternative because of its design complexity, will get the video market, a lot less geek.
  • TensorToad
    This is actually pretty exciting. Excited to see how this turns out. But I am wondering how to keep it financially possible to operate the platform. Also, 95+% of the users probably don't care that much about censorship and privacy enough to switch platform.
  • HelloUsername
  • gempir
    Good that they have a web version.But the most basic functionality of going to the next video is only available via scroll (no keyboard arrow down?) and it has a really long animation and delay?Just feels awful to use.I feel if you wanna win in this space, especially with people who prefer more "free" platforms, then the non-app version should be a bigger priority IMO.
  • bobbane
    LOOPS, on the other hand, is an object-oriented programming environment in Interlisp-D, and one of the predecessors to CLOS.
  • fasbiner
    This looks interesting, but if you don't have creepy and opaque admin controls and algorthimic manipulation that create a thousand little tinpot Larry Ellisons, you should highlight that.Because that's why no one I know uses Mastadon.
  • throawayonthe
    how good is the For You feed? the tiktok secret sauce is the creepy algorithm, who's clamoring for "crack but not addictive?"
  • beloch
    One thing that's awesome about this and is 100% better than TikTok:No burned-in branding. No trailing brand screen. No trademark brand noises.----Tiktok videos have omnipresent logos burned-in and a full-screen trailer with an annoying Tiktok brand sound. The few random loops that I looked at had none of these. I hope this doesn't change and, if it doesn't change, I hope loops displaces TikTok. I despise being constantly bombarded with branding.
  • 4k1l
    Another TikTok alternative https://upscrolled.com/en/
  • anon
    undefined
  • wolvoleo
    I like the app but it really needs a mute function (ideally an option by default).
  • umairnadeem123
    the format isn't inherently bad, it's the algorithm optimizing for engagement over everything else that's the problem. short video is actually great for tutorials, explanations, behind-the-scenes stuff. i make AI-generated video content and the short form works well for documentary-style clips where you're mixing stills with selective animation.the real question is whether federation changes the incentive structure enough. if the recommendation algo is still optimized for watch time, you just get tiktok with extra steps. if instances can tune their own ranking, that's actually interesting.
  • dangoodmanUT
    I can appreciate the effort, but the UI is indistinguishable from tiktok.
  • yeukhon
    Good luck, projects like these either end up getting sued or going to acquisition. Open source != morally on the end result
  • b8
    Problem will be growing the user base. YouTube Shorts will be a big competitor.
  • lloydjones
    Is this using ATProtocol? I wasn’t clear from the site.Congrats!
  • b00ty4breakfast
    this is like using an "ethically produced" brick to smash your foot with; The method of manufacturing the brick isn't the problem.These formats are designed for a specific purpose; maximizing engagement to extract value.so we've remove the incentive to extract value but we leave the predatory design that maximize engagement? You working in a different milieu but you are bringing the worst parts of the previous milieu along for the ride.Please, anybody working on this kind of alternative social platform, we need to rethink how we interact online; decentralization leaves the worst parts of modern social media completely unaddressed.
  • ftchd
    I want this to be succesful so much, but almost nothing works in the mobile appNeeded 2 tries to sign up, and uploading a video from the camera roll failed (5-7 tries)
  • bloody-crow
    Who actually wants this? Kids obsesses with TikTok don't care about federated/open source bits. People who do are not on TikTok or interested in this type of brainrot in the first place.What am I missing?
  • himanshu1103
    What is the actual usecase?
  • notepad0x90
    > Each instance admin has full control over their server's moderation policies, allowed content, and federation choices. Loops provides the tools; communities set their own rules.Yeah, but how do you maintain quality? Are users expected to shun instances that have poor quality? Quality doesn't just mean spam and unwanted content, it means hiding poor quality posts in feeds. You end up with users that are willing to invest time in curating the app to meet their needs. But that means you miss out on most people out there who expect a curated and engaging (read:addicting) experience.I am not concerned about market shares on their own. But this is a good idea, and tiktok and youtube short videos are doing lots of harm to the world. Having a viable alternative would be amazing.I'll suggest that a very strong and well funded "main" instance server exist? I'm sure there is one now, but I'm concerned this will go the way of lemmy and mastodon.I would much rather prefer a centralized social media with a sanely constructed governance and corporate structure and a clear and non-conflicting revenue generation plan. The guardian's incorporation structure is what I consider a good example. That news organization is managing to be fairly independent, prevalent and significant when all others are caving to walled gardens and billionaires. social media in general should be viewed similar to journalistic organizations in terms of governance structure.it is nice to be able to take your data elsewhere, it is nicer not having the need to begin with. In principle that sounds great, but in practice it is similar to forking software if you don't like it.Lastly, how do they plan on making money? At least to the level that sustains their operations?
  • replwoacause
    Let me also register my disinterest in another platform that mimics TikTok.Brainrot is brainrot regardless of whether it's "federated and open-source" or not. And BTW, 95% of the people on TikTok don't care about either of those two things.
  • cogman10
    It's interesting, I doubt it'll ever be successful.Look, the reason a lot of content makes it's way to Youtube, tiktok, and twitter, etc is because the creators can earn money from the platform. On youtube and tiktok, you can send gifts to your favorite creator. That incentivizes creators to create content.loops will never have that feature. It's really hard to legally distribute money like that. But further, the decentralized nature of it means that you'll never know if your funds ends up in your creator's account or the instant account.Without any sort of path to make money, the only content on the platform will be works of passion. Maybe that's a good thing, but it means these people will ultimately burn out.But on the plus side, it means you probably won't end up with an endless stream of AI slop.
  • johnpaulgeorge
    we need a platform that is not addictive. there is a simple solution. pass a very strict law: that every social media company is required to allow their user from turning off their feeds.
  • slipheen
    I didn't deep dive into this, but just for context and comparison, here are some other tools which are building TikTok like tools on Bluesky-https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/01/here-are-the-apps-battling...
  • AuthAuth
    I do not know how to phrase this politely. I like the platform and the concept is interesting. But the people on it are just so far away from what me (and men my age) deem interesting and seem to be hostile to anything that doesnt fit their very restrictive ideals.You'll never find sports, guns, cars, comedy and a lot of other mainstream content on these platforms even though there is nothing inherently offensive about it. I havent used Loops but im assuming its the same crowd as on Mastodon.
  • throwa356262
    Congrats. All that remains now is spending $$$ on some D-level celebs to lure in the users...
  • umrashrf
    How is it decentralized? Decentralized as in bitcoin?
  • with
    Ew. The content problem on TikTok was never the protocol, it's that 99% of short-form video is brainrot slop regardless of who hosts the servers. Slapping ActivityPub on it literally solves nothing for humanity.
  • muyuu
    the brainrot from tiktok amplified with the brainrot from mastodon, what's not to love?
  • tamimio
    The site is buggy, when you enable 2FA, you are given the qr code option only, no option for manual entry. When you sign up and the username is taken, you next button goes into infinite loop even after changing the username, you cannot click next, and clicking back doesn’t fix it.
  • Aeroi
    two hardest problems for a platform like this.1. users and initial flywheel. 2. content moderation.
  • jmyeet
    For 20+ years World of Warcraft has dominated the MMORPG genre. There have been a host of challengers and they've all miserably failed. In fact, there have only been a handful of successes (eg UO, EQ, FF14).And what do almost all of these challengers have in common? Some version of "the PvP is going to be amazing". Why do these companies like PVP? Because it's essentially user-generated content. It increases time spent in game without having to create content, which is expensive.Thing is, players of this genre don't want PVP. Even in WoW, I'd be surprised if 10% of the playerbase actively engages in PVP activity. So, by focusing on PVP, you're actually cut your potential market by 90%. Before you've written a single line of code or created any artwork. Put another way, you're spending valuable development effort on features only a tiny minority of players care about or even want.I'm reminded of this whenever somebody on HN talks about federation. The only people who care about federation are... other people on HN. It does literally nothing for users. It greatly complicates the implementation. The last successes of federation are POTS and Email. It's quite literally never succeeded since. And the problems with federation that POTS and Email continue to have to this day should be an object lesson in why it's a bad idea.Choosing federation from the start is choosing to lose. I'm sorry but it's true.
  • system2
    The TikTok users are not conscious humans to think like "oh, this app is bad for me, let me find a clean alternative". Nice try, but missed the target by a mile.
  • iamnothere
    Glad to see more platforms on the Fediverse. Couldn’t be less interested in this particular one since it’s short form video. Those who like this medium: enjoy.I may find short form video distasteful, but it’s less distasteful than those who want to dictate the media formats that others consume. Get a grip, people.
  • 587687646343767
    Finally, federated, open-source crack!
  • blueboo
    Open source meth is still bad in absolute terms even if it’s better than the alternative meth
  • gnarlouse
    "Everything you love about short-video"Hahaha
  • Almondsetat
    "Open-source TikTok" is like reading "open source slot machine". Not something you should be proud of, no matter how much you sugarcoat it with "All the fun of short-form video, none of the corporate control"
  • SilverElfin
    There have already been some TikTok alternatives that have become popular after it got bought by the Trump / Oracle / Silver Lake group of buyers.One alternative I’ve heard of that apparently became popular is Skylight: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/26/tiktok-alternative-skyligh...
  • deafpolygon
    We do not need another tiktok.
  • mschuster91
    Oh dear god, another fediverse service.I mean, I love the idea behind the fediverse, but the problem is, as long as you got federated instances of anything, instance admins will use their userbase for petty bxtchfights and purity contests.and no, selfhosting is not an alternative, anything Fediverse requires a lot of resources, is ripe with exploits and exposes you to significant legal risk from griefers (e.g. you get DM'd CSAM by someone, your server automatically downloads it => congratulations, you are now a pedo under at least German law).
  • weezing
    This form of content is bad regardless of platform.
  • aaurelions
    [dead]
  • koreanguy
    [dead]
  • inigyou
    [dead]
  • lai0602
    The platform is filled with so many AI generated slop
  • dana321
    I signed up and had a look, its full of garbage