You can subscribe to the RSS Feed...
There is something in my mind.
The familiar timeline-feed for sharing and following - to be connected, but without one big Data-Center / Company in the backgound providing a black box...
Right now the whole thing is just an idea. Based on existing web technologies to run your own little timeline...
Step one is public posting with a possibility to subscribe. And it is done.
This Miniblog with it's RSS feed is the base for a further proof of concept.
Next step is the personal timeline - a private timeline with posts from people you follow (based on the RSS feeds you add to your subscription-list).
Not sure when I have enough time for this and what / how many non-Miniblog feeds will be supported then.
Third step will be the connection.
The idea is an API to share content and notifications between single instances.
To enable notification about re-posts - and finally user to user communication.
Each installation (= User) can define how public the notification-interface should be accessible (allow from all, deny blacklist, allow whitelist, deny from all).
Authentification could perhaps be based on the SSL-Keys - assuming every user is running the system using it's own (sub-)domain with SSL certificate...
Based on a websever and a browser. Good "old" open web technology that I still like most. And allows you to have all your data under your control - as much as you like / need it.
That's all for now - still just a rough sketch, but I hope you got the Idea. More details may come in a few days (or weeks?)...