I am very wordy and can't use Twitter because of the eleven and two-thirds dozen character limit. Other social networking sites are longer, but so far as i know, it hasn't been done the other way. Therefore i propose a minimal social networking service - not site so much, since HTML is unnecessary for this - which involves each user updating their status using a single character. They can of course follow others. The idea is to sum up everything about what's happening in a single letter or symbol. For instance, if one is angry, one could post "+", meaning one is "cross". If one is drinking tea, post "t". Context is all though. "+" on another occasion could mean one feels positive. An astronomer might post "*" when they go out to look at the night sky, but a fan of Sheena Easton might post the same for entirely different reasons.
Usernames are also single characters, meaning that friend networks have to be organised into Google Plus style "circles" of fewer than nine dozen individuals.
Internet access is possible but not necessary for the service. It can also be accessed via a tamagochi/pager/digital watch-style device which enables one, in various ways, to send and receive one's single-character update via a radio signal to local users within a few kilometres, or more widely depending on the frequency. The simplicity of the system enables the system to be used with extremely low-end hardware, probably not even requiring integrated circuits. It could also be included as a facility on the likes of pocket calculators or the devices i mentioned above.-- nineteenthly, Aug 03 2011 Not the same thing as... single-user_20social_20network...although "single character" could mean "single user"... [hippo, Dec 28 2014] k-- FlyingToaster, Aug 03 2011 ^-- nineteenthly, Aug 03 2011 ?-- zen_tom, Aug 03 2011 ™-- theleopard, Aug 03 2011 @-- neelandan, Aug 03 2011 m-- pocmloc, Aug 03 2011 m-- pocmloc, Aug 03 2011 m-- pocmloc, Aug 03 2011 ?-- pocmloc, Aug 03 2011 +-- Wrongfellow, Aug 03 2011 2-- mouseposture, Aug 03 2011 u-- nineteenthly, Aug 03 2011 9-- DrBob, Aug 03 2011 ÿ-- xandram, Aug 03 2011 ¹-- reensure, Aug 03 2011 ~-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 03 2011 :-- phoenix, Aug 03 2011 b-- rcarty, Aug 03 2011 1-- rcarty, Aug 03 2011 !-- rcarty, Aug 03 2011 #-- po, Aug 03 2011 )-- nineteenthly, Aug 03 2011 †-- RayfordSteele, Aug 03 2011 ~-- pocmloc, Aug 03 2011 œ-- baconbrain, Aug 03 2011 $-- blissmiss, Aug 03 2011 www.i.net seems like a appropriate web address. i.net is one of the few single letter second level domains that got grandfathered in. You just have to convince the current owner to sell it.-- scad mientist, Aug 03 2011 ®-- neelandan, Aug 04 2011 "-- RayfordSteele, Aug 04 2011 p-- XSarenkaX, Aug 04 2011 ¶-- Canuck, Aug 04 2011 þ-- nineteenthly, Aug 04 2011 Nethack!-- WcW, Aug 04 2011 @-- WcW, Aug 04 2011 [marked-for-depletion] list-- lurch, Aug 04 2011 //[marked-for-depletion] list//
you mean...
#-- FlyingToaster, Aug 04 2011 ꙮ-- LoriZ, Aug 04 2011 I was thinking about this today, and thought that it would be interesting if the character pertained to a music note. A literal twitter could be produced if everyone posted a note that reflected their mood. Then the twitters could be compiled into a musical composition.-- rcarty, Aug 04 2011 It wasn't my intention to make this into a list. I actually meant the idea, so i'd dispute that, [FT]. However, i do also wonder whether the fact that your anno has provoked me into lapsing into my customary verbosity may constitute a flaw in the idea.
[Rcarty], someone did that, didn't they? The trouble is there are only a couple of notes even in extended ASCII, i think. But you could do it with letters confined A-H.-- nineteenthly, Aug 05 2011 ÷-- Klaatu, Aug 05 2011 It's not a list- it's a single-character social network conversation with a bunch of characters called halfbakers.
¥-- xandram, Aug 05 2011 o-- Grogster, Aug 05 2011 [nineteenthly] - [FT] was responding to my [MFDP], so don't blame him.
I see the advantage of this as being the same level of intelligence, content, coherency, and intelligibility as most social media or blog threads - but without the flaming, foul language, and spam.-- lurch, Aug 05 2011 V-- nineteenthly, Aug 05 2011 “-- pocmloc, Aug 05 2011 rant [+]-- Voice, Aug 05 2011 &-- po, Aug 05 2011 ‰-- baconbrain, Aug 05 2011 ”-- pocmloc, Aug 05 2011 )-- blissmiss, Aug 05 2011 what you need is a four letter social network-- theircompetitor, Aug 06 2011 Why?-- pocmloc, Aug 06 2011 Does anyone else feel twitchy about the mismatch of brackets on here?-- nineteenthly, Aug 06 2011 Well, it's your fault, for starting with a *right* parenthesis. There's nothing to be done about it now.-- mouseposture, Aug 06 2011 Yes, i have only myself to blame. I think i did it because i didn't want to feel everything else y'all said was parenthetical until someone chose to close it.-- nineteenthly, Aug 06 2011 makes me want to count my socks.-- FlyingToaster, Aug 06 2011 ¶-- MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 27 2014 --- tatterdemalion, Dec 28 2014 )-- nineteenthly, Dec 29 2014 &-- neelandan, Oct 02 2015 ? Sheena Easton ?-- normzone, Oct 02 2015 ¿-- bhumphrys, Oct 03 2015 Kiki Dee-- nineteenthly, Oct 04 2015 Kevin Bacon, if we're starting a network-- lurch, Oct 06 2015 random, halfbakery