E-mail as social media
20 years ago, I might have become very excited by what is proposed herein. Today, not so much. Social media is a mess and even with new systems, protocols and platforms, critical mass is very difficult to achieve for breakthrough alternatives. People now expect a certain level of service from their social media platforms and the proposal below is about taking 100 steps backwards. It proposes using a mailing list-type service (think Mailman, LISTSERV, et al). I have no doubt that there will be zero interest from the general population for such a service as their social media, despite the fact that it is as performant (if not better) as the best of them. It utilises existing infrastructure (e-mail) and that is all. Of course, other services can spawn from the base layer in order to provide more value for end users. But no, this will not fly, not today.
I will post this for posterity and perhaps as a reflection of the Internet as it exists today; a place where — despite all the noise and complaints around privacy, big tech and government censorship — the largest social media platforms remain centrally controlled. In other words, we are slaves, we know we are slaves, we know the path to freedom and yet we choose to remain slaves.
Drafted weeks ago, there is no conclusion. That conclusion will never come to pass, much like email as social media.
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Imagine a network of public e-mail communities that look like social media, but are run entirely on open e-mail standards. This is a network where a “@gmail.com” identity is the social passport, and every e-mail client is a social app. This is X, Mastodon or Reddit, but via e-mail. Hmm, probably more like Nostr, come to think of it. Or, like list servers.
It could become:
The Fediverse, powered by SMTP only.
It is a network where plain e-mail itself is the protocol and the interface, with no logins, no web UI, no platform account, no API, no new apps. Just SMTP, IMAP, and a few conventions layered on top. It is not social media built on e-mail servers, but social media as e-mail.
The Emailverse
- Each user’s inbox is their timeline.
- Each post is an e-mail.
- Each hashtag can be subscribed to and addressed.
- Each reply is a thread.
An example flow
alice@example.com posts:
To: timeline@emailverse.social
Subject: Trying a new recipe! #cooking
I used whole milk instead of skimmed and got perfectly fluffy pancakes.
The system automatically:
- Redistributes it to everyone following
#cooking. - Redistributes it to followers of
alice@example.com.
Bob, meanwhile:
- Is subscribed to both
timeline@emailverse.socialand#cooking@emailverse.social. - Sees Alice’s message appear in his inbox.
- Replies via standard “Reply” if he wants to comment.
- Can “like” Alice’s post by sending his reply to
likes@emailverse.social
All interactions happen entirely through e-mail.
Key Principles
| Principle | Explanation |
|---|---|
| No new infrastructure | Users only need an e-mail client. No new app, no registration. |
| Leverages Existing Protocols | SMTP, IMAP, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, List-Unsubscribe (all standard). |
| Federated by Nature | Anyone can run a relay or topic server. Posts can cross domains. |
| Privacy by Default | Users choose what they send and to whom. |
| Durable and Portable | Data lives in the inbox. No lock-in. Truly nomadic identity. |
Why This Is Interesting
Because it describes list servers exactly as they operate. This model completely decouples social interaction from platforms. The bootstrapping of accounts relies only on pre-existing e-mail accounts, therefore there is no service to sign up for. The service works across existing providers such as Gmail, ProtonMail, Outlook, Riseup, etc.
Use Cases
- Communities: Hobby groups, local clubs, open-source projects.
- Professional Networks: Industry mailing lists with public feeds.
- Creator Pages: Artists or writers post updates by e-mailing a “feed” address.
- Microblogging: Quick posts to followers via short e-mails.
- Newsletters-as-Threads: Allow readers to reply publicly, creating discussion spaces around newsletters.
- Shit posting: Social media is not only for serious discussion!
Spam and spoofing
Since anyone can send an e-mail to the service, the likelihood of spam is high. As there are no accounts and no logins for the service, multiple layers of defence must be baked into every aspect. To prevent spoofing, SPF, DKIM and DMARC must be strictly validated and enforced.
Existing list servers such as Mailman and LISTSERV handle this problem by moderation and posting policies, rate limits, spam filters and so-called “bounce checks” for new posters.