Friends.txt


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Do you have friends or websites that you like and want to share? I think most people have been in this situation, especially if you own a site.

I know there are many small websites that have a keyring, like Yesterweb, or they will have a page on their site with websites they like. I think there are a couple downsides to this current approach. People either sign up for a keyring and don't control who they really like and can't personalize it. With keyrings, you can't be friends with them unless they join the keyring too.

Having a page on your website is also not amazing because there is no real way for a computer to get it.

I feel like there should be an open protocol for sharing your friends. I think it should act like robots.txt where humans can read it and robots can read it.

People in the bugswriter discord were talking about a system called Friends.txt, and I think this is perfect. A txt page is nice, readable, and in the same location every time.

I think that smaller sites for one person or blogs should have a page at /friends.txt where you just list domains to websites that you like. You can look at my friends.txt and use it as an example. There are some other websites, like rehantdaphedar.xyz and projectbeest.net that actually already have friends.txt.

The sites that you put in your friends.txt could be anything: your actual friends websites, websites you use frequently and think more people should know about, or even websites that talk about a point you really like. If you have a small blog or website, make a friends.txt!