I've been using Davaux's 0.9.0 development branch to build the long awaited BeSquishy social network. For those who don't know, BeSquishy has been an idea of mine since around 2004. I actually built part of it several times and even launched a simple version of it in 2007. Unfortunately, there was another social network that gained wide-spread popularity around the same time. Luckily, I've learned a lot about systems architecture in the last 20+ years, so a lot of the things I didn't know how to do or how they should work, are more within my capabilities.

The purpose of most of my side projects over the years have been building up tools and learning things so I could one day build BeSquishy with them or from the knowledge I gained. Davaux is that too and, instead of building onto other things, I went the direct approach: I just built the entire framework. The good news? It's working really really well. The core of the BeSquishy idea is in it this time, but the supplementary features are, I think, what will really push the platform beyond any other we have available today. A lot of social media has stagnated. Most platforms are just copying and recycling old ideas, many of which are staples, but things we thought of 20 years ago.

The thing about BeSquishy is it's not just a silly name, it's a philosophy. I'll explain it one day, when it's time, but it's a meaningful metaphor and the reason BeSquishy has always stuck with me as something I have to build. The platform has to match the philosophy and no other version has come as close to that as what I've been building so far. It's also a passion project, it's not just a social network, it's been a motivator to learn and innovate.