What is Hollo?
Hollo is a simple, single-user microblogging tool that lets you run your own little corner of the internet. Think of it as your personal Mastodon instance, but stripped down to the essentials.
What makes Hollo stand out is that it’s part of the fediverse—a network of interconnected servers running on open protocols, primarily ActivityPub. This means you can connect and interact with folks on other platforms like:
So you get the calm of your own space, but you’re still connected to a wider community.
Features
Hollo boasts feature parity with Mastodon for most individual user needs. You get all the core microblogging features you’d expect, minus the stuff that doesn’t make sense for a single-user instance (like moderation tools). This means you can:
- Use hashtags and mentions
- Share media attachments
- Create polls
- Share and favorite posts
When it comes to writing your posts, Hollo keeps things flexible. You can:
- Write posts up to 4,096 characters long
- Use CommonMark (so-called Markdown) for easy formatting
- Use Misskey-style quotes to add some flair to your posts
Hollo is what we call “headless,” which is a techy way of saying it doesn’t have its own web interface. Instead, you can use any Mastodon-compatible app to post and interact. This might sound odd at first, but it actually gives you the freedom to pick an app that suits your style.
In essence, Hollo is a straightforward tool that brings the power of Mastodon to individual users. It helps you share thoughts online—from quick updates to longer musings—connect with others in the fediverse, and do it all on your own terms. It’s not aiming to be the next big social network—it’s just here to make microblogging a bit easier and more connected.
License
Hollo is distributed under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 or later, which means you can use, modify, and distribute it freely, as long as you keep the source code open and share your changes with others.
Etymology
The name Hollo is from a Korean word 홀로, which means alone or solitary. It is named so because it is designed to be a single-user software.