Unfolds is a tool I've been working on for the last few weeks. It's just a prototype, but I want to get it out there so people can try it.
What is it? I don't know yet. One way to describe it is as a kind of minimal, immutable Wikipedia, one which allows for a plurality of views but in only 200 words. Another way is as a "jungle of ideas".
There are 4 things that set Unfolds apart from similar tools: immutability, plurality, linking (or lack thereof) and brevity. They go hand in hand.
Immutable means that once an entry is in Unfolds, it stays that way. No updating, no deleting. If you link to it, like if you reference a certain book, you can be sure it won't change under your nose.
Plurality, in our case, means that every entry, while it might refer to the same topic as another, has its own unique url. Every entry is an attempt to get to the core of an idea, or to the core of anything. 90% of those attempts will be bad, but that's OK. There are enough UUIDs to go around for everyone, and then some. This means that you, yes you, can write your own version of ideas, and if they are good enough, people will hopefully link to them. It also means one individual can read multiple representations of the same idea until one clicks.
Linking is how you connect entries. There are no external links; the whole thing is self-contained. While the core of every idea can probably be described in under 200 words, ideas are obviously connected. Because entries are immutable, you can only link back in time, which leads to a directed graph of ideas.
The last point is brevity. In my opinion, there are way too many words online. Even this post could be condensed down to ~100-200 words instead of the ~500 (?) it is right now. Clear and concise is the goal. Brevity also plays nicely with immutability and plurality.
I imagine two types of users of Unfolds: creators and viewers. To make each use cases more pleasant, there are a few things that need to be much better. Linking must be pleasant (some way to save and refer to other entries quickly). Browsing search results should make it easier to skim entries, and to filter out the one's that are of higher quality. Right now I want to avoid adding features, and just see what people end up using it for.
You can find it running here: http://unfolds.oskarth.com/
And the code is here: https://github.com/oskarth/unfolds
This is all an experiment. I'd love it if you tried it out and told me what you think. If you have any feedback, please don't hesitate to contact me via email or Twitter.