Replicating Reddit's best feature on other forums

The most underrated feature of Reddit is the ability to mark an account as a "friend". This function allows you to instantly recognize a user's posts or comments when browsing the site, transforming the online experience from feeling like attending a party without acquaintances to bumping into friends in a crowd. This simple feature significantly contributes to creating a sense of community instead of a collection of individuals conversing at each other.

It's surprising how other online platforms like Lobsters and Tildes haven't adopted this functionality. With the announcement that Tildes is entering maintenance mode, it's an opportune moment to implement it independently. In an era marked by inauthenticity, fostering genuine connections online is more vital than ever. The concept can be extended to various browsers using extensions that employ custom CSS to highlight specific links.

To facilitate this, the developer created a tool named "rolodex". This command-line interface (CLI) consumes a TOML file containing the usernames to follow and generates the necessary CSS for highlighting these users. Once the file is applied through Stylus, the user is highlighted across all pages. Currently, the tool is compatible with Tildes and Lobsters, with plans to expand support to Hacker News as well.

Initially conceived to manage personal lists, the developer realized the need to separate personal user lists from the processing code. To address this, a template repository was created, including starter TOML files and a script to install the CLI, run the build, and copy the results. While a native implementation would be preferable, this solution, despite being slightly cumbersome, is better than nothing. Nonetheless, social networks should consider incorporating this 'following' feature.