Lauren WeinsteinNov 19, 2022
Many government agencies are expressing concerns about how to communicate with the public without Twitter, especially in emergencies. Of course, it was a bad idea to become dependent on Twitter to such an extent in the first place, and no matter what happens, this needs rethinking.
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 21, 2022
@lauren Mastodon provides a nice clear choice.
Show threadalli rico 
@mgifford @lauren it really doesn’t, though. Lots of people have expressed confusion over how to even make an account or join a server, and many local govt agencies don’t adopt new tech that quickly (I’m speaking from experience)
Nov 22, 2022 at 6:02pmWeb
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKNov 22, 2022

@allirico @mgifford @lauren government agencies shouldn't assume private Internet or telecommunications networks are available/reliable in emergencies (much is heavily dependent on mains electricity and due to commercial pressures can be quickly overloaded).

If they must deploy online resources they should own them themselves, and work alongside linear radio and TV broadcasters (particularly public service broadcasters where present)

Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 22, 2022
@vfrmedia @allirico @lauren I like the idea of municipal owned networks. Having redundancy is good when disasters strike.
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 22, 2022

@allirico @lauren gov was confused by social media back in the day too. Leaders figured it out. Others followed. It became expected.

Same will happen if Twitter collapses & it is replaced by something else.

Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@mgifford @allirico We can hope so, though the political environment is considerably more toxic now.