MoXsterJul 3, 2023
Arbella Bet-Shlimon

I’m seeing folks from #Sudan on #twitter despairing that the site’s new limits, and its general m*sk-era brokenness, will compromise their ability to stay updated on the catastrophe unfolding in their homeland and share emergency info.

Once more: mastodon/fediverse needs to think seriously about how to expand to users in Asia and Africa and how to handle emergencies #twitterdown

Jul 1, 2023 at 10:44pmWeb
Show threadArbella Bet-ShlimonJul 1, 2023
I made this point back in February when emergency response to the #turkey #syria #earthquake was similarly throttled on twitter https://spore.social/@abshlimon/109861133370021817
Arbella Bet-Shlimon (@[email protected])

An infuriating story about how Musk’s changes to Twitter—restricting API access, gutting the engineering team + more—throttled disaster response in the #turkey #syria #earthquake. https://time.com/6254500/turkey-earthquake-twitter-musk-rescue/ Mastodon + fediverse need to expand beyond northern Europe and the Anglophone world, and consider what emergency response on this platform would look like; the lives of people in Asia, Africa, Latin America, etc. can’t be reliant on a billionaire’s whims

Spore by Project Mushroom
Show threadArbella Bet-ShlimonJul 1, 2023

Good question! I don’t know, because I’ve never run a social network before—but I do know that who uses it and what they’re able to use it for are the result of deliberate decisions. It’s not an accident that masto is overwhelmingly anglophone and/or Northern European, or that discoverability is low even in an emergency

I listened earlier today to a Twitter space in which a Nigerian journalist said he’d attempted and failed to use Mastodon https://mstdn.social/@robotman/110641275799783143

robotman (@[email protected])

@[email protected] agreed. What would you suggest?

Mastodon 🐘
Show threadArbella Bet-ShlimonJul 1, 2023
If masto users are going to keep talking smugly about how getting off of billionaire-run sites is a moral good, they need to think about how to make this platform into something that can be used for moral good #twitterdown
Show threadArbella Bet-ShlimonJul 2, 2023

I’ve now lost track of my mentions, but: thank you for engaging! Feel free to loop in folks who know more about these issues than I do, and to continue to highlight instances that have users in Asia and Africa.

Something that’s been jarring for me compared with Twitter is how few people on here are posting anything in Arabic, and how most Middle Eastern people I know from Twitter gave up quickly on the idea of joining Mastodon

Show threadIamWhoisMosesJul 2, 2023
@abshlimon I have a friend in Iran and we talk quite a bit. We have to use Telegram to chat (and she uses a VPN) because the Iranian government has cracked down on the internet.
Show threadCrazyMyraJul 3, 2023
@abshlimon To get to people in Africa, the fedi has to become more mobile-friendly. It's a very basic reality that relatively few people here have - or even have access to - computers.
Show threadParade O’ Crap™Jul 1, 2023
@abshlimon Not-for-profit conversation is a pretty good start.
Show threadFeral ThoughtsMar 26, 2025

@abshlimon

Just came across this old post and the larger thread of yours. Thank you for making these points.

You may be interested in this thread I wrote in February about the invisiblization of the Global South on Mastodon, and on the rest of the Fediverse

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114030586394502623

and its follow-up thread.

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114037639193329163

Feral Thoughts (@[email protected])

🧵 on how #Mastodon, and the rest of the #Fediverse, invisiblize the #GlobalSouth. I have argued a few times that for all practical purposes, the global south does not exist for Mastodon, and for the rest of the Fediverse. But many people I interact with do not quite understand how this works in practice. This series of posts is an effort to illustrate that mechanism. (continues)

The Union Place
Show threadLoukas (They/Them) 🏳️‍⚧️Jul 2, 2023
@abshlimon yes, I think a search function is needed. You can opt into one via tootfinder right now, but it needs to be a generally available option.
Show threadLuke PJul 1, 2023
@abshlimon Great point. Twitter is great for up to date information, and it is negligent of large accounts and organisations who haven't seen the writing on the wall and migrated, or explored, alternatives.
Show threadrobotmanJul 1, 2023
@abshlimon agreed. What would you suggest?
Show threadWigbert B 🎻🏛🎭🎤🗞🎥📚Jul 1, 2023

@abshlimon

agree, that Mastodon seriously lacks the #diversity in instances / servers still - it is changing, but still much too slow

during the first migration waves, especially #BlackMastodon had problems with subliminal and open #racism from old time users & admins

hopefully more „global south“ and diverse servers will appear …

this may then in turn also improve the #emergency & PSA readiness

Show threadnadin brzezinskiJul 1, 2023
@abshlimon @julieofthespirits I have tried a few times with #BreakingNews hashtag. It seems to work ok. Abd yes, this is a critical point. Though partly this is marketing. Twitter abd meta come preloaded on phones, with stripped down versions.
Show threadPablo RrrrrrrJul 1, 2023
@abshlimon If setting up a server is as easy as many claim (I’ll take your word for it), perhaps someone knowledgeable can create a quick tutorial so that local government IT guys, whether in a small town in Texas or the Sudanese government can set up their own.
I mention local governments because Twitter crashing has taken a very valuable resource for quick and easy government messaging in emergencies. Running their own server would be better than having to depend on a tech bro.
Show threadKhalidJul 2, 2023
@abshlimon
Definitely true words
Show threadAamirAnAuthorJul 2, 2023
@abshlimon perhaps a dedicated emergency information instance that is widely advertised as a server to be followed
Show threadhapbtJul 2, 2023
@abshlimon mastodon is thousands of people and many of them are thinking about this
Show threadWolleysegapJul 2, 2023
@abshlimon This is a real thing. Some ham radio guys used to do this, go in with relief workers and coordinate things. I'm sure there's a way to use radio where hard lines don't exist
Show threadtechnikhilJul 2, 2023
@abshlimon
I remember there was this tool that was built specifically to deal with natural a humanitarian crisis' https://www.ushahidi.com/
Perhaps a custom solution might be better for these kind of situations.
Crowdsourcing Solutions to Empower Communities

Ushahidi is an open source software application which utilises user-generated reports to collate and map data.

Ushahidi
Show threadLintraJul 2, 2023
@abshlimon if a solution is getting instances up by country or language, I would be willing to donate to support such instances. I am not qualified to run one, nor do I even understand all of which I speak. And this isn't a fast fix but if we had a process then at least we could start trying to get others to step up into it.
Show threadDanOlaJul 2, 2023
Totally agree 👍🏾 @abshlimon
Show threadAntCJul 2, 2023
@abshlimon it’s tricky in austere media environments. It takes time to build followers and because data is so expensive, people tend to use it strategically. Making a shift to a new platform is expensive and needs time, which people may not have in crises like Sudan and Ethiopia right now. Twitter’s implosion is a major disaster where breaking news needs to be shared quickly in established networks
Show threadAskASwissJul 2, 2023
@abshlimon That is exactly what I was asking myself today. So many people from Twitter came over but mostly from European countries and the US.
How could we make it easier for people from all over the world, especially #Arab countries etc. to join mastodon?
Show threadMartijn Dekker🇪🇺 (OLD ACCT.)Jul 2, 2023
@abshlimon One more good reason why the taboo on effective #GlobalSeearch in the #fediverse must be broken. People need to be able to find each other and find information in emergencies. No one needs to be searchable who doesn't want to be (and a setting for this already exists in Mastodon), but it is simply wrong to prohibit this for everyone.
Show threadlegumancer DavyJul 3, 2023

@abshlimon maybe we need a matching service for people willing to contribute to hosting fees and people who can admin and/or moderate in these languages?

For anyone reading this who wants to make an instance for some part of the global south and moderate the local languages (including banning hate speech about race, ethnicity and LGBT+), I can help a bit with hosting costs.