Randahl FinkFeb 2

If I worked for Mastodon, I would create a turn key solution for parties that want to set up a Mastodon server for all their party candidates.

Ilhan Omar is still on X.
Bernie Sanders is still on X.
AOC is still on X.

Make it easy for them to switch. Then make sure they are aware of this option.

Update: The first part already exists on
https://joinmastodon.org/hosting
as pointed out by @osma. Thank you Osma.

Managed Mastodon

Aaron MahlerFeb 2
Show threadElena Rossini ⁂

@randahl yesterday at FOSDEM there was a member of the European Parliament who was asked why so many politicians are still on X and her answer made total sense (sadly):

Politicians stay on X because journalists are still there, so they feel that if they leave they will become irrelevant / not be written about.

And journalists stay on X because politicians are there.

It’s a vicious cycle

Feb 2 at 6:27amWeb
Show threadMiha MarkičFeb 2
@randahl @_elena tldr politicians give a flying fuck whether they are on fascist social network as long as they get something out of it. Also that are totally technical illiterate. Mostly.
Edit: grammar
Show threadMiha MarkičFeb 2
@randahl @_elena even more ironic are non right wing parties which are really totally against fascism. Which they communicate on fascist networks...
Show threadConny NaschFeb 2
@mihamarkic @randahl @_elena 😂
Show threadPino CarafaFeb 2

@mihamarkic @randahl @_elena Most of them post their emails on their contact pages. Have you been sending them emails asking them how they can justify staying on platforms such as X? I have. I have asked others to do the same. Have you?

It's not just a case of hypocrisy. It's also true that their social media presence is not their primary focus. If nobody ever approaches them over it, it's out of sight, out of mind for them.

Show threadjzakotnikFeb 2
@_elena @randahl ironically someone like Trump is not on X anymore but on his own platform. VIP politicians could host their own mastodon server, maybe that's a better approach?
Show threadGrow FediverseFeb 3

@_elena @randahl @jzakotnik And ever notice how the press always quote him from his personal walled garden?

If you already have a following, just go, announce the move, and take one or two journalists with you from the get go.

Show threadChris. R. 🎧🎼☕🍍Feb 2
@_elena @randahl
Indeed a vicious circle. Maybe they could break it by putting their primary posts and scoops on Mastodon first, and only a day later on X.
Show thread[email protected]Feb 2
@_elena @randahl and if just some politicians started to _interact_ with people on the fediverse instead of just having their PR posted, there would be stories to tell and journalists would come.
Show threadlobingeraFeb 2

@_elena @randahl

I think @mspro had this "holding each other hostage" situation in his blog years ago.

Actually i'd expect more insight of this situation on the journalists side.

Show threadDaniel HernándezFeb 2
@_elena @randahl I think there is a rise of fascism in many countries (which does not mean people became fascist). Fascist politicians will not move from fascist platforms. Worst, the non-fascist politicians are mimicking the fascist ones to obtain votes. For instance, in the Chilean presidential election, most of the candidates focused on migration because that was the main topic of the fascist candidate. Then, non-fascists will be where fascists are.
Show threadDaniel HernándezFeb 2

@_elena @randahl I think public universities could contribute to moving from fascist platforms, but few of them have taken this seriously. I know only two universities that are doing this by creating Mastodon instances for academics and students.

https://mstdn.degu.cl/@daniel/115996131690973233

Daniel Hernández (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image According to this #Wikidata query (https://w.wiki/HgMK), there are currently two public universities in the world with #Mastodon instances, managed by @[email protected] and @[email protected], from Germany and Austria. Are there more?

Mastodon
Show threadNo soy MarioFeb 2
@_elena @randahl @daniel in this sense for these organisations fediverse is very much like email. A university can just supply the same people they give email accounts Fedi accounts under their domains and control. They can have their own guidelines and best practices with much less of a mess then the non federated solutions.
Show threadDaniel HernándezFeb 2

@marijn @_elena @randahl It is not the same because in #Mastodon you can write to all the world, whereas emails need a list of recipients. I agree that it would be very great if more universities did so.

The University of Chile's Department of Computer Science, @dccuchile, has its own #Peertube server. However, they are not using it much now. They used it to upload video lectures created during the pandemic but did not continue after it.

https://pt.dcc.uchile.cl

DCC-FCFM-UChile

Instancia PeerTube del Departamento de Ciencias de la Computación (DCC) de la Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas y Matematicas (FCFM) de la Universidad de Chile (UChile)

DCC-FCFM-UChile
Show threadGerrit 🇪🇺🌍🍉🔻Feb 2

@_elena @randahl

A cycle is only a cycle if you don't step out of it.

And I will also say this, if your political "success" depends on lazy journalists grabbing your lazy messages from X and slap dashing lazy articles with X screenshots of what you "said", then you are not the politician you think you are.

And for the others, what you fear is not what actually will happen. Stepping away from X will not make you irrelevant. On the contrary, it will put you in the spotlight.

Show threadPino CarafaFeb 2
@gvenema @_elena @randahl exactly. And please share the contact details of the (Dutch? Belgian?) politicians and journalists you have already approached about this.
Show threadNo soy MarioFeb 2
@_elena @randahl @gvenema like X itself responding to inquiry from journalists with a poop emoji. Others can auto respond with "I've left this Nazi bar. You can now follow me on <link to fedi profile>." And thats it.
Show threadRainer KönigFeb 2

@_elena
Journalists should be where the newsworthy things happen or are announced. So if politicians abandon X and switch to better places then journalists will follow otherwise they have nothing to write about.

Yes, I know that this would require real leaders and not just politicians...

@randahl

Show threadkeeps vis.social runningFeb 2

@_elena @randahl This doesn't excuse the lack of posting elsewhere. They could just copy-paste their posts to Fedi or Bluesky. There are lots of journalists on bluesky. And a few here on fedi.

They could prepare to dump x, by putting in a tiny bit of effort on any other platform. Or rather a tiny bit of their interns' efforts.

Show threadVesipeto VetehinenFeb 2
@kristinHenry @_elena @randahl well hopefully not Bluesky since that is just another US platform with VC funding... But if they feel it helps they could trivially bridge their fedi account over to there.
Show threadCartyBostonFeb 2
@_elena @randahl It's simply people being unprincipled, not everything requires a complex explanation.
Show threadGreen Party NIFeb 2
@_elena @randahl it’s nonsense. https://mastodon.ie/@greenpartyni/115881150327768590
Green Party NI (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 video We’re leaving X. Not for clicks. Not for politics. For safety, democracy and basic responsibility. We won’t stay on a platform that fails children, enables deepfake abuse and fuels disinformation. But this is not an exit from the conversation. It’s a move to better spaces. Come with us. 1/2

mastodon.ie
Show threadKonstantin WeddigeFeb 2

@_elena however, there is only one answer to this dilemma: politicians must take the lead. Journalists can only go where politicians already are.

@randahl

Show threadDavid JONESFeb 2
@_elena @randahl this is kinda weird tho, right? it is not the job of elected politicians to be written about. it is their job to implement the policies that we voted them in for.
Show threadPino CarafaFeb 2
@_elena @randahl This is why I think we need to adopt the "snowball" approach. We need to keep pressuring politicians and journalists on why they are still on X. And we need to be prepared to being ignored a lot of the time. But occasionally we will succeed. In the Netherlands, for example, @volkskrant no longer posts on X and are working to #LoseTheXLink (still there but defunct). Every small success adds up, until we might one day reach a tipping point. Keep pushing.
Show threadtessaraktFeb 2
@_elena @randahl They could just bridge their Fediverse posts to X ...
Show threadAntoine TalyFeb 2
@randahl @_elena that might explain why they are on X but not why they are _only_ on X.
If they would communicate on multiple platforms that would provide an exit trajectory...
Show threadInterpipes 💙Feb 2

@_elena @randahl @tdp_org but, of course, the journalists will go where the politicians are.

Maybe some of our politicians should be less worried about how often journalists write about them and instead focus more on /what/ would be written about them in years to come.

Show threadsupernovaFeb 2
@_elena @randahl there are politicians a journalist cannot live without. If they switch, all switch.
Show threadnathanFeb 2
@randahl @_elena yeah but it's not one or the other. They can and should post on multiple platforms.
Show threadRenéFeb 2
@_elena Breaking the circle: politicians hold there #x account but make a separate one on other social media platform(s). Then publish in one sentence there message on #x and publish there whole comments elsewhere. On x they should make a reference on which platform they can read all about it. It’s not perfect, it takes time. But it can works. Journalist Will always be there where the news is. #
Show threadJörn NettingsmeierFeb 2
@_elena @randahl No it's not. Just refuse.
Show threadLeander LindahlFeb 2
@_elena @randahl they can do both (to make it easier, more palatable) but give the open free Fediverse a 60 minute time advantage. Post on Mastodon first. Wait 60 minutes, then post on the algorithmically distorted closed networks.
Show threadLeander LindahlFeb 2
@_elena @randahl also we who care about this should boost and interact with MEPs and national MPs as well as EU or national institutions whenever we can, to help them along.
Show threadLeave X - Protect DemocracyFeb 2

@_elena @randahl Here is the first handmade cartoon depicting the stalemate between politicians and journalists.

https://gram.social/p/leavex/924009082908185334

#LeaveX

Leave X (@[email protected])

#LeaveX #Journalism #Politics #Democracy #Stalemate #X

Pixelfed