Martin Settle

ADVICE REQUEST

I am looking for recommendations for a Canadian mastodon server/community.

Background -- I am about to launch a coaching service connected to a relationship wellness centre, and would like to have a professional mastodon presence. I'd like to be on a server that has some local community. My personal account will remain on my self-hosted system.

#canada #mastodon #gatineau #ottawa

Mar 23 at 4:53pmWeb
Show threadLouis ChartrandMar 23
@Martin I’m on jasette.facil.services; it’s lively, but maybe more of a political community than you’d like for professional presence. Facil is a FOSS/open data advocacy group. Otherwise, the Canadian go-to seems to be mstdn.ca
Show threadAmgineMar 23

@Martin

I would suggest a social-oriented instance which is regional to your service, or a profession-oriented instance with peer organizations/individuals.

In part it depends on the purpose for the account. Is it intended to interact directly with clients/audience? If so, the first idea. Is it intended to connect with counseling / care providers to better inform your project and the peer community, the second idea.

Show threadMartin SettleMar 23

@Amgine

Thanks. I am primarily looking to network to build a word-of-mouth awareness of our clinic and my services... the peer community is already largely developed on one of the bad social platforms. I'm mostly just aware of the very limited reach of my single-user instance, and wanting to have more opportunity to be seen by people who don't directly follow me.

Show threadAmgineMar 23

@Martin

Discoverability, in the Fediverse, is primarily driven by hashtags and instance reach. Word of mouth in the local community can definitely be a factor.

There is growing professional presence in the fedi; I am slowly connecting people I knew on other platforms, and rebuilding networks in a distributed system. It is definitely gaining gravitas.

Show threadMartin SettleMar 23
@Amgine
It may be the specific relays that I have attached my own instance to, but I generally find that searching hashtags still only shows me posts from people I follow and one or two other instances (that I have a lot of connections on). I'm still hoping that will change over time.
Show threadJohn Francis 🇨🇦🦫🍁💪⬆️Mar 23
@Martin I'd recommend cosocial.ca, but I'm not sure if they'd accept a "commercial" account? I think you're in Ottawa...maybe ottawa.place?
Show threadMartin SettleMar 23

@johnefrancis

Thanks John. Both ottawa.place and cosocial.ca are in my shortlist. Our clinic will be on the Gatineau side, so I'm hesitant to jump into Ottawa-based branding.

I do like cosocial, but as you say, having an account that is primarily aimed at marketing might not fit with the culture/community