Which EU country will be the first to officially move its public institutions to a national Mastodon instance, bringing political debate to the Fediverse and away from disinformation platforms like X?
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@IarfhlaithO Unfortunately the hype and press news about Mastodon really decreased in the past 2 years. Bluesky clearly became more popular than Mastodon but even bluesky is still a niche.
Somehow that whole Mastodon network thing might seem nerdy, if not scary to people. To be honest, I feel like this is never going to be a big thing for the crowds, even if I wish it was.
Fingers crossed, that Ireland can make it a big thing anyway.
@Seraina sorry to hear that
if we make anything big, it will be a big mess
I changed my BlueSky handle to my full mastodon address to promote the cause. I don’t have much of a following though.
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@grob "for sure".
@leavex chapeau
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@leavex @viennawriter I see the point, but 6 accounts from the official Swiss government instance had 3500 followers together. So to be honest, yes, reach is not equal to reach, but it is a really significant difference, even if the "reach quality" on Mastodon is much higher..
RE: https://social.tchncs.de/@Seraina/116047818934778600
Indeed, reach is an issue.
But reach is a collective problem, not an individual one.
If all politicians stopped using X for official communication and moved to a Mastodon instance, media outlets and citizens would follow.
This requires an orchestrated effort, not a few isolated accounts.
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@leavex @viennawriter I see the point, but 6 accounts from the official Swiss government instance had 3500 followers together. So to be honest, yes, reach is not equal to reach, but it is a really significant difference, even if the "reach quality" on Mastodon is much higher..
@Seraina @leavex That might be. I'd emphasize the point that especially public institutions do have a responsibility towards their citizens. People believed in the tales of advertisement agencies for the past 20 years and the belief in "reach" runs deep. Also the belief in the tale "you have to go where your target group is". Here is their target group, too. The part that's actually interested in direct human discussion, democracy and real community. Maybe they might have a look at +1 of #DiDay
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Which EU country will be the first to officially move its public institutions to a national Mastodon instance, bringing political debate to the Fediverse and away from disinformation platforms like X?
We know some national-level instances already exist (e.g. in Germany). The question is: who will make it a political decision, not just a technical one?
If you think of another country, add it in the comments
@leavex@mastodon.social
I guess they use Discord or W before even thinking about the Fediverse. -
@harld @leavex
On the about page of the Mastodon instance of the Dutch government is a list of other government instances: https://social.overheid.nl/about#:~:text=5.%20Zijn%20er,https://social.edps.europa.eu. -
Which EU country will be the first to officially move its public institutions to a national Mastodon instance, bringing political debate to the Fediverse and away from disinformation platforms like X?
We know some national-level instances already exist (e.g. in Germany). The question is: who will make it a political decision, not just a technical one?
If you think of another country, add it in the comments
@leavex Austria will be the last ...
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@leavex: I am afraid to say that this is not about Poland. I have asked the central government representatives (i.e. ministries etc.) and they said they are not willing to leave X.
https://kontrabanda.net/r/polish-state-authorities-x-twitter-presence-grok-csam/
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@Seraina @leavex That might be. I'd emphasize the point that especially public institutions do have a responsibility towards their citizens. People believed in the tales of advertisement agencies for the past 20 years and the belief in "reach" runs deep. Also the belief in the tale "you have to go where your target group is". Here is their target group, too. The part that's actually interested in direct human discussion, democracy and real community. Maybe they might have a look at +1 of #DiDay
@viennawriter @Seraina I think it's worth take a look at these numbers: https://machteburch.social/@tomkalei/116039809227944622
The whole article from @netzpolitik_feed raises several questions about reach on X.
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@viennawriter @Seraina I think it's worth take a look at these numbers: https://machteburch.social/@tomkalei/116039809227944622
The whole article from @netzpolitik_feed raises several questions about reach on X.
@viennawriter @netzpolitik_feed @leavex it's true. X became a 110% of a No Go. Actually I wouldn't know anyone of my (private) acquaintances who still uses it. I really wonder what all the Officials are still doing there.
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@Seraina sorry to hear that
if we make anything big, it will be a big mess
I changed my BlueSky handle to my full mastodon address to promote the cause. I don’t have much of a following though.
@IarfhlaithO I like your activism
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@viennawriter @netzpolitik_feed @leavex it's true. X became a 110% of a No Go. Actually I wouldn't know anyone of my (private) acquaintances who still uses it. I really wonder what all the Officials are still doing there.
@Seraina @viennawriter we question this since a long time. 🫠
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@Timo_Micro Interesting. Are you aware of any institutional Mastodon instances in Finland?
@leavex
As a Finn I am aware of none. However govt. organizations here can quite freely organize their social media presence the way they see fit and some have left X already.The same goes with municipalities. For example my hometown has an official account at mastodon.social.
I don't foresee however social media channels becoming a matter of political debate anytime soon since there's been no central policy around the issue thus far.
@Timo_Micro -
Which EU country will be the first to officially move its public institutions to a national Mastodon instance, bringing political debate to the Fediverse and away from disinformation platforms like X?
We know some national-level instances already exist (e.g. in Germany). The question is: who will make it a political decision, not just a technical one?
If you think of another country, add it in the comments
@leavex Certainly not Italy, unfortunately.
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@leavex @viennawriter I see the point, but 6 accounts from the official Swiss government instance had 3500 followers together. So to be honest, yes, reach is not equal to reach, but it is a really significant difference, even if the "reach quality" on Mastodon is much higher..
@Seraina @leavex @viennawriter
Last year sometime or maybe even in 2024 BBC labs posted an article on their experience in mastodon.
The short form of it was that even with a smaller follow footprint, engagement was much higher and moderation efforts were considerably less stressful.
I know that DW also started experimenting with mastodon specifically.
I have not seen any discussion of their experience though.
Size is not everything. It seems very much that real engagement is.
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RE: https://social.tchncs.de/@Seraina/116047818934778600
Indeed, reach is an issue.
But reach is a collective problem, not an individual one.
If all politicians stopped using X for official communication and moved to a Mastodon instance, media outlets and citizens would follow.
This requires an orchestrated effort, not a few isolated accounts.
There is one very simple way to advantage something like the federal verse or any alternative.
1) Plant a flag on the alternative
2) post there first by several hours
3) when you post on the other platforms, mention that you post on the alternative first -
@Seraina @leavex @viennawriter
Last year sometime or maybe even in 2024 BBC labs posted an article on their experience in mastodon.
The short form of it was that even with a smaller follow footprint, engagement was much higher and moderation efforts were considerably less stressful.
I know that DW also started experimenting with mastodon specifically.
I have not seen any discussion of their experience though.
Size is not everything. It seems very much that real engagement is.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @Seraina @viennawriter I read the experiment of @dw_innovation and it was quite positive.
I've also seen a presentation about the @tagesschau account here, with a similar positive feedback.
I will seach for the BBC article.
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@harld @leavex
On the about page of the Mastodon instance of the Dutch government is a list of other government instances: https://social.overheid.nl/about#:~:text=5.%20Zijn%20er,https://social.edps.europa.eu.I was not aware of that page. Thanks.
