Last year’s experiment in the fediverse, Mission Mastodon, helped me onto a new path to reclaim my social media presence. At the time, I was contemplating what best to do in the face of the demise of Twitter and the fragmentation of my networks. Add a career transition into the mix, and a couple of new professional communities, too, and you will understand why I spent more time than before trying to find a way of connecting and sharing that works for me.
This week I am joining my Reclaim colleagues Amanda Schmidt and Taylor Jadin for a workshop focused on precisely these issues at the 2024 SUNY Digital Learning Conference. The format of the session is very interactive, and should leave plenty of time for discussion with delegates. I am really curious to learn what approaches other’s find helpful when navigating the social media landscape of today.
The theme of the conference this year is Educating for Digital Citizenship and I am super excited to be taking part and learn more about all the topics on the agenda. I am particularly looking forward to the featured speakers: Data, Discrimination, and Democracy: A Conversation with Chris Gilliard and Kathleen Fitzpatrick on Open Matters.
Our workshop at a glance
- Title: Reclaiming our Socials… and how you can too!
- Subtitle: Reclaim Hosting’s journey to demonstrate digital agency
- Track: Digital Activism
- Format: Presentation
- Presenters: Amanda Schmidt, Maren Deepwell & Taylor Jadin, Reclaim Hosting
Abstract: Given the fall from grace we’ve seen various social media platforms experience recently— from Twitter’s transition to X, to Substack’s implosion— now is the time to think critically about how to be informed, and autonomous, digital citizens.
We’re seeing more and more social media users finding themselves immersed in platforms they’ve spent many hours cultivating community and content on, only to feel the rug pulled out from under them when that platform does or supports something that doesn’t align with those users’ values.
At Reclaim Hosting, we’ve always been more comfortable working in spaces that are as open as possible so that we have as much control over our content and communications as possible. Our socials, however, were always stuck with the big-box providers. With the rise of the fediverse, we’re taking our autonomy back. Join us as we discuss the Reclaim Hosting team’s transition to Mastodon, a self-hostable, decentralized social networking platform, and Ghost, an open source blogging platform.
We’ll discuss our perspectives on the current state of social media affairs, walk participants through our open setup, and demonstrate how to reclaim your socials!