On Thu, Dec 22, 2022 at 7:46 AM SCP 2000 <scp-2000.wikimedia(a)outlook.com> wrote:
FYI, I asked WMF Communication Team about any plans of
using Mastodon in future.
Here is their response [1] "The Digital Communications team has been researching
Mastodon and considering our potential involvement with the platform in the future.
At this time, we have no plans to create an account for the Foundation or Wikipedia.
This is mainly because our observations show us that Mastodon is not yet reaching
a large audience, which is one of the key objectives of our communications activity
on social media. We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust our
recommendations and practices to keep within our objectives."
This is a disappointing response, especially after the events earlier
this month: the mass suspension of journalist accounts [1], the
continued (!) suspension of left-wing voices on behalf of right-wing
agitators [2], and the bizarre "promotion of alternative social
platforms policy" [3] (which led to many more account suspensions and
has since been rescinded). For more on the goings-on at Twitter, see
https://twitterisgoinggreat.com/ (incidentally, made using a template
built by Wikipedian Molly White).
These events, and Musk's capricious leadership, should be sufficient
to make _any_ civil society organization begin to establish a presence
elsewhere, and many have (primarily on Mastodon [4]). And Wikimedia
Foundation is not any civil society organization; it is deeply
grounded in the open source movement, same as Mastodon & friends.
It's true, Mastodon doesn't have the reach of Twitter and Facebook and
maybe never will. But there are ~2.5M million active accounts now [5],
and that includes many civil society organizations, journalists, news
outlets, and of course Wikimedians.
While one purpose of social media engagement is "maximum reach",
another one should be "be in touch with your own people".
Additionally, organizations that _have_ invested in their presence on
the fediverse have reported continually higher (both quantitative and
qualitative) levels of interaction with their constituents, likely
because promoted tweets and algorithms designed to highlight a few
viral posts aren't getting in their way. Twitter metrics should be
regarded with deep suspicion at this point, as many of your followers
likely have already dramatically reduced their usage.
Here are some of the Wikimedia organizations with fediverse accounts
Wikidata knows about:
https://w.wiki/6Aky (there are probably more - if so, please add them
to Wikidata)
Here are some individual Wikimedians that Wikidata deems notable
enough to have a record there:
https://w.wiki/6Am4 (there are many more, including quite a few
current and former board and staff members of Wikimedia and its
affiliates)
In addition to Wikimedia affiliates, like-minded organizations like
the Internet Achive, Mozilla, EFF, the Tor Project, Fight for the
Future (key allies from the SOPA battle), Global Voices, Open
Knowledge Foundation, Open Rights Group, OpenStreetMap Foundation, and
others have already set up shop there. These are just the nonprofits
that Wikidata knows about:
https://w.wiki/6Am4
There is an ethical imperative to realize this rare opportunity for
civil society to take back control of how it engages with its
constituents. And there are very practical reasons to (also!) be where
many of your friends already are. Please meet the moment.
Warmly,
Erik
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_15,_2022_Twitter_suspensions
[2]
https://theintercept.com/2022/11/29/elon-musk-twitter-andy-ngo-antifascist/
[3]
https://web.archive.org/web/20221218173806/https://help.twitter.com/en/rule…
[4]
https://www.deweysquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSG-Snapshot-of-the-…
[5]
https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2022/12/05/mastodon-growth-numbers-might-n…