Convener: Heidi Li Feldman (@heidilifeldman@mastodon.social), Tim Chambers, Michael Foster

Notes-taker(s):

Participants who chose to record their names here:

• Mike Weston (@mweston@mindly.social)
• Darius Dunlap (@dariusdunlap@indieweb.social)
• @dangillmor@mastodon.social
• @pch@s3th.me
• Chris Messina (@chris@threads.net)
• Melanie Bartos (@melaniebartos@chaos.social)
• Caesar Schinas (@caesar@indieweb.social)
• Kirsten Lambertsen (@mizkirsten@mastodon.social)
• Freddie (@freddiej@newsmast.social)
• Georgia Mountford-Blake (@georgiagemo@threads.net)

Tags / links to resources / technology discussed, related to this session:

Notes

Tim:

• Many reasons why the mainstream platforms don’t work for organizers.
• You do not own your social graph on the mainstream platforms.
• The mainstream platforms are saturated with political advertising. Inventory is tight. People are deluged with political ads.
• The digital space, especially social media, is fragmented, so causes, organizations are familiar with that – but they don’t know that the Fediverse is an available space and platform.

Heidi: Examples of organizing she has done in the past (Twitter) and recently (Mastodon).

Tim: Speaking about group creating on the fediverse, to enable communication among a community with a specific shared interest and purpose.

Tim: Group, initially using Friendica then Newsmast/Patchwork.

Tim: needed to switch to a tool that allowed better moderation and vetting. Worked with Newsmast to get a tailored soluton.

Link to the Congressional Hackathon info https://www.house.gov/Hackathon where Daniel Bennett will be attending and advocating for the Fediverse.

Organizing on the Fediverse

• Challenges with mainstream platforms.
• Issues with content moderation.
• Firing of trust and safety teams.
• Migration from X (formerly Twitter) to multiple platforms.
• Advantages of the Fediverse.
• Less chaotic environment for organizing.
• More international user base.
• Higher engagement rates, with specific examples from Indivisible and Democrats Abroad.

Case Studies and Successes

• Heidi’s fundraising campaign.
• Raised $600,000 for Christine Blasey Ford’s security.
• Raised funds for Kamala Harris on Mastodon, exceeding initial goals.
• Started with a $1,000 goal, reached $20,000+.
• Focus on personal engagement and thanking donors.
• Group organizing efforts.
• Started a Friendica group, moved to Newsmast for better moderation.
• Grew to 2,100 followers since August, targeting 4,000 by October 1st.
• 11,000 social engagements, reaching 2,400,000 accounts.

Tools and Integrations

• Newsmast Tech Integration.
• Developed within 10 days to support group moderation.
• Allows vetting and approval of followers.
• Integrates with Bluesky for extended reach.
• Potential future integrations.
• Automated mirror accounts for polling data and volunteer opportunities.
• Use of ActBlue API for fundraising and competitive drives among Mastodon instances.

Recommendations and Next Steps

• Engagement strategies.
• More outreach to campaigns for Fediverse presence.
• Encouragement of boosting and sharing among users.
• Focused explanations to non-technical stakeholders about the Fediverse.
• Collaborations.
• Partnering with developers and activists for extended functionalities.
• Potential use of ActivityPub for government CRM systems (suggested by Daniel).
• Follow-up with Bart from https://sub.club for monetization and fundraising support.

Open Questions

• Why campaigns aren’t on the Fediverse.
• Kamala Harris campaign still catching up with digital strategies.
• Potential for future engagement as they stabilize their operations.
• Georgia posted a thread asking @vp@threads.net, @kamalaharris@threads.net and @whitehouse@threads.net to enable federation here: https://www.threads.net/@georgiagemo/post/C_6CwLHS_MI: please repost or comment to help boost it!
• Community building.
• How to find and engage people who can propel projects on the Fediverse.
• Tactics for creating competitive energy among different Mastodon instances.