We Distribute

We are kicking off an exciting collaborative with the Bonfire Networks developer team -a governance-first community platform using ActivityPub. The Bonfire developer team are interested in reviewing proposals from the moderator community for rapid iteration of evidence-based, prosocial tooling and workflow in a co-design effort with the moderator community. The Bonfire team have already rapidly adopted several proposals including: 1) Greyscaling and blurring media in reported content to reduce trauma for moderators reviewing harmful content. 2) Muting audio in media files so there are no sudden noises, loud volume or traumatic audio for the moderation workflow. 3) Removing clickable links from reported content and suggesting URL investigation tools to reduce the chance of moderators clicking through to phishing, malware, and other harmful websites. Our IFTAS Connect community is working to provide additional feedback, and anyone is free to suggest additional feedback on the Bonfire GitHub. This is a fantastic opportunity for the Fediverse’s trust and safety community to interactively guide the development of modular tooling that we hope will not only benefit Bonfire communities but can benefit the ecosystem at large, through modular adoption of the tooling, Fediverse Enhancement Proposals, or other platforms incorporating the same evidence-based prosocial approaches to empowering community managers and moderators. We urge all IFTAS Connect moderator members to join us in the Moderator Tooling Workgroup and tell us all the tools, features and functions you want to see added to keep you and your community safe! #TrustAndSafety #OnlineSafety

Platformer posted a great retrospective on taking a thriving newsletter from Substack to Ghost. We love working with Ghost and if anyone else is looking into making the leap, we’re here for you. https://lnkd.in/gVdeDJ9Z

Due to the ongoing strain of trying to write, edit, and publish articles on a consistent basis, and a handful of personal obligations of our founders, We Distribute is officially on temporary hiatus. This is not the end of our publication or our project, but we need to step back for a while and regroup, if the project hopes to survive.

If you're not caught up on what's going on with WordPress lately, it's moving from a niche beef between two huge platforms to something that's threatening to implode the entire WordPress open-source project. As of today, a dubious checkbox appeared on the WordPress org login page, forcing users to confirm that they are "not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise.” It's a move that's dragging the contributor community into a messy legal battle, and questioning the move seems to get you exiled. If you work at Automattic, or are one of the 159 people who took Matt's deal to leave, I'd love to talk to you. Reach me on Signal: sam.404 https://lnkd.in/eQVbQcVZ

Big news: Write.as now lets you connect your blogs to sub.club, which means your readers can directly subscribe to your premium posts via their #Fediverse accounts! Honestly, the best part is how easy it is - took me less than a few seconds to connect the accounts and post to my subscribers. I put a video together that shows it off in the blog post below 👀 https://lnkd.in/dyQWYj5n

After nearly a year of hard work, and following a month of betas and release candidates, we just released version 4.3 of Mastodon. Grouped notifications, notification filtering, better onboarding and a refreshed look await in the new release of our decentralized open-source social media software. https://lnkd.in/eGqzCS5n

💫 Exploring Centralised vs. Decentralised Social Media: The Future of Online Communities? Social media has revolutionised how we connect, share, and build communities. But as we look to the future and people leave popular centralised platforms like X, more people are exploring the decentralised alternatives. Here’s a quick look at both sides! ⭕ Centralised Social Media Pros: ✍️ Ease of Use: Everything’s in one place - simple, familiar, and user-friendly. 💰 Innovation & Features: Big platforms have the resources to roll out cool new features quickly. 🧑🤝🧑 Network Effects: Large user bases make it easier to connect and grow your audience. Cons: 🗝️ Control & Censorship: A few companies hold all the power, often deciding what’s visible. 🦹♂️ Privacy Concerns: Centralised data storage increases the risk of breaches and misuse. 💸 Monetisation: You’re the product - ads and algorithms prioritise profit over user experience. 🪐 Decentralised Social Media: Pros: 💪 User Empowerment: You own your data, identity, and content - no middleman. 🔎 Transparency: Open-source platforms mean you can see how things work behind the scenes. 🛩️ Freedom & Flexibility: No central authority controls content or access, allowing for more diversity of thought. Cons: ↗️ Adoption & Usability: Newer and less familiar, these platforms can have steeper learning curves. 🧭 Fragmentation: Smaller user bases make it harder to find your people. 📊 Scaling Challenges: Building features and growing communities without central funding can be tough. The choice between decentralised and centralised platforms isn’t just about technology - it’s about values and the future we want to build 🌱 #SocialMedia #TechTrends #Decentralisation #Decentralization #DigitalTransformation #FutureOfWork #SocialMediaManager #Technology

We're excited to support the growth of the Fediverse by offering our Patchwork technology to existing Mastodon server admins - completely free of charge! 🎉 By empowering admins with advanced tools, we’re helping them reconnect with their communities. Creating a more connected future for communities on social media. Let’s grow the Fediverse together! 🌐 #Fediverse #Free #OpenSource #CommunityBuilding #DigitalFuture #Tech #UKTech #UKNonprofit

We’re proud to be founding launch partners for DAF Day: a new kind of giving day to redefine how donor advised funds are used: and who uses them. The timing couldn’t be better: DAFs are proven to increase generosity and are easier to use than ever before. Comment if you’re all in with us for DAF Day on October 10th! [Image ID: A yellow background with text overlaid reading "we're all in on DAF Day" above the IFTAS federated trust and safety logo.] #DAFDay #TrustAndSafety #Fundraising

Typetura has done amazing work with redesigning our brand. It feels like a breath of fresh air, compared to what we were using before. We're really excited to see the directions our collaboration goes in!