Seeking a spokesperson/representative to interview on behalf of Social.Coop
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Paul J Robinson PublicSeen by 202Hey all. Apologies if this would have been more appropriate as a mastodon toot, but I wasn't sure how to reach the organisers of the instance. I'd really like to interview someone for a podcast about how the instance is innovating a new type of democratically-run social media network, and what it might mean for the legacy social networks. Is there anyone here willing or authorised to speak on behalf of the instance? Who should I be reaching out to? Ideally (if there are a selection of people available) I'd like someone from a marginalised or under-represented background as I think podcasting can be way too cis-het-male heavy. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions! (and of course I'll delete the thread if this was the wrong place to ask this question - I'm very new to the instance so I'm learning lots about how it operates)
@Flancian might be a good person to talk with from a technical standpoint and @Matt Noyes could be good to speak to community moderation. Both have been in social.coop for a while and have a lot of institutional knowledge!
It depends on what you want to know/highlight. We have four operations groups: the Community Working Group Ops Team (moderation and community-building), the Tech working group, the Finance working group, and the Organizing Circle (coordinates among the other groups and thinks about how to support the co-op as a whole). There are founding members who could bring that perspective, newer members who have gotten involved and can talk about what it means to them. We also have a number of members who have published work about cooperative organization, governance, moderation, federation, open source, etc.
I'd say that there is not one single person to talk to (although matt and flan are great candidates). I doubt that any voice alone can represents all of use. That is part of being a collective. :)))
At least, some people from the working groups (WG) would be a great start. :)
@Paul J Robinson You should probably just pick someone ;) Everyone will be speaking from their own experience since we don't really have an appointed spokes person. Good luck! Seems like neat series!
@Paul J Robinson : If it helps, here is an earlier thread about someone else interviewing Social.Coop members: https://www.loomio.com/d/59lEBI7H/anyone-want-to-be-interviewed-about-social-coop-s-governance-as-a-research-object-
Thank you everyone for your comments! I’ve been busy with other work today and will look into all these suggestions in the morning
One of our members, @Nathan Schneider, has spoken authoritatively on community governance in open source communities. Here, he has chaired the Finance Working Group, most recently. This link goes to a list of some of his writing on governable spaces and visions for what a fairer internet might look like: https://nathanschneider.info/books/ His premise -- in my own words-- is that most places on the internet are fiefdoms, run autocratically, and that activists can change the Internet to become a place that centers community care and support solidarity economics.
As @Matt Noyes pointed out recently, the cooperative movement should support cooperative technology, on the basis of the cooperative principle: cooperatives support other cooperatives. Our actions support mutual aid and solidarity: we are for each other. There is a larger argument, of course, for a pluriverse and against capitalism for its extractive qualities, such labor theft, land theft, and the erasure of our diverse identities. I keep finding people in Social.Coop who are envisioning a fediverse of democratically-run networks of people who are placing community care -- aka Beloved Community -- at the center of operations, embodied in the cooperative principles. ... For me, it is joy to be among such visionary people.
If it helps - here is a trailer. I'd really like the first episode to highlight the pioneering work that social.coop is doing within the co-operative movement.