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Read and share online: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/flock-over-to-mastodon-on-july-8-for-an-interactive-session

Dear Free Software Supporter,

I hope this message finds you well, because we have some exciting news! On July 8, from 16:00-17:00 EDT (20:00-21:00 UTC), we are hosting a "Mastodon Hour."

As you probably know, the FSF is on Twitter (with caveats), Mastodon, and GNU Social. We simultaneously post to all three microblogs. You can read all the details about this at https://fsf.org/twitter, which has been updated recently to include more information about centralization, decentralization, and microblogging exclusively with free software.

Some background...

As a small organization, while we are able to send out messages to all three microblogs efficiently and effectively, we are not able to reply directly to individual messages on social media. Additionally, we have reservations about using Twitter, so we avoid interacting in a way that makes people feel like they must go to that platform (and consequently run nonfree software).

This being said, we do monitor your replies to all three platforms. For Twitter specifically, we use a combination of Choqok, KDE's microblogging client, Nitter, a free front-end mirror to Twitter, and Nitter's RSS feed feature to avoid running nonfree JavaScript ourselves, which we advise you do as well when viewing Twitter feeds. Sometimes your replies inform future posts, in which case, we respond with a new post that answers your question. But we post simultaneously to all three platforms so that everyone can see the answer, regardless of which microblog you are viewing our feed from.

What is a Mastodon Hour?

Mastodon Hour is a special window of time that we are setting aside when we, the FSF campaigns team staff, will respond to your messages in real time.

On July 8, from 16:00-17:00pm EDT (20:00-21:00 UTC), we will be making ourselves available to respond to you!

During this time, you may communicate via reply to our toots, mention us in a new thread, or direct message, and we will be available to respond in real-time. If you would like to participate in Mastodon Hour, we recommend joining Mastodon, following us at https://hostux.social/web/@fsf, and trying these features beforehand, if you haven't done so already.

What is the topic?

For this first Mastodon Hour, the main topic will be "Help others find their reason to support free software." This is the theme of our spring fundraiser, which is going on now. Our secondary topic will be "decentralization and federation," and what better place to discuss this than on a decentralized service such as Mastodon!

Also, if you have anyone who is "on the freedom ladder," who you might want to introduce to us (whether by direct introduction or not), or if you know anyone that is creating or sharing resources relevant to educating people about free software, no matter how simple or complex, please send us links or their handle (i.e. @user@domain). We will look at it in real time and can discuss any topics related to it. We think that this might be a nice ice-breaker for everyone, and has the potential to expand the network of free software users.

We understand that you may have questions unrelated to these chosen topics that you want answered. While we will do our best to respond to relevant queries, we will be prioritizing on-topic questions and directing most other questions to the appropriate email address (i.e. specific licensing questions are still best sent to [email protected]).

Not on Mastodon yet? Well, then flock on over!

If you are not yet on Mastodon and you want to join, you can! The Mastodon developers maintain a list of servers with open registration, allowing you to participate in the decentralized Web with just a click of a few buttons.

We're a third of the way to reaching our spring fundraising goal of USD 67,000 before July 8. Any financial contribution you can make goes to help the campaigns team spread the message of free software. For only $10 a month ($5 if you are a student), you can join us as an FSF associate member. Bringing new members to the community is a core part of the fight for software freedom, and helps us build a foundation of committed activists for years to come. We can organize more events such as these, in which we can assist people directly in their journey to learn more about free software.

Spreading the word is just as important: please take a moment to publicly bring attention to the need for free software! Use the hashtag #UserFreedom, and share this message and others to help us build even further support.

Hope to see you at our upcoming "Mastodon Hour!"

Happy hacking,

Devin Ulibarri
Outreach & Communications Coordinator

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