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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 Ruben Safir,

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/-at-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. -at-user-at-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
licensing@fsf.org).

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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