Community, in the 'multiverse'
Not across universes, literally; I can't think of a good word for an association that transcends the fediverse, and to IRL beyond. I don't know why I keep coming back to this idea. It'll probably be the first topic in my zettelkasten, when I finally decide on a medium for it. If I could (non-disruptively) give my 20-year-old self anything, it'd be a zettelkasten; an actual piece of furniture, I guess, as Windows 95 was the height of innovation back then. But, man, I know this post would be an order of magnitude better for it.
Clay Shirky talks about how you can have a small community — on the Internet; I'll explicitly reference IRL when I mean otherwise — and, particularly with a dedicated core of a few friends committed to your vision, the centre will likely hold. (I recently rejoined IRC, and TooCool@EFNet pointed me to a piece that also explored this idea.) But, with success, comes danger: there is a size, beyond which, your vision will be threatened. This came back to me while reading about Cooper coming on as a community manager @Fosstodon, so I want to say it's around 10000 members (but don't quote me on that). And this is where I reference the cliche of an ellipsis, followed by the Shangri-La of 'profit'. Seriously, though, there are probably tens of thousands of examples for every birdsite. (Not that I'd hold that up as my ideal, mind.)
I joined Lemmy(Net) yesterday, curious about the ReverseEagle project that bubbled up in /r/Linux. I liked the message, and the tone. I'm a sucker for humility, and the opening apology regarding a perceived lack of professionalism really struck a chord. I mean, they sound very measured to me, and they're talking about simply offering genuine alternatives. That seems far more professional than, say, the early days of Slashdot, where Bill Gates as Borg was considering the starting point for any conversation outside of FOSS. (I can't resist bragging about my five-digit user id: 68393; yeah, it was mid-morning before I realised CmdrTaco had opened registration.) And then you have other models, like Tildes' sponsorship (lite) one.
I want to know my IRL neighbours (I think). But I'm not good in meat space; particularly after some of the difficulties I've had in recent years. Years ago I tried Streetlife, but that registration process alone was far too intrusive, especially for the limited benefit of what became a local Gumtree knock-off, from what I could see, before closing. Freegle was OK, pre-COVID, but, again, fairly intrusive, and a mixed bag of, well, exactly what you'd probably get IRL if a bunch of people came together for the primary purpose of barter, in effect. I had some positive experiences with Meetup, but the clue is in the name, for me: too heavy on IRL; I want a community that is rich here, and naturally extends beyond that over time.
I'm going to end it there. More to come, though — fuelled by my zettelkasten, I hope!
End of Day 28
— jlj #100DaysToOffload
I'm writing this as part of the 100 Days To Offload project; join us at: https://100daystooffload.com/