Public #libraries should host #Mastodon servers. I really think this could be a good thing.
The county (or city/town depending on how it works in your area) IT department could host it, and people would use their library card to access the server. Or, alternatively, perhaps some kind of private-public partnership could be arranged where a non-profit organization handles the hosting and library staff can administer it.
My thinking is: #fediverse platforms like Mastodon offer a high quality, ad-free social media experience, but there are barriers to entry that will keep most people from benefitting from it. It’s been discussed ad nauseam, but there are the technical barriers. I don’t see financial barriers discussed as often though. It costs money to maintain your own server, and even with many people chipping in, most people aren’t going to pay a few bucks or more a month to use a social media platform. There are of course free client apps, but the best ones cost money, at least in my opinion.
Maybe this isn’t the strongest point to make at a time when libraries are struggling to stay funded and are likely at risk of losing a significant amount of funding, but assuming that’s a problem with a solution, allocating funds to #library budgets to run a Mastodon server (I’m guessing a relatively small line item) seems doable. Content moderation is another issue to be dealt with, but again, I think one not without a solution.
Thoughts?