It's a day ending in "Y", so Elon Musk is once again demonstrating why X is a toxic platform and ownership continues to lean into that culture. Musk decided to use his considerable follower count to stir up immigrant bashing in the U.K. by encouraging people to take to the streets in protest. The British government lashed out at Musk this week, accusing him of whipping up tensions online ahead of disorder in Belfast.
Many Canadian politicians have already publicly announced they have left the platform formerly known as Twitter. Others have quietly deleted their account or simply stopped posting there. But there is still a significant portion of elected officials and government agencies that continue to post on X. This risk remains high that an important post on public policy or a position on a social issue will end adjacent to a pornographic image or racist rant. There is no good reason for remaining and causing potential damage to a personal image or brand by being associated with that platform.
Maybe politicians think there are legitimate reasons for staying on X or for not joining the Mastodon Canadian community. In no particular order, here are some of the excuses that we've heard.
Excuse: I don't understand what the advantages are in using Mastodon for my social media posts.
Every social media application has its advantages and disadvantages but Mastodon has eliminated some of the major friction points between users and the platform they interact with. For U.S. based social media technology it's fair to say that you, the user. are the product. They are monetizing your interaction with the platform, and pushing you to participate in a manner that drives more profit for them. Contrast that with Mastodon where the user isn't tracked, their data is not collected, no advertising is allowed, and no algorithm exists. People on Mastodon interact because they are interested, not because some algorithm made them angry and forced them into your feed. There is no corporate ownership involved which eliminates management policies based on profits instead of building a community.
Excuse: I think we should be supporting Canadian based social media platforms.
Awesome, so you believe in Digital Sovereignty. Any truly Canadian social media platform should be developed by Canadians and user data should be kept in this country and protected from foreign interests. Yes, Mastodon originated in Europe, but it is an Open Source application, and part of a larger Fediverse community. Many Canadians have contributed to the development of Mastodon and the Fediverse (Evan Prodromou, Christopher Trottier, Page Saunders, etc.). Mastodon servers exist in communities across the country, managed by Canadians. Add in the advantages noted above and it is truly the best Canadian alternative to U.S. big tech from a Digital Sovereignty perspective.
Excuse: I can't join Mastodon because I'm already struggling to manage multiple social media accounts.
The answer to this issue can be very simple, and likely will help you with your social media management. Fedica.com is a Canadian based social media analytics and publishing company based in Toronto. Using a single dashboard, you can schedule a single message to post across 10+ different social media platforms, including Mastodon. They have plans that start at $0 per month, which I can confirm is very affordable. Imaging typing your message once and have it post to multiple platforms immediately - without having to log into each platform.
Excuse: I still have followers on X
You might have followers who have decided not to flee a toxic platform and are perfectly fine with what Musk represents. But do you want to be associated with the image that X has created for itself?
From a practical standpoint, you should have facts on your followers. What is the level of your engagement? How many are bots? How many are actually in Canada, or in your geographic area? Are you spending more time blocking responses or abusive accounts? If you were to consider using Fedica for social media publishing, and opt in for one of their paid plans (starting at $10 a month), you can get answers to most of these questions. They can help you map where your users are and also advise you on optimal publishing times for each platform to maximize your communication impact.
Excuse: But Mastodon does not have a lot of users in Canada.
At the present time, this is true. Relative to other U.S. based platforms, Mastodon Canada has far fewer active users. But Digital Sovereignty matters and we need politicians to take a leadership position and help develop a Canadian social media community that is not preyed upon by U.S. tech giants. Take a small step and set up a personal account on a local server. Use Fedica to manage your publishing across multiple platforms and Mastodon becomes easier to manage along with your other channels. Every new politician that joins Mastodon adds weight to the Network Effect - add content and users will join, which will encourage more content, which draws in more users.
Excuse: The news media, that we rely on for promoting our policies and reelection campaigns, is still using U.S. based social media.
Yep, they are still clinging to the notion of follower count equals success. But if politicians are increasingly using Mastodon, and slowly leading with that platform over other channels, the news media will take notice and will join to ensure they are connected and have access.
Politicians can motivate journalists and news media organizations to join Mastodon. If you're having a press conference, make a statement that the 1st question goes to a journalist with a Mastodon account. If you get a request for an interview, ask the reporter or news media contact if they have a Mastodon account. Sound excited if they say yes, and disappointed if the answer is no. Any time you release information on where your communications can be viewed, make the statement that, "posts can be found on our Mastodon account @xxxxxx and other social media sites". Be subtle, but help us push the news companies and their staff towards a Canadian social media community.
Is there an excuse we haven't thought of? Let us know via our email or send it to our Mastodon account. Let's knock down all the obstacles and help our elected officials make the right choice.
