According to our Politician Tracker, there are less than 10 elected representatives on Mastodon, out of a total of 2,381 politicians in our database. MastoCanucks, we have some work to do.
We need a few hundred volunteers to join our email team and reach out to your local or regional politicians. Every one of us across Canada has 3 potential target contacts that we can call or email, at the Federal, Provincial, and Municipal level. Leaning on my sales and business development background, my objective is to turn a group of MastoCanucks into a highly capable sales team. Benefits are sketchy but everyone gets #Caturday off as a guaranteed vacation day.
On our website we have a resources page for Email Templates. It lists some talking points that you can use to craft a message in your own words, and includes some ideas on preparing and sending messages. Three draft templates are provided in case you want to get a quick start to your contact campaign.
In addition to the suggestions on the Email Templates page, here are some other tips and strategies to think about:
- The goal is to convince politicians to use Mastodon, but your representative may not be from your preferred political party or your favourite person. Try to be apolitical and just focus on selling them on the merits of moving to Mastodon.
- “Selling” to someone you know is easier than a perfect stranger. Do a web search on your contact and read any relevant news articles. Check out their website, if they have one, and review their policy positions. Look for an angle to talk about something important to them, that can also be associated logically with Mastodon.
- If they have mentioned Sovereignty, likely referencing tariffs or U.S. rhetoric about a “51st” state = reinforce the message that Digital Sovereignty is just as important.
- If they have complained about the dangers of U.S. based social media, (X and AI generated sexual exploitation, Meta cutting off Canadian news sources, etc.) = point out that an excellent first step is moving to Mastodon and build a Canadian community, controlled by Canadians.
- If they speak about supporting Canadian businesses in terms of buying Canadian = moving our social media activity to a Canadian Fediverse is easy and begins the process of reducing our reliance on U.S. controlled platforms.
- Depending on the level of government, or importance of the person you are emailing, be aware that the actual politician may not be reading your communication. If your communication is succinct and connects to the politician's views, the message will get through.
- Be patient but relentless. You will likely be sending multiple emails over a number of months so don’t be dissuaded by a lack of response.
- Don’t over-communicate. There’s a fine line between developing interest and getting blocked. Once every 8 to 10 days is not too intrusive and remember to change the message slightly each time. Personalize it based on your research you’ve done or recent news articles.
- Watch for announcements from us on wins and use those to name drop in your next email. “Hey, did you see that Bill Babykisser in the neighbouring riding has joined Mastodon. That means your account could have instant credibility and your party can show leadership on Digital Sovereignty”.
If you have an email that has been effective for you, please send it our way so we can share it with the Canadian Mastodon community. If you get a win - convincing an elected representative to launch a Mastodon account - we want to hear about it.
In a future topic we will provide some support on what to do when the politician says “Yes”. Getting them started quickly and helping them build followers immediately will turn them into a long-term user of Mastodon.
Paul Busch, @ElbowsUpforDigitalSovereignty
