'Mastodon’s work to highlight their platform to journalists led to the opportunity to host an aperitivo, with special guests Save Social, at the International Journalism Festival (April 9th – 13th, 2025) in Perugia, Italy.'
Mastodon: Giving Journalists Options Away From Big Tech
Mastodon’s work to highlight their platform to journalists led to the opportunity to host an aperitivo, with special guests Save Social, at the International Journalism Festival (April 9th – 13th, 2025) in Perugia, Italy.
IJF brings together people from across the news industry to talk about the issues they face and celebrate the work they are doing. This year, Big Tech was one of the topics that dominated the panel discussions.
Bonjourno Mastodon
Andy Piper speaking at the event. Source: Saskia Welch
Mastodon, represented by Andy Piper, Head of Communications, Felix Hlatky, CFO, and Philip Schröpel, Head of Staff, brought together supporters of the open social web, Big Tech-disbelievers, and curious locals to a small bar nestled in the old walls of Perugia.
Understanding that many in the audience were unfamiliar with Mastodon, Piper introduced the social platform to the room, highlighting the benefits for journalists. This included the work to highlight article authors, using the byline feature that rolled out in July last year, and emphasis on the value of links to external publications.
Mastodon promised new tools to track referrals through links would be rolling out across the network soon but were already live on mastodon.social – the server run by the Mastodon team.
Looking Ahead
Hlatky spoke of Mastodon’s future as an organisation and their ongoing work to transition from a German gGmbH to a new European nonprofit. He acknowledged internal work to restructure and remove single ownership from Mastodon claiming, “No one gives you money if one owner can run away with it.”
There was a strong message that Mastodon wanted what is best for their users, rather than their pockets. A stark contrast to the Big Tech platforms that had been discussed across the Festival.
Björn Staschen presenting Save Social at the event. Source: Saskia Welch
Save Social is a predominantly German-speaking effort to turn away from Big Tech social media platforms and strengthen alternatives. In less than three months, their petition has reached 200,000 signatures.
“We, as a society, have to be part of the solution,” said Staschen. “We want to strengthen alternative platforms. Ensure freedom of expression by creating diversity and transparency.”
Converting Attendees
When it came to joining Mastodon, Schröpel admitted there are “multiple ways”, but that the Mastodon team are able to support individuals and organisations in setting up their own instance or offer advice on the network.
Philip Schröpel presenting ways to join Mastodon. Source: Saskia Welch
However, joining the platform continues to be a barrier for many users. A group of Italian women who attended the event abandoned their short effort to join the platform half-way into the presentation, confused about where to go and which app to use.
Alongside presenting Mastodon as an alternative platform, the aperitivo offered one of the only opportunities to take tangible action against Big Tech at IJF – attracting doers, rather than the commentators that lined the panels of the main event.
Wrapping Up
“There’s a mix of people in this room right now with the same instincts we have to save democracy,” Piper said in his closing remark, encouraging collaboration and action.
Based on the panels at IJF 2025, journalists are more worried than ever about the role they play in democracy. Witnessing the actions of the White House, many journalists are now calling for an “EU alternative” to Big Tech platforms.
Mastodon now has the opportunity to present themselves as the EU alternative and help journalists protect democracy.
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Over the past two years Palestinian supporters have been calling out the Israeli state for genocide and ethnic cleansing. And more people willing to listen now? And even if they are is it too late? They are trying to exterminate the Palestinians
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Das Bild zeigt eine fantastische Szene mit einem glitzernden Pinguin, der bis zu den Schultern im Wasser steht. Der Pinguin hat ein blau-goldenes Gefieder, das an Sternen erinnert, und einen orangefarbenen Schnabel. Er steht in einem ruhigen Gewässer, umgeben von rosa Blüten, die auf den Steinen und im Wasser liegen. Im Hintergrund ist eine große, goldene Mond, die den Himmel erhellt, und Bäume mit zarten rosa Blüten. Ein verschwommener Mann im Hintergrund geht entlang einer beleuchteten Straße, die von warmen Lichtern gesäumt ist. Die gesamte Szene ist in einem mystischen, winterlichen Ambiente gehalten, mit einem Hauch von Magie und Schönheit.
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During a meeting at the Vatican with newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Patriarch Sviatoslav, Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), extended an invitation for the pontiff to visit Ukraine. — Ukrinform.
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Hi everyone! We're rolling out two updates today: one highly requested enhancement and one important rules clarification.
You can now once again tailor your reading experience by filtering out...
Wait, why did they remove Spy x Family? They pretty much only relink what the official publisher Shueisha's titles that are free on the site at that time. Not repost mind you, linking to the official source itself.
Edit: official publisher uploads aren't removed, gave me a scare there.
Holy shit, this is actually a pretty bad list. A lot of classics and actually good modern manga here. Unfortunate - mangadex was great while it lasted. Pirate sites are hydra, if course, but mangadex was actually usable unlike a lit of other sites.
I believe the documentation has a section for it. It can be a bit slow to open a large volume but once it’s open it works well. I just wish that they would open faster and that Jellyfin would get some QOL features around books/comics/manga.
Yes there is. They're called Kavita and Komga. If you wanna host Doujins then there is Lanraragi, it has a better tagging system then both of them but struggles with chapter merging and all.
I recommend everyone hit up the Trove, get HakuNeko or a similar app and start making offline backups. Its not going to get easier from now on. KissManga and Mangafox still have suitable uploads for plenty of those series, but we don't know for how long.
Oh, I was wondering what happened, damn. I couldn't find a good chunk on any other site, updated as much, such as Dragon Next Door. I guess ill never be able to see one updated as much again
It's like a scene from "The Antiques Roadshow." In 1946, Harvard Law School paid $27.50 for what it believed to be an unofficial copy of the Magna Carta. Two medieval history experts analyzed it and have concluded that it's actually the real deal: A rare, lost original Magna Carta from 1300 (the reign of King Edward I) that could be worth millions. Here's more from @BBCNews.
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@bestiaexmachina sadly not as well as I was hoping anymore^^'
Due to library incompatibilies, which we noticed way too late, we had to add another arduino. This in turn pushed our power source to its limit, forcing us to add an additional 9v battery. And now he's too heavy and only makes micro jumps. :.D
I need to make better photos tomorrow but on its back are another 2 powerhungry servos, opening and closing a 3rd "magical" eye/orb. I'm still surprised it works at all. xD
@bestiaexmachina i was lucky to be with 3 more people who were also invested in the concept. University workgroups are always a bit of a gamble but we all had a lot of fun.
The image shows a small, fluffy dog with long, shaggy fur walking on a gray tiled patio. The dog is positioned in the center of the image, facing away from the camera, with its tail raised. The tiles are square and arranged in a grid pattern, with some grass growing in the gaps. The dog's shadow is cast on the ground, indicating a strong light source, likely the sun. In the background, there are two objects: a wooden planter box on the left and a wicker chair on the right. The lighting suggests it is a sunny day, with the sun casting a sharp shadow of the dog on the ground.
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The human mind functions in mysterious ways. It believes what you want it to believe. Once it’s made up, it will scrape for ideas to support that belief, and it will dismiss every piece of informat…
Interestingly enough, the narrative where I live has shifted from "These lazy Ausländer take all our jobs" to "These damn educated tech folks can afford much nicer homes and are driving up the prices, which WE locals can't afford".
Who would have thought, that education leads to better income? 🤦♂️
But it's not the foreigners that are driving up prices. It's the Germans themselves. It's just that the educated tech folks can still afford paying those (and often have to because they don't have the network to get the cheap homes).
blossom.primal.net/03366c2e2a3…Europe has forgotten how to nurture free expression. To stop things getting worse, it should start by returning to some old liberal ideas: #Press | #FrontPage
While walking through Times Square, I passed this group of K-pop dancers moving confidently beneath a giant wall of illuminated stars and stripes. The contrast struck me — a symbol of the USA glowing behind a group shaped by Korean pop culture. This moment felt like a celebration of what makes the U.S. unique: a place where influences from around the world collide, remix, and create something new. It’s this multicultural energy that always drew me in — open, evolving, real. Now in 2025 I worry that this openness, this beautiful cultural blend, is under pressure. That what once made this place vibrant is being challenged — by fear, by division, by politics, by facists … I still believe in the potential of diversity — not just as a buzzword, but as a way of living and growing together. And I hope that images like this one continue to be possible in the future, not in spite of difference, but because of it. [Fujifilm XT-3 Tamron 17-70 F/2.8 - 26mm F/4.5 ISO: 160]
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2,099 likes, 775 comments - larepubblica on May 15, 2025: ""Il funzionamento del braccialetto elettronico è molto spesso incompatibile con i mezzi di trasporto delle persone", ha detto il ministro della Giustizia, Carlo Nordio, al question time al Se…
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I read the quote to mean that they were deciding to absolutely trust Tesla autopilot due to Elon Musk's politics. The article makes it clear that they are in fact getting rid of their Tesla cars.
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Andy Piper speaking at the event. Source: Saskia Welch
Björn Staschen presenting Save Social at the event. Source: Saskia Welch
Philip Schröpel presenting ways to join Mastodon. Source: Saskia Welch
War and Peas 🧿
in reply to War and Peas 🧿 • • •The internet loves free stuff, but free for you often means unpaid for creators. Webcomics are the result of hours, sometimes days, of labor. Patreon is what bridges the gap between „free“ and „fair.“
By supporting us, you’re keeping this wild, weird thing alive. Thank you for being part of it.
PS: patreon.com/warandpeas