Fediverse: Peopleverse !
The Fediverse is a “social fabric” where People engage and interact. With Fediverse being the technical infrastructure that supports this social fabric, what is thus created is actually really a Peopleverse …
Peopleverse: The online space where people interact that is a seamless extension to social relationships as they exist in the real world.
The above, though not THE best definition of Peopleverse, nonetheless describes an important characteristic: that what we build online are abstraction of social networks that exist in the real world. The quality of these abstractions determines the extent we can seamlessly tie online space to IRL and the breadth and scope of our social interactions.
United in Diversity
In some respects the Fediverse is one the most diverse online spaces already. Being a global network there’s people from all over the world. And with its more tolerant and open culture it has attracted many people who have been driven off toxic traditional social media platforms.
But there is still lots to gain in terms of Diversity and Inclusion. Fediverse is mostly an online space with little direct ties to the real world, and local communities. The whole concept of “Community” is still very poorly abstracted. Most people haven’t ever heard of the Fediverse and when they do, they get the perception that it is some kind of microblogging medium.
This topic is about an idea to organize more local awareness, and inclusion of diverse local groups with the objective of learning about their needs and facilitating direct interaction.
Local chapters and LOCI
This idea arose as follow-up to fedi discussion with Esther Payne on the Social Coding Foundations chatroom. I’ve since temporary named the initiative as the plural of Locus:
Locus (Free Dictionary definition):
- A locality; a place.
- A center or focus of great activity or intense concentration
The Idea
Let’s set up an initiative whereby our online activity to bring Fediverse to new heights and unleash its potential is mirrored in local chapters around the world, that anyone can initiate and organize. These chapters focus on activities that are relevant to their region, help spread awareness locally, share their knowledge, and participate in all kinds of shared events, programs and activities.
The Local Open Chapters Initiative facilitates and coordinates the chapters in a variety of ways, to make it as easy as possible to set them up and keep them going.