I recently wrote — from platforms to covenants — that I firmly believe that open protocols connecting small pieces loosely joined is a better framework than any privately owned social media platform. Twitter was just too darned easy for many years. I am now connecting more on Mastodon though I have not mastered all of its functions. Mastodon is an open protocol and anyone can put up a server and connect to what is called the ‘fediverse’, a federated network of hosts using the protocol.
During the past decade I have used Twitter as an aid to learn about social networks on my personal knowledge mastery online workshops. As Twitter continues to not only crash and burn but reinstate accounts that promote hatred, I no longer wish to advocate for any use of the platform. I am still there, for now, as I am connected to so many friends and colleagues.
The current PKM workshop has several activities that require Twitter. As I change these activities I will also do a major update of the entire workshop. Mastodon will be used for social networking and a greater emphasis will be put on RSS and feed aggregators for managing information sources.
I added the topic of Fake News on the last workshop and will likely keep it. Other topics not on the current workshop may also be added and some removed. This workshop has always been in a state of perpetual beta.
The challenge is not finding content, as I have almost 350 posts on PKMastery here. Rather, the challenge is developing appropriate activities that can guide participants on their sensemaking journeys. As one participant wrote about their experience after a workshop, “As a master mapping out a pathway for followers, I think you’ve neatly avoided the common trap of being overly prescriptive and kept it to a minimum of discrete steps.” —Chris Mansell
I look forward to this design challenge and have over a decade of feedback from hundreds of participants to inform me. Past participants may want to take a 2023 workshop and find out what’s new. As always, anyone who registers for a workshop may come back any time at no extra charge. If previous participants have suggestions, I am open. My intention is to finish most of the redesign by the end of the year. Participants can register for the next workshop before 6 February 2023.
Workshop start dates for 2023
- 6 February
- 17 April
- 2 October
Thanks, Harold,
This is a very interesting piece, both from the point of view of collaborative working, but also Twitter vs. Mastodon. Twitter does very little for my training business, so I will check out the latter.
Regards, Simon
Twitter and Mastodon are very different platforms. Twitter is/was much better for marketing. It was useful for marketing my workshops. Mastodon is more collegial and is good for following people who share insights. Mastodon is much more dependent on who you follow and what hashtags you look for.