01/07/2025, 21:23

Dear Supporters,

yesterday our petition for #Unis4Mastodon ended with more than 2,070 signatures. Yesterday alone, another 114 signatures were collected. This shows how pressing the issue of using truly social media is for many people.

We have managed to get a number of universities to shut down their X-accounts. And we know that many are considering taking this step as well. Furthermore, #SciComm is no longer conceivable without the Fediverse, as the steadily growing number of followers on Mastodon channels shows.
mastodon-listen.playground.54gradsoftware.de/?liste=hochschulen-de

The process of change has finally begun: the use of social media is increasingly being aligned with the values and objectives of universities. Thank you very much for your support: by signing, by sharing our posts and through the many direct conversations that ultimately initiated this process of change.

We will remain active on the Mastodon channel bewegung.social/@neusom and provide further information on the implementation of the petition's goals and help with them. The next step is to hand over the petition to the German Rector's Conference (HRK), which will take place on January 15 in the Berlin office of the HRK. More information will follow here and on Mastodon.

Kind regards,

01/04/2025, 12:42

Feel free to share the image with logos of research institutes that have left X.

12/29/2024, 18:56

Dear supporters of the appeal to the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK),

at the moment, hardly a day goes by without the X platform underlining the urgency of our appeal to universities and showing how important it is to end their activities on X. The list is getting longer and longer: interference in democratic elections in the US and now also in Germany, support for extremist parties and anti-climate change positions, incitement to hatred and violence against refugees in the UK, etc., etc.

It is inconceivable that universities in Germany choose to remain on such a platform “in order not to lose reach”. Staying on X is not compatible with the commitment to democracy, the protection of minorities and the fight against climate change as stated on their websites. Slowly, those in charge are beginning to realize this and the number of X account closures is continuously increasing. At the same time, the number of followers of the universities' Mastodon accounts is increasing and the Fediverse is becoming an established part of science communication. That is great. We can make the world a better place.

We would like to take this as an opportunity to thank you for your support at the end of the year. We think that the many signatures under our appeal have contributed significantly to the rethinking at universities.

In order to convince the remaining universities, we would like to ask you to win over more signatories in the last week of our collection:
openpetition.de/Unis4Mastodon (everybody from within or outside Germany may sign). Because the petition ends on January 6, 2025, and we would like to hand it over to the German Rectors' Conference in Berlin on January 15, 2025. So the countdown has begun.

Those who have already signed are welcome to contact the university administrations or social media departments directly. Many people there are now rather open to the arguments in favor of an eXit, and Mastodon is well established meanwhile. We wish you success in your activities and a happy new year 2025, which we hope will bring us more of a digitization oriented towards common good.

06/24/2024, 13:46

Dear supporters of the appeal to the HRK,

some members of the Action Alliance (AB) recently had a conversation with representatives of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) about the appeal we sent to the HRK, and we would like to report on what came of it.

The discussion took place online rather than in person and lasted a little over an hour. The HRK was represented by Prof. Tippe, Vice President and Chair of the Standing Commission on Digitization, Dr. Gaul, Secretary General, Dr. Hilgert, Press Officer, and Dr. Schultz, Head of the Department for New Media. Our Action Alliance was represented by Mario Birkholz, Leonhard Dobusch, Lambert Heller and David Lohnert. Here are the most important results in short:
Firstly, the HRK agreed with AB's diagnosis that negative excesses on platform X (formerly Twitter) have reached such an extent that it is hardly suitable for universities anymore. However, the HRK does not consider the current time to be appropriate to leave X, as many journalists and university politicians are still active on X and a significant exchange takes place there. When Mastodon was tested two years ago, the medium made a rather uninspiring impression. However, our AB and our input were appreciated by the HRK and we were seen as a kind of "sounding board" that they would like to consult with again at the next opportunity.
Overall, this conversation has not yet led to a breakthrough. We were confronted with hesitation and procrastination, even though the current situation of disinformation and attacks on democracy on the major platforms demands decisive action. After the conversation, we sent the HRK a draft of a joint declaration, to which we have not yet received a response.

This discussion was certainly not the last word. We remain confident that we can convince the universities of our proposals. The eXit and the development of presences in the Fediverse are also already in full swing, see
bewegung.social/@neuSoM/112568822443346777
bewegung.social/@neuSoM/112603008092037434

Last but not least, we feel encouraged by the fact that AlgorithmWatch and the Open Knowledge Foundation have joined our group of supporting organizations. It's great that they're on board! We will therefore keep the appeal active on OpenPetition for another three months. And we would like to ask you to actively participate in the implementation on the ground, i.e. to directly call on universities to use Mastodon channels and to consider setting up their own Fediverse servers. In this sense, it would be helpful if local contacts could get in touch with us so that we can make them known to other supporters in order to prepare joint activities.

We will send further information as soon as new developments arise.
Best regards

05/10/2024, 13:59

Dear supporters,

the current situation, in which politically active people are increasingly exposed to attacks, unfortunately shows all too clearly how correct our warning is, which we formulated in our appeal to the German Rectors' Conference:

“The signatories of this letter are convinced that the way in which the major social media platforms are operated poses a serious threat to our democratic community.”

As the New Social Media Action Alliance, we have proposed the use of alternative media such as Mastodon and other services from the Fediverse that are moderated, ad-free and privacy-protecting.
Please continue to support our appeal, e.g. by collecting signatures, so that the universities shut down their accounts on X as soon as possible and initiate a serious review of the platforms used for electronic communication. It would also be a great help if our petition with the hashtag #UnisInsFediverse could be made better known on other channels such as LinkedIn etc., e.g. by sharing existing posts or by sharing our “pictures in support of our appeal”, as found on
www.openpetition.de/petition/blog/open-letter-to-the-german-rectors-conference-hrk-on-the-use-of-social-media#petition-main
In any case: thank you very much for your commitment and

best regards
New Social Media Action Alliance

04/13/2024, 17:27

We've created another image for our campaign.
Share it where you can to help #universities make more use of the #Fediverse 🌻 and say goodbye to #X / #Twitter - just like many others already did.

04/02/2024, 16:48

Liebe Unterstützer:innen unserer Petition,

wir haben damit begonnen, erstes Bildmaterial für die Ausweitung der Kampagne #UnisInsFediverse auf anderen Kommunikationsplattformen zu erstellen. Denn obwohl wir viel Zuspruch aus den Hochschulen und von vielen Bürgerinnen und Bürgern erfahren, haben sich die Hochschulen noch nicht zur konsequenten Nutzung des Fediverse und zum Rückzug von X/Twitter entschlossen. Wir haben deshalb den Sammlungszeitraum für unsere Petition um drei Monate bis zum 5.7.24 verlängert.

Wer sich an der Ausweitung der Kampagne beteiligen möchte, findet erste Bilder unter „Neuigkeiten“ auf
www.openpetition.de/UnisInsFediverse (weitere folgen).
Es wäre toll, wenn Ihr die Bilder eifrig verbreiten könntet. Manche tragen bereits einen QR-Code und Ihr könnt Euren Freund:innen das Bild auf dem Smartphone zeigen, um sich gleich auf die Seite zu verlinken. Bei anderen bitte die URL/Internetadresse angeben wie oben genannt.

Erste Posts sind bereits auf LinkedIn zu besichtigen:
1.) www.linkedin.com/posts/nicole-wolf-ma_appell-an-die-hochschulrektorenkonferenz-activity-7150408185667895296-ZxVV
2.) www.linkedin.com/posts/katharina-paulick-95103890_appell-an-die-hochschulrektorenkonferenz-activity-7179087443084599296-xZWT?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
wo Ihr sie auch einfach teilen oder favorisieren könnt. Oder Ihr erstellt mit den Bildern eigene Posts. Wir sind auch nicht unglücklich, wenn die Bilder auf Instagram, Facebook, Reddit ... oder gar auf X/Twitter erscheinen. Macht sie bekannt, wo Ihr könnt und wo es Euch passend erscheint. Und lasst uns gerne URLs Eurer Posts wissen, so dass wir sie weiterverbreiten können.

Viel Erfolg dabei und vielen Dank für Euer Mittun. #Miteinander holen wir uns #UnserInternet zurück.

Viele Grüße
Mario Birkholz
für das Aktionsbündnis

03/26/2024, 14:07

Feel free to share the picture on other channels of the major platforms that are accessible to you and point out our collection of signatures on OpenPetition (easy to reach via the QR code).

Thank you very much!
Action alliance new social media

03/19/2024, 15:21

Feel free to share this picture on other channels of the large platforms that are accessible to you and point to our collection of signatures on OpenPetition.
Thank you very much! New Social Media Action Alliance

03/12/2024, 14:19

Unfortunately, there is no way to customize the interface here at OpenPetition, the platform on which we publish our appeal. Therefore, unfortunately, the share button for X (Twiter) is displayed in our petition - also here next to this news...

We understand if a supporter does not sign the appeal because the OpenPetition platform only provides the function for sharing comments on X and Meta platforms (facbook/WhatsApp). At the same time, we regret this very much, because every signature shows that we demand different, better social media, for universities, for other educational institutions, but also for all other institutions, organizations and companies.

We will work to ensure that the petition platform is further developed to this end and at least expanded to include a button for sharing on Fediverse.

Follow our channel @neuSoM@bewegung.social ( profile: bewegung.social/@neuSoM ) and you will find plenty of content to share in the Fediverse!