Social.coop - User contributions [en]

Social.coop

2024-11-05T15:41:36Z

Ntnsndr1:

Social.coop emerged out of a desire to develop a way of doing social media that is more just, accountable, and ethical than the dominant corporate platforms.

In September 2016 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Schneider Nathan Schneider] published an op-ed in the Guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/29/save-twitter-buy-platform-shared-ownership Here's my plan to save Twitter: let's buy it] suggesting that Twitter take itself off of the stock market and become a democratic user owned cooperative. On May 22, 2017 it was voted on at the Twitter Annual Meeting, but received 4.9% of the vote. During the organizing process, several participants floated the idea of building a social media cooperative for themselves.

On April 24, 2018 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enric_Duran Enric Duran] working with Schneider, Matthew Cropp and Mayel de Borniol registered the social.coop domain on behalf of FairCoop using the registrar [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandi Gandi]. FairCoop was an attempt to create a global financial system for cooperatives with the help of FairCoin, a Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency. FairCoop ceased to exist in 2022, and Platform6 took over as fiscal sponsor for SocialCoop. For several years SocialCoop struggled to renew the DNS registration each year since Duran was no longer active in SocialCoop.

To operate the cooperative, several volunteer working groups formed: the Community Working Group for moderation and on-boarding, the Tech Working Group to maintain the infrastructure, and the Finance Working Group to manage income and expenses.

Like many fediverse communities, Social.coop saw significant growth surrounding Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in 2022.

In March 2024, after sustained effort by multiple members of Social.coop, the registration was successfully transferred to Innovation Cooperative Limited (previously Platform6), which is the fiscal sponsor for the cooperative.

See also:

* [https://platform.coop/blog/democratizing-social-media/ Democratizing Social Media] by Jakob Sitter Midttun, December 2023, Platform Coopertivism Consortium.
* [https://www.loomio.com/d/6V2tAIZa/ Issues], Loomio.
* [https://www.loomio.com/d/Jf5Wi4Ph/ Domain expired Social Coop down], Loomio.
* [https://git.coop/social.coop/tech/operations/-/issues/11 transfer domain to social.coop control], git.coop.

Social.coop

2024-11-04T22:48:26Z

Ntnsndr1:

Social.coop emerged out of a desire to develop a way of doing social media that is more just, accountable, and ethical than the dominant corporate platforms.

In September 2016 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Schneider Nathan Schneider] published an op-ed in the Guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/29/save-twitter-buy-platform-shared-ownership Here's my plan to save Twitter: let's buy it] suggesting that Twitter take itself off of the stock market and become a democratic user owned cooperative. On May 22, 2017 it was voted on at the Twitter Annual Meeting, but received 4.9% of the vote. During the organizing process, several participants floated the idea of testing the idea of a social media cooperative themselves.

On April 24, 2018 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enric_Duran Enric Duran] working with Schneider, Matthew Cropp and Mayel de Borniol registered the social.coop domain on behalf of FairCoop using the registrar [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandi Gandi]. FairCoop was an attempt to create a global financial system for cooperatives with the help of FairCoin, a Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency. FairCoop ceased to exist in 2022, and Platform6 took over as fiscal sponsor for SocialCoop. For several years SocialCoop struggled to renew the DNS registration each year since Duran was no longer active in SocialCoop.

To operate the cooperative, several volunteer working groups formed: the Community Working Group for moderation and on-boarding, the Tech Working Group to maintain the infrastructure, and the Finance Working Group to manage income and expenses.

Like many fediverse communities, Social.coop saw significant growth surrounding Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in 2022.

In March 2024, after sustained effort by multiple members of Social.coop, the registration was successfully transferred to Innovation Cooperative Limited (previously Platform6), which is the fiscal sponsor for the cooperative.

See also:

* [https://platform.coop/blog/democratizing-social-media/ Democratizing Social Media] by Jakob Sitter Midttun, December 2023, Platform Coopertivism Consortium.
* [https://www.loomio.com/d/6V2tAIZa/ Issues], Loomio.
* [https://www.loomio.com/d/Jf5Wi4Ph/ Domain expired Social Coop down], Loomio.
* [https://git.coop/social.coop/tech/operations/-/issues/11 transfer domain to social.coop control], git.coop.

Social.coop

2024-11-04T22:47:13Z

Ntnsndr1: Added a few historical details.

Social.coop emerged out of a desire to develop a way of doing social media that is more just, accountable, and ethical than the dominant corporate platforms.

In September 2016 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Schneider Nathan Schneider] published an op-ed in the Guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/29/save-twitter-buy-platform-shared-ownership Here's my plan to save Twitter: let's buy it] suggesting that Twitter take itself off of the stock market and become a democratic user owned cooperative. On May 22, 2017 it was voted on at the Twitter Annual Meeting, but received 4.9% of the vote. During the organizing process, several participants floated the idea of testing the idea of a social media cooperative themselves.

On April 24, 2018 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enric_Duran Enric Duran] working with Schneider, Matthew Cropp and Mayel de Borniol registered the social.coop domain on behalf of FairCoop using the registrar [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandi Gandi]. FairCoop was an attempt to create a global financial system for cooperatives with the help of FairCoin, a Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency. FairCoop ceased to exist in 2022, and Platform6 took over as fiscal sponsor for SocialCoop. For several years SocialCoop struggled to renew the DNS registration each year since Duran was no longer active in SocialCoop.

To operate the cooperative, several volunteer working groups formed: the Community Working Group for moderation and on-boarding, the Tech Working Group to maintain the infrastructure, and the Finance Working Group to manage income and expenses.

In March 2024, after sustained effort by multiple members of Social.coop, the registration was successfully transferred to Innovation Cooperative Limited (previously Platform6), which is the fiscal sponsor for the cooperative.

See also:

* [https://platform.coop/blog/democratizing-social-media/ Democratizing Social Media] by Jakob Sitter Midttun, December 2023, Platform Coopertivism Consortium.
* [https://www.loomio.com/d/6V2tAIZa/ Issues], Loomio.
* [https://www.loomio.com/d/Jf5Wi4Ph/ Domain expired Social Coop down], Loomio.
* [https://git.coop/social.coop/tech/operations/-/issues/11 transfer domain to social.coop control], git.coop.

Finance Working Group

2024-11-04T02:58:00Z

Ntnsndr1: /* Submitting expenses */

Submitting an expense

2024-11-04T02:56:25Z

Ntnsndr1:

Social.coop is run through a system of open contributions. There are no employees, but the cooperative strives to recognize its contributors through stipends. Operating costs for the co-op also often occur through reimbursement of members. All expenses must be approved by:

* Members of the [[Finance Working Group]], which oversees the co-op’s economic activities
* Platform 6, our fiscal sponsor, which carries out all payments

The annual budget approved by the membership is the guideline for expenses. The Finance Working Group will typically approve any expense submitted by a working group member that falls within the approved budget. Smaller, reasonable, and well-documented expenses outside the budget are also likely to be quickly approved. Significant or questionable expenses clearly outside the budget and that are not obviously necessary may be denied or presented to the membership for an approval vote.

If possible, any expense outside the approved budget should be presented in Loomio to the Finance Working Group or the broader membership ahead of time, before the relevant activity is done.

== Procedure ==
The procedure for submitting expenses is as follows.

* A member submits an expense to the Social.coop Open Collective page using this form; be sure to include:
** the expense amount in GBP (or the settled currency of the transation)
** a clear description of the nature of the expense and its relationship to the current annual budget of Social.coop
** an expense tag with the relevant working group
** if a reimbursement, a receipt for the payment made.

The Finance Working Group will then review the expense, ensuring it fits in the approved budget. If there are any concerns, they will be shared with the member. If approved, the expense will be directed to Platform 6 for payment.

While general budgeting decisions are expected to be passed in the full group, all members are invited to monitor the Finance Working Group, and to join if they wish to participate in maintaining accountability.

Submitting an expense

2024-11-04T02:56:08Z

Ntnsndr1: Created new guide to expense submissions

Social.coop is run through a system of open contributions. There are no employees, but the cooperative strives to recognize its contributors through stipends. Operating costs for the co-op also often occur through reimbursement of members. All expenses must be approved by:

* Members of the Finance Working Group, which oversees the co-op’s economic activities
* Platform 6, our fiscal sponsor, which carries out all payments

The annual budget approved by the membership is the guideline for expenses. The Finance Working Group will typically approve any expense submitted by a working group member that falls within the approved budget. Smaller, reasonable, and well-documented expenses outside the budget are also likely to be quickly approved. Significant or questionable expenses clearly outside the budget and that are not obviously necessary may be denied or presented to the membership for an approval vote.

If possible, any expense outside the approved budget should be presented in Loomio to the Finance Working Group or the broader membership ahead of time, before the relevant activity is done.

== Procedure ==
The procedure for submitting expenses is as follows.

* A member submits an expense to the Social.coop Open Collective page using this form; be sure to include:
** the expense amount in GBP (or the settled currency of the transation)
** a clear description of the nature of the expense and its relationship to the current annual budget of Social.coop
** an expense tag with the relevant working group
** if a reimbursement, a receipt for the payment made.

The Finance Working Group will then review the expense, ensuring it fits in the approved budget. If there are any concerns, they will be shared with the member. If approved, the expense will be directed to Platform 6 for payment.

While general budgeting decisions are expected to be passed in the full group, all members are invited to monitor the Finance Working Group, and to join if they wish to participate in maintaining accountability.

Tutorials

2024-11-04T02:54:30Z

Ntnsndr1: Created a link to a new expense submission page

This is a collection of tutorials on this wiki. Many are also linked elsewhere.

= Mastodon basics =

* [[Social.coop guide to Mastodon]]

= Participating in governance =

* [[How to Make the Fediverse Your Own|How to make the fediverse your own]]
* [[Make a proposal]]

= Reporting issues =

* [[Reporting guide|Moderation reporting guide]]
* Tech issues [to do!]

= Using partner platforms =

* [[Getting a GitLab project account]]
* [[May First Movement Technology|May First tools]]
* [https://join.social.coop/meet.coop-registration-form.html Meet.coop registration form]

= Processes and forms =

* [[Submitting an expense]]
* [[Getting a GitLab project account]]
* [https://join.social.coop/meet.coop-registration-form.html Meet.coop registration form]
* [https://join.social.coop/registration-form.html Social.coop registration form]

How to Make the Fediverse Your Own

2024-04-15T16:17:04Z

Ntnsndr1: /* 🧑‍🔧 Share work and power */

Welcome to the fediverse! The fediverse is a network of social spaces that we the users can govern for ourselves. This is a guide to help you do that—because the technology won't do it for you. This is a love letter from your friends at [https://Social.coop Social.coop], which has been running (and enjoying!) a democratically governed social media space with Mastodon since 2017.

As many people are coming to the fediverse from birdsite (that's what we call Twitter), it's important that we be intentional. A Mastodon server is just a tool, not a solution. There are [https://fediverse.party/en/miscellaneous/ lots of other fediverse tools out there] as well. But what matters above all is how we use that tool, and how we co-govern it. If everyone just all joins the same server, we will probably end up with something worse than Twitter. Lots of servers, also, are run by admins who do not necessarily have accountability to their users. For the move to the fediverse to truly be a step toward better social media, we need to be intentional about how we organize ourselves with it.

In what follows, we share some practices based on our experience, which we hope might be useful for your community. But we're "[https://justsharing.dev/ just sharing]"! We are excited to learn from what you end up doing differently.

'''TLDR: A democratic fediverse involves intentionally setting up democratic governance, democratic economics, and democratic community. It's fun!'''

== 🤝 Form a commons ==
Before you start tooting, it's really important to lay the foundation of a commons. A commons is a combination of practices, culture, and relationships around common resources. To govern technology democratically, a community should have a commons in place first.

Here are some basic components of a commons:

'''A purpose.''' What or who is your community for? Does the community exist already, or does it have to be cultivated?<blockquote>What we do: We defined our purpose early on in two ways. First, Social.coop is an experiment in user-governed social media; it arose out of the buytwitter.org campaign, which made a shareholder proposal at the company calling for user ownership and governance. Second, Social.coop is a community hub for people who identify with the cooperative movement—particularly with bringing that movement into tech.</blockquote>'''A legal entity.''' If some big tech company doesn't own your community, something else needs to. Ideally, individual founders should not be personally liable for what happens on it. A great solution is to be fiscally sponsored through an [https://opencollective.com/fiscal-hosting Open Collective fiscal host]. You could also create your own entity—a nonprofit, a co-op, or an LLC—though that is more complex. One way or another, you'll want to have an explicit stewardship design.<blockquote>What we do: Social.coop started out by being fiscally sponsored by the Open Source Collective on Open Collective. In solidarity with the co-op movement, we switched to Platform 6 Co-op, a UK cooperative. though we still use Open Collective's platform to facilitate that. This means that we are officially a cooperative, although we are also a [https://www.colorado.edu/lab/medlab/content/virtual-co-op virtual co-op], in the sense that the members of Social.coop are not actually the legal members of Platform 6. Social.coop members, however, have governance rights in our community, as defined in our bylaws.</blockquote>'''A place to collect and manage funds.''' A shared space requires some shared economy. If one person or a small group runs the space out of their resources, they will be the ones in control, in the end. To prevent that, make sure there is a way for the community to co-fund the space.<blockquote>What we do: We use Open Collective to manage our funds. Members can sign up there to make regular contributions, on a sliding scale based on what they want to pay. We also manage expenses and payments on Open Collective, so all our financial activity is transparent, not only to our members but to the world. Open Collective connects directly with our fiscal host, Platform 6, so it makes hosting us easier for them.</blockquote>'''Bylaws.''' Next, make explicit how power flows in the space. If you don't do this, you will likely wind up with a "[https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm\ tyranny of structurelessness]." Explain here who gets to make decisions, who holds authority, and how the members can keep them in check. This document doesn't have to be very long or legalistic, at least at first, but be sure to start with something that enables you to a) make some basic rules in a clear way and b) change the rules (and bylaws!) as the community develops. If it helps, you can use CommunityRule.info, a simple Web app for making rule-sets in an intuitive way.<blockquote>What we do: We keep our [[Bylaws|bylaws on our wiki]]. They are pretty similar to how they started, but we have made some revisions over time, largely to clarify things that were ambiguous.</blockquote>'''A method for deliberation and decision-making.''' You'll need some way to make decisions in digital space. This will work in tandem with your bylaws, which should clarify what needs to happen for a decision to be made. You could use your fediverse instance itself, if that works, or else another space that is comfortable for your community.<blockquote>What we do: We use [https://www.loomio.com/socialcoop Loomio], a platform developed by a worker co-op, to discuss and carry out Social.coop governance. Loomio has lots of really helpful tools for polling and decision-making, and it enables more focused conversation than Mastodon does. But the downside is that it requires people to have a separate account, and it can be a bit bewildering to use. Pro tip: Loomio's daily digest feature is a great way to cut down on email notifications while still getting them.</blockquote>'''A code of conduct.''' To set expectations about how people can feel welcome and comfortable in your space, establish an explicit code of conduct. This is super important, as [https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/codes-of-conduct-when-being-excellent-is-not-enough Coraline Ada Ehmke explains]. Like your bylaws, your CoC can evolve over time. To start out, just begin by copying an established one out there, like Ehmke's [https://contributor-covenant.org/ Contributor Covenant].<blockquote>What we do: We keep our [[Code of conduct|code of conduct on our wiki]]. It is adapted our CoC from the [https://github.com/stumpsyn/policies/blob/master/citizen_code_of_conduct.md Citizen Code of Conduct] according to the specific values of our community and the use-case of social media. We haven't modified it since 2017, but it is probably due for some improvement. When we first started, we actually didn't have a CoC, and that caused some painful early conflicts for us. Don't make that mistake!</blockquote>

== 🖥️ Set up some tech ==
To join the fediverse, you'll need some technology. There are a few different approaches to doing this, and all of them still require some degree of familiarity with things like Web servers. Ideally, your community should make a point of ensuring that members with technical skills can share those skills with others who want to learn them. The [http://detroitcommunitytech.org/sites/default/files/librarypdfs/how-to-discotech.pdf DiscoTech framework] might be useful in guiding that skill-sharing.

[https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/run-your-own/ Here is some info about setting up a server from Mastodon HQ]. Another approach is to use Cloudron, a platform that manages multi-app clouds with integrated account systems. It automatically manages software updates, which can otherwise be a big headache. And it allows you to pair Mastodon with other services. Either at the beginning or over time, your community might want to use more than just Mastodon, because Mastodon alone doesn't offer a lot of resources for self-governance.<blockquote>What we do: Social.coop's Mastodon server is hosted with Hetzner, a German hosting company that uses renewable energy to power its systems. In addition to Mastodon, we also host a wiki system. Our code is hosted at git.coop, a cooperative GitLab instance. We also discuss technical issues [https://riot.im/app/#/room/#SocialCoop:matrix.org in a Matrix room], which is less noisy than Social.coop itself. Our domain name is managed by the International Co-operative Alliance, like all .coop domains, though we purchase access through Gandi.net, an ethical registrar.

A matter of ongoing debate for us is how much we want to expand our range of services. Each platform requires additional maintenance, labor, and expertise. Yet as our community matures, people want to bring more of their Social.coop-related activity under our own control. Community control is kind of addictive!

One solution we've found to this dilemma is to partner with other co-ops. For instance, Social.coop is a member of Meet.coop, which provides videoconferencing service using Big Blue Button. Any of our members can use this, and we use it for our official meetings. Rather than operating our own GitLab server, also, we use git.coop, maintained by Web Architects, a worker co-op. This way, we can expand our services without additional tech burdens, while advancing our mission of supporting the co-op movement.</blockquote>More important than setting up a server, however, is maintaining it. (When you set it up, nobody is relying on it yet!) For that, read about our Tech Working Group below.

== 💃 Cultivate community ==

=== User on-boarding ===
Be intentional about how people join. Is your instance open to anyone? If so, why? If it is more gated, what kinds of friction do you want to introduce to the process? Friction can be your friend! The balance between friction and accessibility will be different from community to community—take the time to consider what balance is right for yours.<blockquote>What we do: Social.coop registration is not automatic, but we are always welcoming new members through a [[registration form]]. The purpose of this is to ensure that people who join meet two criteria: they must have an account on Open Collective, so they can contribute to Social.Coop, and they must agree to the code of conduct. We also ask them to articulate why they want to join, to avoid registration spam. This isn't foolproof, for sure, but it has generally worked to ensure that our membership has shared values and purpose. We have a team that manually reviews applications and manually on-boards new members. Sometimes applicants have gotten lost in this process because of issues with spam filters, and improving it is something we have talked a lot about. We might have more friction than we need. Now that we have members coming in in large numbers we may want to think about whether we want to limit Social.coop to people who share a few interests (co-ops, floss, social justice...) or keep it open to anyone who agrees with our code of conduct. Another question is whether we are looking for members to be more like members of a worker co-op, where the members should have shared values and vision, and strong trust, or members of a credit union, where it is not essential for them to share values and vision.</blockquote>

=== Implementing a code of conduct ===
Moderation is hard work, and it can be damaging to the people doing—whether because of being exposed to the worst content, or because of the tensions that arise in conflict. Moderators can easily burn out. But moderating can also be a rewarding, important role to play.

Take all this into account. Make sure that people doing moderation work have some training and support. Ensure that the role rotates, so people are less likely to burn out.<blockquote>What we do: Our elected Ops Team handles moderation through a rotating "on call" moderator role, who addresses any issues that arise in one-week shifts. This ensures that moderators are approved by the community and that no one person is moderating more than every few weeks. There is a [[Reporting guide|Reporting Guide]] on how to report code of conduct violations.</blockquote>

=== Diplomacy with the fediverse ===
In the fediverse, moderation isn't just about particular users; it also involves moderating entire servers. For instance, if a particular server harbors hate speech and other abusive content, your server might want to restrict the content from it. Other servers might be closely aligned with yours, and you might want to encourage interaction with users there. In this way, your community can collectively determine its relationships with the rest of the fediverse.<blockquote>What we do: Social.coop has a [[Defederation of instances|list of servers]] that we we do not "federate" with. "On call" moderators are responsible for fielding requests to defederate servers that violate our [[Federation abuse policies|Federation Abuse Policies]].</blockquote>

== 🧑‍🔧 Share work and power ==
If a fediverse server is controlled by just one person or a small group, everyone else is at their mercy. They could turn off the server and everyone would lose service and data. They will have outsized power over the community. But when work and power are widely shared, the community can be much more resilient and healthy. When we share the costs, we ensure that the community has the resources it needs.

According to an informal Pol.is poll ([https://pol.is/7rnjthidu9 participate]), the items with the most consensus (as of Nov 12, 2022) in response to the prompt "How to tell if a Fediverse instance is run/managed by its users?" were:

* members can participate in selection of mods
* members can see and give feedback on budget
* members can see and give feedback on stuff admins / mods do

And more. Beyond just choosing and providing feedback to those in power, community members should be able to actually participate in operations. Form operational teams to carry out specific activities for the community, and rotate members among them, so operational skills become distributed widely.<blockquote>What we do: The two main ways we share work and power are

* Collective decision-making on important decisions, largely in Loomio
* Opportunities for participation in operational committees

Social.coop has three major committees, described here:

* '''Community Working Group''' - The CWG is responsible for the well-being of the humans! Its members meet each month and receive a stipend for their work. The committee manages registrations and onboarding, as well as moderation and conflict resolution on Social.coop. It also helps facilitate governance processes on Loomio and coordinates with other working groups. It organizes strategy sessions, encourages reading groups, holds community cafe events, and enables other types of community-building events. Finally, it maintains the code of conduct and other guidelines.
* '''Finance Working Group''' - Its members' job is to keep an eye on the money. The FWG has admin access on Open Collective and approves all expenses that are submitted there. They also review the balance sheet regularly to check on how things are going, and report to the larger community. The FWG is currently an all-volunteer position to avoid any conflicts of interest. It uses the [https://gateway.metagov.org/ Gateway] software so that approvals on Loomio automatically release funds on Open Collective.
* '''Tech Working Group''' - The tech operations team are those members who do the work of development and maintenance of this IT infrastructure. Much of the management of that is done on a GitLab project space we use courtesy of Web Architects, here.
</blockquote>

== 🛸 Imagine the future ==
Nothing is perfect! Here are some ideas for things we might want to do in the future, and that would make our work easier.

'''Tighter integration among the tools we use.''' Currently, because of our democratic governance, we rely on multiple services, each with its own account system, just to run our single Mastodon instance. That shouldn't be necessary. Ideally, users should need only one login to access all related services. Fewer services should also be necessary. Perhaps we could perform more of our governance activities, such as payments and decision-making, on Mastodon itself. Or perhaps it is enough to simply have one login for all the services through a "single sign-on" system. We're excited about the Bonfire project, which uses a modular approach so users can pick and choose various apps integrated on their server.

'''Simpler hosting.''' Currently the fediverse requires that every instance have people with some technical expertise involved. That can really reduce accessibility for communities that lack technical privilege. In the future, we hope that communities should be able to form instances that they can fully control but that do not require them to perform technical maintenance. Ideally, this would happen through cooperatives that are accountable to the communities they support.

== Credits ==
This document was drafted during the influx of interest in Mastodon after Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022.

* @literally
* @matt_noyes
* @ntnsndr

Operations

2024-04-15T15:29:35Z

Ntnsndr1: Added budget section

Social.coop's official governance takes place mainly on its [https://www.loomio.org/socialcoop/ Loomio space]. To manage day to day operations, the community empowers some members to participate in working groups.

The various working groups use [[Calendars|shared calendars]] on [[May First Movement Technology|May First]] to organize meetings.

== Working Groups ==

* [[Community Working Group]] - moderation, and anything concerning members and outreach.
* [[Finance Working Group]] - payments, budgeting, fundraising, and related planning.
* [[Legal Working Group]] - oversight on legal matters
* [[Tech Working Group]] - all things hosting, site maintenance, and development.

Working groups (and their affiliated ops teams) are elected from and accountable to the membership, to execute the roles and responsibilities needed to keep social.coop running. They have greater administration access than would be afforded general membership, but work according to policies provided by their corresponding working group.

The groups are self-managed. Some are paid with stipends, while others volunteer.

* [https://www.loomio.org/p/eoZSHn7p/creation-of-admin-ops-teams The proposal to create admin op teams itself], and
* The [https://www.loomio.org/d/URY9AKci/creation-of-admin-ops-teams related discussion thread].

As a general principle rather than a strict rule: in order to mitigate either burnout, or power accruing through the development of specialized knowledge, the rotation of team members is sought, along with a mutual education approach in which people who have the skills needed for the operations train their replacements.

== Budget ==
Starting in 2024, Social.coop has an annual budget for the full organization.

* [https://www.loomio.com/d/xqw7FtUT/toward-an-annual-budget 2024 Budget in Loomio]

== SMW Query Demo ==

(U can delete me or replace the other list with me if u want)

{{#ask:
[[Category:Working Group]]
|?Has Description=Description
|format=broadtable
}}

Finance Working Group

2024-03-18T15:33:36Z

Ntnsndr1: Removed Matt and Leo from FWG

{{Working Group
|Description=The Finance Working Group handles the finances!!!
|Members=Caitlin Waddick, Josh Davis, Leo Sammallahti, Nathan Schneider, Matthew Cropp, Andrew Escobar
}}
The Finance Working Group primarily operates [https://www.loomio.org/socialcoop-finance-working-group/ on Loomio].

= Current members =

* Caitlin Waddick (@CaitlinWaddick@Social.Coop)
* Josh Davis (@GuerillaOntologist)
* Nathan Schneider (@ntnsndr)
* Andrew Escobar (@andrewe)
We are eager for new members! If you are interested in joining the working group, please reach out to any of us on Social.coop.

= Basic info =
A simple [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nbMWrX20tnBAVhUGVBwl1lKcx7H5Lha1QRS5dViVN1Q/edit?usp=sharing budget spreadsheet] for our project to keep track of what our regular outlays are.

[https://opencollective.com/socialcoop Our Open Collective], to see what the current "cash on hand" and income of the co-op is.

The portion of the social.coop bylaws governing the disbursement of funds:

= Submitting expenses =
Social.coop is run through a system of open contributions. There are no employees, but the cooperative strives for fair and sustainable remuneration for its contributors.

The procedure for paying contributors and expenses is as follows:

A member makes a proposal in the finance group (with the Title labeled EXPENSE), detailing either:

* work to be done, the expected timeline, and the contributor's qualifications, and the cost (in USD)
* a service to be acquired, details about the provider, its benefits over alternatives, and the cost
* a donation to be made to an external open-source developer or collective, the work they do that benefits Social.coop members, and a proposed amount

If that proposal passes, the member may proceed. They may post an invoice to OpenCollective, with a link back to the relevant Loomio thread, for up to one half of the total amount.

When the work is complete (or equivalent), the member must post a follow-up proposal (with the Title labeled INVOICE, in the same thread as the EXPENSE), including details demonstrating the work done or service obtained

The contributor should post the expense to the OpenCollective page with a link back to the relevant Loomio thread.

Once passed, the expense is approved by an OpenCollective admin, and the contributor is paid within two weeks, or as soon as the OpenCollective account has sufficient balance

While general budgeting decisions are expected to be passed in the full group, all members are invited to monitor the finance group, and to join if they wish to participate in maintaining accountability.

[[Category:Working Group]]

Operations

2024-02-12T18:51:23Z

Ntnsndr1: Added link to calendars page

Social.coop's official governance takes place mainly on its [https://www.loomio.org/socialcoop/ Loomio space]. To manage day to day operations, the community empowers some members to participate in working groups.

The various working groups use [[Calendars|shared calendars]] on [[May First Movement Technology|May First]] to organize meetings.

== Working Groups ==

* [[Community Working Group]] - moderation, and anything concerning members and outreach.
* [[Finance Working Group]] - payments, budgeting, fundraising, and related planning.
* [[Legal Working Group]] - oversight on legal matters
* [[Tech Working Group]] - all things hosting, site maintenance, and development.

Working groups (and their affiliated ops teams) are elected from and accountable to the membership, to execute the roles and responsibilities needed to keep social.coop running. They have greater administration access than would be afforded general membership, but work according to policies provided by their corresponding working group.

The groups are self-managed. Some are paid with stipends, while others volunteer.

* [https://www.loomio.org/p/eoZSHn7p/creation-of-admin-ops-teams The proposal to create admin op teams itself], and
* The [https://www.loomio.org/d/URY9AKci/creation-of-admin-ops-teams related discussion thread].

As a general principle rather than a strict rule: in order to mitigate either burnout, or power accruing through the development of specialized knowledge, the rotation of team members is sought, along with a mutual education approach in which people who have the skills needed for the operations train their replacements.

== SMW Query Demo ==

(U can delete me or replace the other list with me if u want)

{{#ask:
[[Category:Working Group]]
|?Has Description=Description
|format=broadtable
}}

May First Movement Technology

2023-11-25T18:26:38Z

Ntnsndr1: Clarified that the membership is collective, not individual.

In November 2022 Social.coop became an organizational member of [https://mayfirst.coop May First Movement Technology] in order to take advantage of services such as shared calendars, Jitsi video, Nextcloud, and more. See this [https://www.loomio.com/p/Cr9mG76W/proposal-may-first-organizational-membership discussion on Loomio] for more details about the rationale for membership. The membership was enabled for a one year experimental period.

Our membership is designed to support Social.coop's collective business, not individual members' needs. In addition to our collective membership, Social.coop invites its members to consider becoming individual members of May First as well.

== Nextcloud ==

Social.coop’s May First membership includes access to the [https://share.mayfirst.org/ May First Nextcloud] server which provides a place for members to share files, calendars and more. In order to modify shared calendars and folders you will need to be a member of the [https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/contacts/circle/ca95M5J2a4wQ6FR5symutQnUTO9ypjs SocialCoop Nextcloud Circle].

# If you are a current May First Nextcloud user you should also be able to request to be added to the circle using [https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/contacts/circle/ca95M5J2a4wQ6FR5symutQnUTO9ypjs this link].
# If you aren’t a May First Nextcloud user then you will need to [https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/forms/yt3a5CBQico4bWfo request an account] which should trigger an email that is sent to the SocialCoop May First administrators who will add you.
Interested members may use their Nextcloud accounts for personal purposes, if they wish, with a maximum usage of 1 gigabyte. Members who need more storage space are encouraged to become individual members of May First.

== MayFirst Administrators ==

Administrators can log into the [https://members.mayfirst.org/cp/ May First Control Panel] using the email address <code>mayfirst@social.coop</code> and the password stored in [https://git.coop/social.coop/tech/pass pass] keystore. Once logged in different services can be enabled for social.coop members as needed.

In some cases it may be necessary to verify an email address is associated with a Mastodon user, in which case you should contact a member of the [[Tech Working Group]].

The following people have access to social.coop’s admin account and should be able to answer questions about using MayFirst services, and setting up accounts:

* Dan Phiffer - [https://social.coop/@diphiffer @dphiffer]
* Ed Summers - [https://social.coop/@edsu @edsu]
* Nathan Schneider - [https://social.coop/@ntnsndr/ @ntnsndr] (currently on-call)

If you would like to help administer May First resources please get in touch with one of the current administrators.

=== Adding New Users ===

In order to add a new SocialCoop May First user an admin will need to:

# Log in at [https://members.mayfirst.org/cp/ May First Control Panel]
# Add the user using information supplied in the request form and assign the default 1GB quota.
# Select Nextcloud in the menu on the left and add the new user with a 1GB quota there as well.
# Visit the [https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/contacts/circle/ca95M5J2a4wQ6FR5symutQnUTO9ypjs SocialCoop Nextcloud Circle] and add the new user as a member.
Then send the following email:
CC: mayfirst@social.coop
SUBJECT: May First <> Social.coop

Thanks for requesting a May First/Social.Coop Nextcloud account. You should be able to log in with a temporary password at:

<nowiki>https://members.mayfirst.org/cp/</nowiki>
username: [username]
password: [password]

Please change your password at the above address, and then log in to Nextcloud at https://share.mayfirst.org.

Learn more about the terms of our May First membership at [[May First Movement Technology|https://wiki-dev.social.coop/May_First_Movement_Technology]].

Let me know if you run into any difficulties or have questions!

=== Adding New Administrators ===

In order to add a new May First administrator you will need to add their email address to the <code>mayfirst@social.coop</code> [[tech-working-group/How-to-add-a-socialcoop-email-address|social.coop email alias]]. Then you can share the username and password from the pass database via a secure channel.

Make a proposal

2023-07-04T15:35:50Z

Ntnsndr1: /* Make your formal proposal */ Added a link to the Loomio template for proposals

This is a tutorial on how to effectively make a proposal to change a policy for Social.coop. A proposal process is used for instituting any policy or budgetary change that affects the cooperative as a whole.

First of all, read the "Governance" section of the [[bylaws]], which is what officially governs this process.

Then, review the following steps for some best practices!

= Is a proposal necessary? =
First, consider whether you really need to make a proposal in the first place to achieve your goal. Does your goal just affect you, or does it affect the whole community? Does it require a policy change or resources, or is it something that you and some others could do on your own?

As a community committed to self-governance and autonomy, we encourage members to take initiative on things they are passionate about. The rules and policies should be a minimal framework to support that. As much as possible, we should strive to foster a co-op that operates without having to establish specific policies.

Sometimes, what starts out as a proposal can really be handled through a discussion, which sprouts collaboration and action. Consider that a victory!

= Is there a relevant working group? =
Before proceeding, explore the [[Operations|operations docs]] to see if there is a working group relevant to your idea. If there is, be sure to contact them to discuss it. Perhaps it is something they can implement on their own, without a further proposal. But even if you do proceed, make sure you've at least consulted with the relevant working group.

One way to do this is to start a thread on the working group's subgroup on Loomio. You can also reach out to working group members in chat at [https://matrix.to/#/#social.coop:matrix.org the Social.coop Matrix space].

Generally, you want to be sure to have strong buy-in from any relevant working groups before bringing a proposal to the whole community.

= Start an open thread =
Once you feel you have buy-in from relevant working groups (or are challenging something a working group is doing), the next step is to start a thread in the main Social.coop space on Loomio.

In [https://www.loomio.com/socialcoop/ the Social.coop space], press the "New Thread" button, then:

* "Notify": Choose "All members of Social.coop"
* "Title": Give it a specific name that invites an open-ended conversation. Such as: "Should we change paragraph 3 of the bylaws?"
* "Context": Explain in a couple of paragraphs why you are starting this discussion, what the broader context is, and any inclinations you have about a resolution. Also raise any open questions in your mind.

Then "Start Thread"! Also, make a post on Mastodon linking to your thread, using the #Socialcoop hashtag.

Hopefully other members will get involved in the discussion. If not, maybe the idea is not something lots of other people in the community will get behind, and that's a good learning, too.

= Test out ideas in polls =
As the discussion takes off, you're the default facilitator. Help guide it with an open mind. Try to avoid letting it spiral off into endless debate, and use Loomio's tools to help steer people toward consensus.

Use the "Start Poll" tool at the bottom of the thread to create polls that test people's thinking. For instance, you could use a Ranked Choice poll to see what priorities matter most to people. Or an "Opt In" poll to see who would actually step up to implement something. These tools are really helpful for translating what people say into more actionable information to inform your proposal.

The process might actually end here. Maybe your thread has given you or a working group enough information to act on, and you don't really need a formal proposal. This is great! If so, post updates on the thread about how you and other members are acting on the ideas that have surfaced there.

= Make your formal proposal =
When you feel there is some clear consensus forming, consider formulating your proposal. To do this, in that thread you started, use the "Start Poll" tool, and choose "Proposal." This time, preface the title with "Proposal:" to make very clear what you are doing. Once again, choose to notify "All members of Social.coop."

In "Context," break down very clearly what you are proposing should be changed and why. Also, specify who will implement this—ideally, you, or you plus some people who have already volunteered to help. This is important. Policy-making should not be about telling others what to do.

Be sure to follow the process in the [[bylaws]] to ensure the proposal is structured correctly. For instance:

* Allow 6 days for participation. If a proposal is urgent and needs to be passed sooner, mark the title as "URGENT" and explain why in the "Context." But 6 days is preferred in almost all cases.
* In addition to the default Agree/Abstain/Disagree options, add a Block option.
If you like, you can use a pre-configured poll template; [https://www.loomio.com/p/new?group_id=56943 create a new poll], click the Poll button, and choose "Social.coop bylaws-compatible proposal."

= Amendments =
Sometimes members will make suggestions when voting on a proposal that hadn't been considered earlier but should be and are important. The proposer may update the proposal text with small revisions during voting but should clearly mark what changed and when.

If amendments would meaningfully transform the proposal, so that people who voted for the original might object to the amended version, an entirely new proposal should be created and the previous one closed.

= Resolution =
After the duration is passed, Loomio will ask you to announce an outcome. Please do so, following the bylaws' standards for what counts as a passed proposal:<blockquote>More Agree votes than Disagree votes</blockquote>or:<blockquote>Proposals with Block require at least 9 times more Agree votes than Disagree and Block votes in order to pass.</blockquote>In the outcome text, explain how the proposal will be implemented.

= Implement it =
Get it done, and keep people in the thread on the topic updated on your progress! Good work:)

[[Category:Tutorial]]

Main Page

2023-05-28T01:35:19Z

Ntnsndr1:

'''[https://social.coop/about/more Social.coop]''' is a cooperative corner of the [[wikipedia:Fediverse|Fediverse]].

We primarily operate a [[wikipedia:Mastodon_(software)|Mastodon]] server. Our members fund our operations and decide how to set our community policies, steward our data, and manage our shared technologies. Members also provide the labor to run Social.coop at all levels.

If you are interested in joining Social.coop, please refer ti our '''[https://join.social.coop/registration-form.html registration form]'''.

Social.coop was founded in 2017 in the wake of the [https://buytwitter.org/ BuyTwitter] campaign. Since then, we have worked toward the goal of placing ever more of our online social lives under good cooperative governance. To get a sense of how we operate, or to start your own fediverse cooperative, see our guide on "[[How to Make the Fediverse Your Own]]."

New to the Fediverse? Check out the [[Social.coop guide to Mastodon]].

==Learn more==
*[[Governance]] - How power flows, including processes and documents
*[[Operations]] - How we organize our activities
*[[Platforms]] - The online spaces we use and manage
*[[Tutorials]] - Guides for how to do things on Social.coop

[[File:Organizational map of social.coop.png|thumb|alt=An organizational map of social.coop|An organizational map of social.coop]]

==About this wiki==
This wiki is maintained by Social.coop's working groups and ops teams. Members are welcome to make an account and contribute. ''Please register with the same username you use on Social.coop''.

===TODOs for this wiki ===
* Migrate Tech Working Group content