Skip to main content


I’m part of a WhatsApp group chat for my daughter’s elementary school grade, and a parent started the “social media talk” about when to allow kids to join social media. Of course by “social media” they only mean Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, so I’ve been itching to reply about the #Fediverse. However I don’t have the shoulders broad enough to run a class-specific instance, which I believe would befall me if I bring up the subject and it gets any traction. 😕
Maybe you could nudge the school into the direction to rent a hosted service? Not everyone has to self-host inhouse. 😀

@DreamGryphon From what I gather, the school barely has enough funding as it is, with a missing science teacher, movies shown in art class to pass the time, etc…

Besides, this cost would be the least of my worries. Administering and moderating the server are my biggest ones. I’m fine hosting my single-user #Friendica instance because I only have to answer to myself, and I’m pretty easy-going. But I’m not ready to field kids’ and especially parents’ requests. Not that it would be a sure-fire hit either.

This entry was edited (1 year ago)
Well I guess if they are fine with a Facebook of all places they could simply sign up on a normal server here instead?

But you're right, most of them would probably not be interrested. But if you bring it up at least they will learn about alternatives, so that's a start. 😀
@DreamGryphon “Have you heard about our lord and savior John Mastodon?”
Sounds like a plan. lol
@Tek #aEvl_us (Ⓐ) (Ⓐ) Just the kids in my daughter’s school class.
@Tobias Thank you for the reply, and I see where you’re going with this. Unfortunately I barely know other parents. Having my kid only every other week means that I get fewer opportunities to see other parents at drop-off and pick-up. Not that I have much to say to them when I see them, I’ve never made parenting a strong part of my identity and as such we often have very little in commons, and I’m not the best at small talk.

There’s also the problem of the software, I’ve tried installing a Mastodon server before but it clearly isn’t a familiar stack for me. And despite working on Friendica, I’m not comfortable pitching it in such a high-stakes context. Not sure about any other software.
I don’t think a class specific instance would be very valuable anyway, or even a grade-specific one. It would just provide them a gateway to the larger fediverse, which is definitely not safe for kids.

Meta et al don’t allow kids that young, and kids shouldn’t use them anyway given how they treat kids.
@Brad Koehn ☑️ In my mind, a grade-wide instance would provide the following benefits:
- reduce the FOMO for kids not allowed to sign up on larger centralized websites.
- give parents a greater sense of control by giving them access to the ban hammer in this limited context.
- allow kids younger than 13 to sign up for social media without the guilt of doing it being their parents’ back.

None of these are guaranteed or without flaws, but maybe they’re still worthwhile to pursue? Figuring this out is one of the goals of this conversation.
@Tobias Pixelfed is an idea, although it’s PHP 8 only and Debian-based distros, the only ones I’m proficient administering, are still stuck at PHP 7.4 until the release of the next stable version. Maybe that’s a moot point since our kids are a long way away from 13 year-old, the minimum legal age to create their own website accounts.

I don’t know much about Misskey/Calckey/Pleroma/Akkomso I’d have trouble offering them as alternatives, either from a feature standpoint or a hosting standpoint.

And I have no idea what kids these days in NY use but I strongly suppose it’s either Instagram or TikTok.
@Tek #aEvl_us (Ⓐ) (Ⓐ) I’m renting a Real Private Server in a French datacenter at the moment, so all the admin is done remotely, with no interference from the hoster. They provided me with a safe boot alternative when the server went fubar a few years back, which may have prompted me to switch from Debian to Devuan.
@Tobias Great news, although “after extensive testing” doesn’t sound like tomorrow to me but I like your optimism!
@Tek #aEvl_us (Ⓐ) (Ⓐ) @Brad Koehn ☑️ @Tobias Not really, filters are currently per-user or per-relay. Beyond that, the idea you can make the Internet PG is a never-ending battle you can’t easily win even with filters.
this might interest you: https://mastodon.twictee.org/@twictee/110518874385412437

🦣 VERS MASTODON 🦣
#Twictée déménage vers ➡️ Mastodon.

Nous vous attendons nombreux sur notre nouvelle instance pour faire vivre le dispositif.
Retrouvez les raisons de cette bascule sur notre site internet.

📲 https://twictee.org/mastodon/

#teampe #teamprof #teameduc #mastoprof #education #orthographe #numerique #dictée

Cc @lelibreedu
Mascotte mammouth de Twictée

@Silmathoron Interesting, but this looks targeted at teachers for a pedagogical use, not at parents to assuage their worries.
true, but

> Le dispositif pédagogique d’apprentissage de l’orthographe qu’est Twictée, va donc permettre aux élèves d’appréhender l’usage d’un réseau social éthique et souverain ainsi que les enjeux sociétaux qui en découlent. L’utilisation de Mastodon, sous l’encadrement pédagogique et éclairé de l’enseignant...

that seems like a potential start if you want to get the rest of the parents and teachers on board, no?
@Silmathoron Yes, but so far it’s been a parents-only conversation. I’m already reluctant about its scope, so bringing in teachers adds yet another liability.

@Tobias @Hypolite Petovan
Debian 12 released today !
https://framapiaf.org/@debian/110518767590714825


It's bookworm release day! Across the world members of the release, publicity, images and FTP teams are brewing industrial quantities of coffee as their final preparations are completed #ReleasingDebianBookworm

@⚡Thierry Talbert🐧 @Tobias Thanks, Devuan should follow suite within 3 months, and PHP 8 will be mine! We may have to drop support for it in Friendica because of that.