1/ Hi Mastodon community!

A quick update from me. While some might have said, “entering the Fediverse with its unique and engaged culture is totally bonkers when you’re in the middle of a federal leadership race”, we said, “sure, why not? It’s the only platform that really corresponds to our values, and it’s worth trying at least.”

Shoutout to @ZebKingZeb King 🇨🇦 who lobbied with relentless grace for this to happen.

This means that yes, the campaign and I are here now. But also, that we’re spread really thin and are not going to be able to engage to the level of engagement that Fediverse culture expects, at least not in the short term.

I’m not a fan of just broadcasting here, but for the next couple of months, that’s mostly what we’ll be doing.

Our young staffer who posts on every social media platform has enthusiastically learned as much as possible about Fediverse practices, and is doing a hell of a job here at posting in a thoughtful way (as some of you have noted).

2/ But yes, we are still on The Website of Undiluted Vileness, as we are on all the others. Our team debates this constantly, and I personally would love to get off the most toxic one (though if we’re honest, the owners of all the big platforms are equally craven in their extractive practices, their eager surveillance, and enthusiastic embrace of rising fascism in our time).

For now, we’ll continue to reach people wherever they are. And if we win leadership of the NDP, our community will take our vigorous internal debate about how to square our values with our online activities - and do what we can not just on policy, but on practice.

I know there will be many of you who are unsatisfied with this position. But I think the Fediverse is one of the last public spaces where transparency and honesty are the minimum standard, and I want to honour that culture by sharing where our campaign is at right now.

It is a cosmic relief to finally be here, and I’ll check in and chat whenever I can.

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