Digital Nomads
[ Note: This was written mainly in response to the recent FurAffinity policy changes (as of September 2024), but can also apply in general for other websites and communities. I realize the wording was a bit vague halfway through writing this, apologies. ]
With the recent news of Cohost shutting down , and FurAffinity suspending artists immediately after an incredibly successful donation drive, there’s quite a few people out there who feel like they’re left without a stable home on the internet anymore. I was there when Tumblr began banning kink, I remember staying up late even though I had work at 4am, desperately archiving people’s art and grabbing contact info. We didn’t know if the website would ban us in a few weeks, a few days, or a few hours.
Finding a place you can call home, and having it swept out from under your feet is a horrible experience. You lose friends, familiarity, comfort, and a place where you feel safe and accepted. Communities can be ripped apart with a rule change, an admin gone rogue, or a service simply shutting down. So many websites have come and gone, and at least once in our lifetimes we find ourselves packing up out belongings and spreading out into the digital desert.
So what’s the solution?
Self-Hosting
The most permanent solution to having a safe place on the internet is to host something yourself. A website, a blog, an art gallery, running under your own domain name and on your own system, like what I’m doing here. This website runs out of a VPS in Germany, a domain name I control, and the blog itself is built using Hugo, and open-source static site generator.
The pros of this are pretty obvious: No one can take you down or place rules on you. Even if your server provider got uppity about your content, you can easily move your data to another provider and redirect the domain name, and it’s like nothing ever changed. You could even go a step further and host from your own home, using something as simple as a Raspberry Pi left plugged in, although that does come with it’s own set of challenges related to dynamic IP addresses. You have complete and total control over how you present yourself, the content you host, and any services you may provide.
There are downsides though. Discoverability is pretty awful, I don’t think anyone uses Google or DuckDuckGo to find furry art, and that’s if you even rank anywhere in their results. The best way to get a website found is to post about it on social media, or get yourself put on a page with lots of links out to fellow artists/writers/queer folk/etc. I’m pretty sure there are some NeoCities pages dedicated for outlinking to cool people.
But even then, once people know about your website, how often will they check it? It’s very easy with social media feeds to scroll through vast amounts of content, incredibly quickly and conveniently. How often would you go out of your way to visit a certain website to see just one person’s work? It entirely depends on how much that person’s work means to you of course. There are some solutions to this of course, such as RSS readers and email newsletters, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find many people who even know what RSS is nowadays.
Federation
Halley’s talking about Mastodon again.
I’m going to split this up into two parts: Hosting your own Mastodon server, and using someone elses. And yes, I know Mastodon is just one implementation of the ActivityPub protocol, but most people know the fediverse as Mastodon, so we’re using that.
Hosting your own Mastodon server isn’t too hard. It’s not for the feint of heart, and I would 100% recommend prior experience with Linux and setting up web services, but if you know what you’re doing it isn’t difficult to set up a functional Mastodon server that’s all for yourself, and any friends you may want to bring along. With this, you get the best of self-ownership and the best of visibility. Your posts can reach a wide audience and appear in their timelines, despite still having complete control over what you deem is suitable content.
Maybe you’re not so comfortable with Linux, or you don’t want the stress of trying to maintain a web stack. Totally valid. You can always use someone else’s server. There’s a Mastodon server for just about every niche, community, sub-community, and kink out there, ran by some of the coolest people you’ll ever meet. Running a Mastodon server for the public is a service, and one that I commend people for doing. You have the benefit of not having to worry about updating libraries or paying server bills (although you should donate to your server, if you can!), while getting to be in a place that not only accepts, but actively embraces your interests.
Now, onto the sticky subject: Moderation. A lot of people like to complain that Mastodon has a rogue moderation problem, that server owners will block other servers, meaning you can’t access their content, just because they felt like it. This can absolutely be an issue, which is why I always recommend going with a Mastodon server that has been around for a while and has a good crew behind it. You’re never 100% safe from them going rogue, but you can be pretty confident that they’re good people and won’t yank the website offline on a whim. It’s about trust, building that trust in your community and learning not to shatter or take it for granted. The issue of Mastodon server owners blocking other servers is a tricky one, and ultimately, in my opinion, comes down to everyone involved choosing to base themselves in a stable place with good administration and decision making.
‘The Board’(tm)
This is an idea I’ve had floating around for a while, but something akin to a board of people, from all different backgrounds, ethnicitys, sexualities/genders, communities, and niches, who come to consensus on codes of conduct and terms of service, and are able to override staff decisions.
Being honest, I don’t know how the exact layout of this system would work, or what form it would take. I think representation when it comes to policy writing is extremely important, it ensures no one is left out and no one is pushed to the sidelines. Having people who can speak for their own sides, and work together on a problem is a good idea, but again, the implementation is the hard part.
Democracy?
What if we put all site decisions up to a vote? This is absolutely the most chaotic option, but one that I think is still worthy of examination.
What if we let the community decide what they think is acceptable and what isn’t? Now, this does absolutely run the risk of backfiring. Too far one way and the site becomes strict, limiting, and oppressive, too far the other and we allow content that’s potentially immoral/illegal in some countries. I think letting the community have a voice is important, and it’s a shame FurAffinity closed their forums in exchange for a bloody Discord server.
But maybe it could work. Maybe people would be decent, and we could build a place that works for as many people as possible, striking a balance of what works for everyone involved. I don’t think it would necessarily work, but it’s a fun idea to toy with.
I’m not saying I have the solution to any of these problems, but I think all of these topics addressed have their own pros and cons. Maybe they can all work together in some way, after all, it’s bad to keep all your eggs in one basket. You could self-host your work while also mirroring it across other websites, like many people I know. A permanent home on the web is something we can all aspire for, and hopefully someday achieve.