cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/175651

As /r/genzedong stands in the shadow of Reddit’s raised fist, our community faces tough choices about how to address the situation. Reddit is one of the most valuable resources we have; its large user base and integrated community allows for targeted outreach, education, and agitation. On the other hand, the ubiquity and popularity that Reddit currently enjoys is not evergreen. Reddit, as a noble house in our modern, digital feudalism, will eventually be exhausted by the broader contradiction of which it is a part: that between the masses of internet users and tech companies’ centralized, feudal control. This process is already underway, as seen by developments in Web 3.0 and federated forum structures like lemmy.ml.

Nevertheless, there is still much more runway for these contradictions to sharpen before the change becomes qualitative and we enter a new epoch of digitally represented commons. So, given our position at this stage in the contradiction, we must facilitate its resolution by establishing stable channels by which we can shepherd our comrades into decentralized communities like lemmygrad.ml. We must recognize both aspects and bridge them - investing in lemmygrad.ml at the same time that we maintain a focused yet sufficiently nebulous presence on Reddit that, at key moments and places, offers a path away from its feudal lands.

Freedom from the feudal structure also allows us to overcome the barrier between in-person organizing and digital organizing. While there is no replacement for concrete action inside a united party in the real world, it would be folly to neglect how the nature of the commons have shifted as our technology and society has developed. Federated forums are helpful infrastructure and may play a key role in developing scalable party communications and outreach. This requires our attention.