I love the idea of Mastodon, but we’ve had to temporarily stop hosting on our own server. We can’t justify the cost or the effort. We’re not giving up on the idea forever, though. We just need a proper reset to think about why we’re on the fediverse and what we hope to get out of it.

Moderation is an unsolved problem. Fascism & transphobia prosper in parts of Mastodon. There’s no support to deal with this. The hardest part is funding. It relies on community funding for server costs. There’s also a huge amount of work to be done around the scenes, moderating and fixing problems.

Mastodon could be great, but there’s a way to go. The governance prioritises features over community. The technology is decentralised, but the culture isn't. Discussion is often about protocol and the platform itself, but not about community safety or accessibility. gfsc.community/why-we-disco...

Mastodon is promising, but unfinished. There’s little reason for little folk to join: at this point few people want to join yet another social media site The audience can be culturally monolithic: by some stats, it’s overwhelmingly white, male, & full of programmers. gfsc.community/why-we-disco...

Mastodon: the good stuff: It’s genuinely got a different audience to other platforms, one you won’t find anywhere else. It’s hard to tell exactly where our donors have come from, but I think we’ve gained a lot of supporters and donors through the Mastodon network gfsc.community/why-we-disco...

Mastodon: the good stuff: People have wanted this kind of microblogging social media ever since Twitter It’s one of the very few things you can point to and say: this is what community-owned infrastructure actually looks like. No ads, no influencers, and good focus. gfsc.community/why-we-disco...

Our Mastodon server was an experiment started at the peak of our success winning funding bids. Since 2024, our core funding has fallen away. The server dwindled to three active users, and the operating costs were no longer worth it for our economy of scale. gfsc.community/why-we-disco...

After three years of running our Fediverse server, we're shutting it down. Not because we've given up on the Fediverse, but because it isn't safe or sustainable enough for a community org like ours to run a server on a shoestring. gfsc.community/why-we-disco...

A lot of people who could benefit from PlaceCal don't have a paid curator to do the setup for them. This latest release is about starting to meet them where they are right now: short on time and money but big on enthusiasm. gfsc.community/placecal-v0-...

The keenest users of PlaceCal now are grass-roots, often unfunded groups: climate justice networks, trans community organisers, experimental music performers, Black British history projects, and local queer groups gfsc.community/placecal-v0-...

We originally built PlaceCal for funded public sector neighbourhood projects with staff who could spend time onboarding community groups into partnerships as part of their jobs. gfsc.community/placecal-v0-...

PlaceCal is our free, open source community events platform. Our latest update adds a searchable directory of partners and events, with neighbourhood filtering and a page for every group. gfsc.community/placecal-v0-...

A page from Geeks for Social Change Manifesto #1: People, not users Big tech reduces people to ‘users’: abstracted, homogenised units for selling monthly subscriptions to. We ask instead: what is it people actually want to do and be? What social processes do we want to make easier?

Community & Impostor Syndrome in the Games Industry gfsc.community/th/ The games industry is a big one. It's easy to feel like an intruder. Ben writes: Here's how I got into game-development, and three events which showed me the merits of community and cooperation in this solitary line of work.

Community infrastructure: what it is, and how GFSC plans to fund it. gfsc.community/our-social-b... - a new blog post by @kim.town

EMF Camp: Community Spotlight We interviewed Sam Cook, an organiser of Electromagnetic Field: gfsc.community/emf-camp-com... “EMF is a 4-day, volunteer-run, camping festival: we host talks, music, art installations, and workshops on whatever topics we (or our attendees) feel enthusiastic about.”

A new piece on our vision for the ‘community’ in community technology: Our goal is to help community organisations do things together rather than individually. Each project is a different expression of that. It matters to us less what we are building and more how we are building it together.

We've spent nearly a decade doing community technology work and tried to write it down it in a dozen different ways. At gfsc.community/state-your-a... you can read Kim's latest attempt to state Geeks for Social Change's assumptions. Here are some ideas which emerged.

I wrote a piece on guilt, the impossibility of remaining ethics, and whether it's ok to play The Sims.

Next up is Dr Kim Foale, founder of trans and disabled-led @gfsc.community, creating community tech in anticipation of a world without billionaires. gfsc.community

Wanna Get Involved in Running Geeks for Social Change? Collective meetings are beginning again on Tuesday 7th April at 4pm BST. Find out more about what we're looking for and come and get involved in running Geeks for Social Change! gfsc.community/wanna-get-in...

Pick Your Battles: a Shame Story If there's 'no ethical consumption under capitalism', will all our choices lead to feelings of guilt, or are we free to throw off the burden of shame? A new article by Ben Swithen -- with the full version at gfsc.community/pick-your-ba...

What’s been happening at our drop-ins? We launched four community drop-ins in January. Here's some of what we've learnt – and when you can drop in and join us next. Here are just a few snippets of what the groups had to say. See the article for more! gfsc.community/whats-been-h...

Why Bother Making a Podcast? Anyone could make a podcast, but why would you want to? An in-depth look at the reasons for and against making podcasts as political, creative and social force. gfsc.community/why-bother-m... ...or you can read the main points in the next few posts

High anxiety, signs of hope, queer rights & freedom from big tech's clutches! Here's what our community told us: A look at the responses to our supporter survey, asking about the projects, obstacles, concerns & opportunities Read on, or see a full piece on the blog - gfsc.community/what-our-com...

What's happening where you live? If you've hung around us the last few years you undoubtedly will have heard us go on about PlaceCal. But what is it, why does it matter, how can you and your community benefit, and why has it taken us so long? Let's take it from the top.

The Geeks for Social Change Supporter Survey 2026! We’re getting a better idea of our supporters by researching what people actually need from technology. Help us capture a snapshot of your feelings that we can feed into our plan for the coming year. All questions optional, so reply as you will.

Tech Developers and Creators drop-in: Tuesday 10th February 4-5pm For people who work or want to work on developing community technology, specifically those who want to: • Volunteer on GFSC's projects • Get peer support and networking • Develop new technology commons projects together

Magic Money Tree Pros: Free money, no strings attached Cons: Doesn't exist. Might cause inflation? We're often told there's no such thing. That's a valid but dismissive claim. Kim put together an article of more solid methods to garner community funding: gfsc.community/what-if-we-m...

Incredibly disappointing from @theproudtrust.bsky.social, who took away our only non profit queer space in the city centre and now are evicting grassroots organisers who are trying to reinstate it. Without this, The Proud Place isn't an LGBT community centre, it's an office space with gay branding.

hello i seem to have a bunch of unexpected new followers!! hi!! (was i mentioned somewhere?) im not really on here but i am active on fedi and discord and @gfsc.community just announced a load of meetups i would love to see you at :) gfsc.community/announcing-g...

Announcement: GFSC Community Drop-ins! GFSC is about to begin monthly drop-ins run by volunteer leads, each focused on a different area. Low-key, open to anyone, come-when-you-can. Drop-in peer support sessions for support & encouragement. Good for accountability & troubleshooting. gfsc.community

Finished my super mega post for @gfsc.community on all the kinds of funding I could think of and what you have to do to get them 😅 this is all just my opinion (and some of @szemi-petra.bsky.social's on art grants) so take with a grain of salt but hopefully useful!! gfsc.community/what-if-we-m...

What If We Made Money at the Intersection of Art and Technology? A run-down of 15 ways we could think of to get funding for your project: from the capitalist (venture capital) to the grassroots (direct donations). Because, hot take, the revolution needs a business plan.

New article: Six Ins and Six Outs for 2026. Time to get away from despair, and from renting software from billionaires. Time to get into community-ownership, community technoloft, DIY culture and taking action with gusto and resolve.

What's the rumpus in 2026? We're steering towards the new year, but we're not the captains of your destiny, so here are a handful of questions for you: What are the INs and OUTs for the year? What do you want us to talk more about? What projects are you excited about?

Geeks for Social What?! (1/10) All years are grievous and troublesome, but this one was fruitful. 23 people have volunteered their time with GFSC, working on everything from codebases and livestreams to volunteer coordination. 8 new voices contributed to our blog. Check 'em out!

All years in recent memory have been grievous and alarming, but here's what we did to make 2025 better and build for 2026. A run-down of GFSC's projects, articles, and methods for making technology which can strengthen communities. gfsc.community/geeks-for-so...

I did a livestream!!

This is what we want. More examples, please, of Good Things that have been done this year.

All years in recent memory have been grievous and alarming, but here's what we did to make 2025 better and build for 2026. A run-down of GFSC's projects, articles, and methods for making technology which can strengthen communities. gfsc.community/geeks-for-so...

We are live in 5 mins!!

Livestream Announcement: What If A Database Was A Map? On Tuesday 25th November from 7.30pm GMT we'll be speaking with Arby from @commonknowledge.coop about the Mapped project's motivations, successes and future. Hope to see you there! gfsc.community/livestream-a...

Livestream Announcement: What If A Database Was A Map? On Tuesday 25th November from 7.30pm GMT we'll be speaking with Arby from @commonknowledge.coop about the Mapped project's motivations, successes and future. Hope to see you there! gfsc.community/livestream-a...

Kim caught up with @zoyander.cc and Studio Voltaire to chat about the challenges archiving our own trans history, and some of the tools we can use to do it. Check out the interview on our blog! gfsc.community/trans-digita...

Kim caught up with @zoyander.cc and Studio Voltaire to chat about the challenges archiving our own trans history, and some of the tools we can use to do it. Check out the interview on our blog! gfsc.community/trans-digita...

Ever wanted to start a zine, a website, a computer game, or a food redistribution project? Catch up with others who have (and the ways to do so) in this round up of our autumn and the people, activities and opportunities which emerged during this year's conker season. gfsc.community/autumn-leave...

Here's me chatting about how and why I started up a zine distro, some thoughts on zines potential as a tool for connection & what I've been working on lately.

Ever wanted to start a zine, a website, a computer game, or a food redistribution project? Catch up with others who have (and the ways to do so) in this round up of our autumn and the people, activities and opportunities which emerged during this year's conker season. gfsc.community/autumn-leave...

Are zines life? Vicky has done her best to find out. Read about a life in self-publishing, starting @penfight.bsky.social, and what the future might bring for working-class zinesters. gfsc.community/zines-are-fo...