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There's a bit of a storm happening around the criteria for joining http://fediscience.org - the Mastodon instance for scientists, on which I'm hosted.

It's been noted that the requirement to be a publishing scientist (who has published in the past 5 years) will exclude many junior scientists, retired sciences, and those who have maybe switched to teaching.

I agree with these concerns and wonder if the criteria can be changed to be more inclusive?

Cc https://fediscience.org/@FrankSonntag

FediScience.org

Fediscience is the social network for scientists.
Mastodon hosted on fediscience.org
in reply to Peter Tennant, PhD

Peter Tennant, PhD
Peter Tennant, PhD
• •
I think there are many good reasons why scientists may not have published yet or may not have published in the past few years.

I don't think such people should be unwelcome on https://fediscience.org and believe the current rules are hence overly exclusive.

I really hope that the rules can be changed to be more inclusive and allow this instance to become a diverse and welcoming home for all scientists.

#ScienceMastodon

FediScience.org

Fediscience is the social network for scientists.
Mastodon hosted on fediscience.org
#ScienceMastodon
in reply to Peter Tennant, PhD

Danny (he/they)
Danny (he/they)
• •
To me this seems like the approach is reasonable to anticipate a potential flood of users. I don't know what the local timeline is like there, but there is certainly an interesting dynamic set up if only senior academics are present. If you are interested in helping to fork the community in some way I would be happy to help.
in reply to Peter Tennant, PhD

Peter Tennant, PhD
Peter Tennant, PhD
• •
I appreciate that the hosts of https://fediscience.org are welcome to make whatever rules they want.

However, I think we need to be mindful of the inclusivity of the spaces we create, maintain, and implicitly support. I recently donated to the upkeep of my server. However, if the @admin team decides not to revisit the rules, then I may look to change server as supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging are vitally important to me.

#ScienceMastodon

FediScience.org

Fediscience is the social network for scientists.
Mastodon hosted on fediscience.org
#ScienceMastodon @FediScience Admin
in reply to Peter Tennant, PhD

Dr. J Bernadette Moore
Dr. J Bernadette Moore
• •
still finding my way.

But struck by how much I *loved* the principles @Gargron stood for, therefore thrilled to get spot on .social

While I fear missing out on @fediscience.org discourse
It is important for me to do #SciComm beyond publishing scientists... (#Policy #Public ).

But moreover... a major question based on the entry criteria are... where do #ECRs or #PGRs go if haven't published yet? What about the aspiring students?

#NotInclusive
@Eugen Rochko @fediscience.org
in reply to Dr. J Bernadette Moore

Prof Nisreen Alwan ☀️
Prof Nisreen Alwan ☀️
• •
@fediscience.org @TheMooreLab @Gargron @admin what’s the advantage of joining that server? I’m happy with a generic server as long as I can connect to others. We have enough gated platforms in academia and science as it is.
@Eugen Rochko @fediscience.org @FediScience Admin @Dr. J Bernadette Moore
in reply to Prof Nisreen Alwan ☀️

Danny (he/they)
Danny (he/they)
• •
@nisreen I would think folks who join that instance would be interested in talking to other scientists or some other affinity with the values in their code of conduct. The existence of this "publishing" requirement does not prevent scientists who do not meet this criteria from finding each other whatever instance they are on. In smaller instances the local timeline can support a type of community building that is more difficult to achieve on a large general purpose instance.
@Prof Nisreen Alwan ☀️
in reply to Dr. J Bernadette Moore

Danny (he/they)
Danny (he/they)
• •
@TheMooreLab I don't think the @admin is exercising power over any scientist choosing to join the fedi. A useful thought to illuminate how there is no power-over in this circumstance is the existence of other science based instances (eg sciencemastodon.com) nothing—as far as I know—prevents folks who disagree with the fediscience policy from joining or migrating to those instances so why take up valuable time in the (volunteer) admins' feeds arguing about a very neutral situation.
@FediScience Admin @Dr. J Bernadette Moore
in reply to Dr. J Bernadette Moore

Danny (he/they)
Danny (he/they)
• •
@TheMooreLab
Do you think that the principles that you have heard are properly implemented on mastodon.social? Do those principles create a space where bad actors can be removed? Many old guard admins are hesitant to fully federate (typically it's "limited") with that instance because it's thought to be too big to moderate properly. In the larger view of the fedi it could be thought of as a landing pad, where folks must migrate from in order to fully embed themselves into existing networks.
@Dr. J Bernadette Moore
in reply to Danny (he/they)

Dr. J Bernadette Moore
Dr. J Bernadette Moore
• •
@danwchan yes. I get all of that and I have not ruled out migration from my landing pad if offered principles do not align with lived experience. But taking my time to gather data ( lay of land as it were). I have witnessed lots of loud migration folks being either quick to criticise or hyperbolic in their praise of mastodon. Whereas I am approaching with a ''take 6 months to sus' attitude.
@Danny (he/they)
in reply to Dr. J Bernadette Moore

Danny (he/they)
Danny (he/they)
• •
@TheMooreLab I think it's wise to take time to observe the new context in which we find ourselves in and modify our behaviour/existence (behaviour referring to the way in which we interact with others, existence referring to the digital places and people we choose to connect to) accordingly. I'm excited for this influx of new users and I hope it helps us reimagine and participate in new networks so we can broaden our perspectives and find previously hidden avenues of solidarity.
@Dr. J Bernadette Moore

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