To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
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It is wonderful you are active on the #fediverse and are pondering these questions. Going #POSSE is already a huge step in the right direction.
POSSE
POSSE is an abbreviation for Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere, the practice of posting content on your own site first, then publishing copies or sharing links to third parties (like social media silos) with original post links to provide viewers a path to directly interacting with your content.
IndieWeb (indieweb.org)
PS. The share buttons under the article to either Facebook or LinkedIn stood out to me, given the subject matter
@smallcircles Excellent point, we totally agree and will look into that again, but are still bound to the central uni's CMS. Thanks!
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@sandradejong
Yeah, the follow button is there for mastodon, waaaay down at the bottom, but a share button would be a good touch.
@Bibliothecaris@xinit @sandradejong We'd love a Mastodon share button and will definitely look into that again with the uni's central CMS. Thanks!
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R relay@relay.publicsquare.global shared this topic
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@smallcircles Excellent point, we totally agree and will look into that again, but are still bound to the central uni's CMS. Thanks!
@Bibliothecaris @smallcircles Just for your information, there's an official Mastodon share button option, announced in March this year. https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/03/a-new-share-button/
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To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@Bibliothecaris Wij lopen tegen veel van dezelfde vraagstukken aan. Ik denk graag mee en hoor ook graag als jullie goede alternatieven vinden! ^SV
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To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@Bibliothecaris Is it possible to transition to spaces like Pixelfed and Loops? Perhaps a trial-run could establish whether it's feasible.
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To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-whatWhy not use Pixelfed?
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To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-whatThis writing is so thoughtful! I think it's great you're starting these conversations.
A lot has been written about 'switching costs' and 'network effects' for why users stay on exploitive playforms like Instagram. With that in mind the key question is *how can we influence status quo change to healthier digital spaces?*
For me, and any org like UGL, I believe irl advocacy is an effective method for advocating online status quo habit change e.g. - bulletin board type displays, workshops, presence at campus fairs, zine distribution, a fediverse student club...the slow, patient process of growing change from a tiny sprout to eventually bearing fruit.
I agree that the fediverse is still in a 'raising awareness it even exists' stage for most potential users.
I also believe framing the switch as potentially gradual, I.e. students creating low stakes 'escape hatch' exploratory fediverse accounts, is an approach worth promoting.
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@Bibliothecaris Is it possible to transition to spaces like Pixelfed and Loops? Perhaps a trial-run could establish whether it's feasible.
@clickhere @Bibliothecaris Yeah, that seems like a reasonable step coming from Instagram in particular.
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To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@jessamyn saw this + thought of you...
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To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@Bibliothecaris this is a very good read and a lot of valuable questions.
will the students follow where you go? will you have to follow them when they leave instagram?
have you looked into Bookwyrm? https://joinbookwyrm.com which is a fediverse service for sharing reading lists and books.
maybe by providing more connection through the topic of reading, you could provide another value that instagram doesnt have?
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To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@Bibliothecaris why not build the pixelfed account alongside and direct people to the fediverse that holds more content. Give the bare minimum on instagram. With pixelfed you don’t need an account, or an app to view posts, which makes it more accessible. I think using instagram to educate people on this & why it’s necessary is going to be part of it.
I think all governments and institutions should be running their own instances.
Esp. Educational—It’s an opportunity for student collaboration. -
To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@Bibliothecaris Keeping the door open for your students is important.
I also admire that you are using the fediverse. -
To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@Bibliothecaris
How about staying on Instagram but deleting all your content there and leaving just one post saying you can be found on Pixelfed instead (and why), so leading by example? -
To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@Bibliothecaris two thoughts on reading: are students able to have accounts on your servers? (Do they know that? What kind of IRL publicity do you have?)
And do students have a voice in moderation or is it handed down to them? They should be involved. That's a learning experience if ever there was one!
You can take the idea to the student government - get them on board and it will percolate outward.
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To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@Bibliothecaris from talking to my students a lot of them want to leave meta but feel the need to stay for the same reason you do. I think it’s important to have the leaving conversation ON instagram. Start posting about it and having the conversation there and you’ll likely encourage more people to make the leap as well. Leaving is easier when you’re leaving as a community.
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To stay connected and be visible in #student life we are (still) on #instagram.
But the longer we stay, the harder it becomes to defend that choice.
It clashes with what we stand for as a #library: trustworthy information, #OpenScience, #DigitalAutonomy & student wellbeing.We want to explore alternatives and open up the conversation about what responsible (online) #communication with students could and should look like.
Read our story and share your thoughts:
https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/blog/a-university-library-on-instagram-we-want-to-leave-but-then-what@Bibliothecaris compliments on the well written, honest article opening a much needed conversation that more organisations should have with their "stakeholders".
Thank you for doing this!
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@Bibliothecaris from talking to my students a lot of them want to leave meta but feel the need to stay for the same reason you do. I think it’s important to have the leaving conversation ON instagram. Start posting about it and having the conversation there and you’ll likely encourage more people to make the leap as well. Leaving is easier when you’re leaving as a community.
@magpieluvseeds @Bibliothecaris
I would like to suggest you consider pixel https://pixelfed.org/
I think what would work well is a specific project that would give reason for a group of people to join and share because the hurdle with all social media is the value is in the network.
Pixelfed inter operates with mastodon because they’re both part of the fediverse.
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@Bibliothecaris Is it possible to transition to spaces like Pixelfed and Loops? Perhaps a trial-run could establish whether it's feasible.
Pixelfed I think would cover the format of Instagram completely because it does also handle short videos up to three minutes maybe? The best advantage to stress in all of this is that these are both fediverse member services and so we or they in their students can share between mastodon and any other service they decide to use
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Pixelfed I think would cover the format of Instagram completely because it does also handle short videos up to three minutes maybe? The best advantage to stress in all of this is that these are both fediverse member services and so we or they in their students can share between mastodon and any other service they decide to use
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @Bibliothecaris Yeah, I definitely agree.
I think that communicating that interoperability aspect to users would be very appealing (no need to sign up to multiple different platforms, if you'd prefer not to, etc.).
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@GhostOnTheHalfShell @Bibliothecaris Yeah, I definitely agree.
I think that communicating that interoperability aspect to users would be very appealing (no need to sign up to multiple different platforms, if you'd prefer not to, etc.).
RE: https://masto.ai/@GhostOnTheHalfShell/110697014050821679
It seems like the students are already giving the feedback. That’s the best situation possible. They would like to leave, but there has to be a big enough draw that they can bring enough friends along.
The other thought in this is to work together to make it a thing. To become the reason to jump ship.
(I only learned late in the game that Dali’s politics wasn’t so good but he is such an icon)
