CIRCLE WITH A DOT

@thedarktangent IRC is pretty easy, well tested alternative if it's just for text. Becomes complicated if you need voice chat out of it as well. Matrix sort of does it and I guess it's the current "leading alternative". It can have IRC bridges as well but the whole experience is not entirely smooth and self-hosting is a bit painful

@anttipeltola the early 90s Internet in the NORDUnet space was so excellent. Plenty of great things coming out of universities during that time. Visiting some of these places now, they’re all rumning on either Google or O365 and American social media. IT departments don’t work with the faculties anymore. Etc etc

@taylorlorenz You have a global reach and audience through federation, but you're still moderated by your local, familiar community - which you yourself have a complete freedom to choose on your own, not some faceless machine algorithm or billionaire whims.