Newsmast Foundation

As Bluesky takes off, we’re excited to share our FediSky Starter Pack with you! 🎉 Quickly follow a bunch of cool people working on new social - that’s Bluesky and a whole lot more! go.bsky.app/F83WT3 #StarterPack #Fediverse #SocialMedia #NewSky

@meganlucero.bsky.social has joined the Newsmast Foundation as our new Civic Media Practitioner in Residence! For the next six months, Megan will help us in our work with groups across the UK to build and distribute meaningful social community technology which reflects the community needs.

This time next week, Michael and Mariana will be in Barcelona for #MozFest! This year's Mozilla Festival theme is 'Wilding', presenting an opportunity for conversations around decentralisation and the natural growth of the social internet. If you're there, let us know and let's meet up!

October is Black History Month in the UK. This month, take time to learn more about the struggles black and mixed-race people have faced through British history. Here's a great resource to get started: www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histor... #BHM #BlackHistory #UK

We think everyone deserves an online space where *that* moment can be celebrated. That's why we're building digital community spaces, apps which let you share the moment with your community, whilst staying connected to the world beyond.

Want to hear Saskia and Ben discuss the power of bubbles on social media? 🫧 Check out our talk from FediDay here 👉️ fair.tube/w/1d5qbTYzJE... #FediDay

Wake up, September is over ⏰️ For us, September was a month full of adventures with our team dividing to tackle four countries in two weeks. We met leaders in civil society, news product, digital security, journalism, community regeneration, and, of course, in the Social Web space.

If you're observing Yom Kippur today, we hope you have a meaningful day and an easy fast. #YomKippur

We're excited to welcome @aschweig.bsky.social to the team in a fractional role as our Head of US Partnerships 🎉 We're looking forward to seeing what he can do to bring news publishers across the pond to online spaces dedicated to them and their audience 🗞️

The idea for our Foundation sparked in an unlikely place, on the very Big Tech platforms we now oppose. But, once upon a time, they did something amazing. They let people learn from other people.

Saskia and Ben are making the trip to Germany for Berlin FediDay! Alongside giving a talk titled "Building Community on the Open Social Web" and joining in with some panels, Ben and Saskia will be looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. #BerlinFediDay

Michael and Mariana are heading to San Diego for the LION Independent News Sustainability Summit! Bringing together online news leaders from around the world, we can't wait to showcase our open source news + community app technology ⚡️ If you're there, or in the area, reach out and let us know.

Happy Janmashtami to all celebrating! #Janmashtami #Hindu

We're in Portugal for the Global Gathering! Bringing together thinkers and doers from around the world working on technology-related civil society, human rights, and journalism issues, we're honoured to have been invited to attend. If you're there, we'd love to meet up ☀️ #GlobalGathering

Things are about to get busy 👀 With a lot of travel on the horizon, we might not be as quick to respond as usual. Whilst we're very excited about that's coming, we hope you can be patient with us if it takes a little longer to get back to you!

News organisations deserve better than platforms which exploit them. We're helping news organisations, both big and small, take back control of their presence on the internet. How do you think news organisations should regain their digital agency? #LocalNews

Michael and Saskia have been invited to Rebuild 2! We'll be there championing non-profit efforts, decentralised systems, and the brilliant projects on the Social Web - not just the Newsmast Foundation. #Rebuild #SocialWeb #Community

Is the bubble bursting? 🫧 Big Tech platforms such as LinkedIn, Snapchat, Substack and YouTube now have 'AI Slop' controls. As more and more people agree that AI content is low quality, repetitive, and unsatisfactory, platforms which once celebrated AI content are paying attention.

We'll be joining our dev partners in Taipei City for COSCUP 💡 The tech experts will be giving a talk on how we build our white-label Mastodon apps so, if you're heading to COSCUP or you're in the area, make sure you don't miss it. More details 👉️ pretalx.coscup.org/coscup-2026/... #COSCUP

Today is the International Day of Friendship 🫂 We wouldn't be able to do what we do without our friends who work by our side to advocate for, and create, a better social media landscape. We're so lucky to work in such a thoughtful passionate space in amongst the wider world of social technology 🧡

Remember when the internet was fun? What would you give to go back? Human-first digital infrastructure must be built and protected. That's why we're building dedicated spaces on the Social Web for communities of real people.

We're building digital spaces for journalists, activists, scientists and local groups around the world 🧱 Social media is no longer about reaching as far as you can, it's about developing something deeper. More meaningful. Community. The Social Web is the perfect fit. #SocialMedia

Remember remember @michael.eurosky.social @saskiakezia.com @newsmastm.bsky.social @newsmastfoundation.org

As the UK welcomes a new PM (again), we've joined forces with some aligned organisations to demand the new PM takes three actions to reduce UK dependence on US Big Tech. www.balancedeconomy.org/latest/balan... #UKPolitics #DigitalSovereignty

If you're heading to DWeb Camp this week, it shouldn't be hard to find @michael.eurosky.social just follow the neon glow 🙌 Or put on your brightest clothes and head over to his talk on Thursday at 12pm CET - "Black Holes & Day-Glo Symphonies: Onboarding Communities to the Social Web" 🕺

Introducing @mu.social's Trusted Verifier Program hello.mu.social/verification/

Do you moderate or act as an admin on a Social Web service? IFTAS are running their annual moderation needs assessment, to see how we can do moderation better across the entire Social Web. If you fit the bill, fill out the form here 👉️ tally.so/r/81MW6k #SocialWeb #Moderation

We're still flaunting the pride logo because pride doesn't end with June 👀

We believe that social media should be social again. Do you agree? #DigtialSpaces

Can AI replace community? We've witnessed AI experts trying to sell that their solutions are the answer to disconnection in modern society. But majority disagree. Instead, human-first rebellion has already begun. #AI #Community

Businesses, governments, and citizens rely on American Big Tech social media. Can you afford to be held hostage by the whims of a US government in the information age? #EUSovereignty

Have you signed the European Social Stack declaration? european.social #Europe #DigitalSovereignty

It's Indie News Week here in the UK! Running from the 15-21 of June, Indie News Week celebrates independent news publishers and the work they do to expose the truth. If you want to learn more and get involved 👇 www.publicinterestnews.org.uk/blog/no-news...

Last week was crazy! We travelled to Amsterdam for the @publicspaces.net conference. There, we met with an amazing group of people and, if you didn't hear, we won the Grand Prize at the inaugural Open Social Awards 🏆️ ✨️

This is Saskia Welch, Head of Community for @newsmastfoundation.org, Grand Prize Winner of the #OpenSocialAwards! 🏆 Newsmast proves the open social web is for everyone. They make it easy for mission-driven groups throughout the world to build and maintain bespoke online spaces on their own terms.

We couldn't be prouder to have been awarded the Grand Prize at the Open Social Awards! 🍾 💢 These things don't happen overnight or without help, so here's a little thank you to everyone who has helped us get here 🧡

Well, that was the first time I finished an open source / liberatory tech event by dancing to Dancing Queen. Into it - thank you to @newsmastfoundation.org for a great party.

🏆 Congratulations to @newsmastfoundation.org, @sill.social, and @blackskyweb.xyz, the winners of the first ever Open Social Awards! 👏👏👏 New_ Public, @publicspaces.net, and @waag.org are proud to award them in recognition of their excellence and innovation on the open social web. newpublic.org/OSA

Newsmast is doing incredible work! Learn more here: newsmastfoundation.org We'll have more about them and all of the Open Social Awards winners next week.

Massive congrats to the winners of the inaugural Open Social Awards! Grand prize winner, @newsmastfoundation.org, and Excellence Award Winners @blackskyweb.xyz and @sill.social.

We're the Grand Prize Winners at the inaugural #OpenSocialAwards 🥳🍾🥂 @newpublic.org @publicspaces.net