In this final, crucial campaign stretch: Mainstream platforms are oversaturated, while millions on the “fediverse” are perfectly situated for progressive organizing – and largely overlooked.

The 2024 US presidential election has sparked a historic digital arms race, with billions spent on microtargeted ads and digital outreach. However, mainstream social media platforms are increasingly inhospitable for anything regarding political organizing that isn’t an ad buy. Moreover, digital ad space on these mainstream platforms is already saturated and scarce, and users have already been overwhelmed with the ads.

Mainstream Social Platforms: A Less Hospitable Arena Every Day

Instagram and Threads downrank “political content” in their algorithms. X/Twitter for has removed progressive accounts and “rate limits” their followers. The X algorithm also downranks posts with external links, including donation and volunteer websites. Meanwhile, Elon Musk – who has personally endorsed Trump – uses his massive following to promote Trump interviews.

Organizations like Indivisible and hundreds of LGBTQ rights organizations have stepped back from posting on X altogether, with Indivisible encouraging all progressives to leave or at least do an “X-last strategy.” TikTok has a questionable algorithm and its fiscal ties to its Chinese parent company.  Many progressive organizations find across these major platforms that organic outreach feels like “going against the grain” of these platforms but what other options do they have?

Enter the Fediverse

We and others see “the fediverse” as a key frontier for progressive organic outreach.  For those not already familiar with it, the fediverse is an “open social web” that has been evolving for over 15 years and found key acceptance and growth after the Elon Musk purchase of Twitter. Put more technically, the fediverse is a global network of decentralized, independent social media servers that interconnect to form a larger interoperable community. These servers enable seamless communication, content discovery, and connections across the entire network, fostering a diverse and dynamic online ecosystem. No one company owns it, nor does it have any centralized ad systems, and it is open to anyone to join or extend.

Mastodon and Bluesky are some of the best-known players, and those two networks can now interact.  The total Fediverse is far bigger. It includes Flipboard, WordPress, Ghost, and a growing list of others. Most notably, Threads – now seeing over 175 million monthly users — has adopted the fediverse, and allows users to share posts to the fediverse, and can read replies from the fediverse – as they build towards full integration.

The Fediverse: Big Enough to Matter in These Last Weeks

While it is still emerging, the fediverse has scaled to a size that makes it unquestionably relevant this election. Altogether the fediverse boasts over 21 million users. The number of Threads users who have enabled fediverse interoperability has yet to be public. Still, this opt-in feature has rolled out in the US and hundreds of other countries and has likely added millions more.

Your advertising by definition won’t work on the fediverse but organic, person-to-person organizing can, and in a way that is increasingly hard to do on the mainstream platforms.

An Open Green Field for Progressive Organizing

The users on the Fediverse are a perfect cultural fit for progressive organizing: Its user base, formed over 15 years by those seeking healthier online spaces, leans culturally towards progressive values, openness, and LGBTQ+ safety. Many specifically left platforms like Twitter looking for a more “Nazi-free”  space or simply one not subject to the whims of one private owner. The Fediverse has gained traction globally, particularly in the EU, Japan, and lately Brazil. Its international reach makes it a hub for US ex-pats abroad – who form a community larger than many US states.

Unlike right-wing alternative social havens like Gab, Truth Social, Rumble, and Parler, the Fediverse has become a mainstream, ideologically inclusive social hub. The fediverse embodies small-d democratic values, offering freedom of choice, protection from corporate influence, and opportunities for community building and collaboration, aligning with progressive ideals. This makes the Fediverse fertile ground for progressive organizing.

Real-Time Organizing for Kamala Harris: Two Case Studies

When Kamala Harris announced her presidential bid, one of us, Heidi Li Feldman launched “Mastodon for Harris,” an ActBlue fundraiser with a $1,000 goal. It quickly grew into a fediverse-wide effort, vastly exceeding expectations. As of this writing, it is past $600,000, with over $25,000 a month committed in recurring contributions, and growing fast.

As WeDistibute itself wrote earlier: “Twitter’s recent censorship of the White Dudes for Harris account reflects the pitfalls of letting central network control fall into the wrong hands…Threads also holds a problematic position when it comes to deprioritizing political content on their network. This might be a ripe opportunity for platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky to shine, and Mastodon For Harris already provides an interesting case study on how to organize.”

Another one of us, Tim Chambers, organized a “Kamala Harris News and Organizing” Mastodon group account that has quickly gained over 2,300 followers and is also bridged over to Bluesky. This vetted and moderated group enables pro-Harris accounts to share, collaborate, and amplify key news and organizing opportunities in a spam-free, troll-resistant setting. It’s growing by hundreds of users per day and is a vibrant hub of organizing on the fediverse. This is built on a new fediverse group software we partnered with the Newsmast Foundation to create – and it is showing great promise for many types of fediverse organizing efforts.

What Progressives Can Do Now In These Crucial Last Weeks

Our own experiences demonstrate the power of digital of person-to-person organizing on the Fediverse. We’re not alone. Key progressive organizations are already embracing Mastodon, BlueSky, and other Fediverse platforms – and we believe everyone should too.

Our own experiences demonstrate the power of digital of person-to-person organizing on the Fediverse. We’re not alone. Key progressive organizations are already embracing Mastodon, BlueSky, and other Fediverse platforms – and we believe everyone should too.

Organizations and individuals like Indivisible, Democrats Abroad, Political Wire, Scott Dworkin, Daniel Nichanian “Taniel” and his new Bolts Magazine, Timothy Noah, Jennifer Taub, Ali Veshi, Michael Podhortzer, Dem Labs, George Lakoff, Teri Kanefield, Jeff Jarvis, Robert Reich, Charlotte Clymer, and others, have created their own vibrant Mastodon accounts that are thriving and are models to follow.

But at the very least: every progressive organizer, influencer, and advocate that is on Instagram Threads should join the prominent progressive voices – Obama, Biden, the White House, AFT, Black Lives Matter, Blue Virginia, The Downballot,  Field Team 6, and more – who have enabled ‘fediverse sharing’ on their Threads accounts. Opting in to fediverse sharing takes just two minutes, and expands your social reach to millions of additional people. Think of this as the easiest social reach growth hack you ever had. And it is available now across all US Threads users.

All Hands On Deck: Progressives Need Every Bit of Firepower

Some overstretched digital strategists may ask, “Do I really need to support another new platform?” Consider this: If a Facebook or WhatsApp group had tens of millions of active users skewed progressive, welcomed organic outreach, and offered full access with zero cost to join, your team would jump at the chance. It would be a no-brainer.

In this critical final stretch, progressive organizers are rallying behind calls like: “All hands on deck, all gas, no brakes.” Meanwhile, tens of millions of users are already gathered, ready to be mobilized. All gas, no breaks and don’t sleep on the fediverse, organizers!