2026-09-10 –, Track Room 2
Many Free Software projects, non-profit organizations, and digital rights communities have opened accounts on the Fediverse—but far fewer have succeeded in making it a real communication channel.
Simply copying posts from X, Facebook, or LinkedIn rarely works. The Fediverse follows different social dynamics, rewards authentic interaction, and offers opportunities that centralized platforms cannot provide.
Drawing on years of experience running and moderating some of Italy's largest Fediverse communities, this talk presents practical strategies that have helped thousands of users discover, join, and actively participate in decentralized social networks.
Rather than advocating an abrupt departure from Big Tech platforms, the session explores realistic migration strategies that allow organizations to maintain their existing audience while steadily growing independent communities.
Attendees will learn how to increase engagement, encourage voluntary migration, organize onboarding campaigns, leverage community directories and curated recommendations, and measure success using meaningful community metrics instead of algorithm-driven follower counts.
Whether you represent a Free Software project, an open source community, a public institution, or a non-profit organization, you'll leave with practical techniques you can apply immediately.
For many organizations, social media has become an essential communication channel but also one increasingly controlled by opaque algorithms, commercial priorities, and platform lock-in.
The Fediverse offers a different model: decentralized, interoperable social platforms where communities own their relationships instead of renting access to them.
Yet many organizations experience disappointing results after creating a Mastodon account because they approach it exactly like another proprietary social network.
This session shares practical experience gained from years of building and moderating large Fediverse communities in Italy, including successful migration campaigns involving thousands of users.
Topics include:
- Why simple cross-posting usually fails
- Understanding the social dynamics of the Fediverse
- Creating content that encourages conversation instead of passive consumption
- Practical onboarding techniques for newcomers
- Helping existing followers migrate gradually
- Using account collections, starter packs, and community recommendations
- Running communication on both proprietary platforms and the Fediverse during a transition period
- Measuring community health beyond follower numbers
- Reducing dependence on algorithmic platforms while increasing long-term resilience
The session is based on real-world experiments rather than theory and focuses on practical, immediately applicable strategies for communities of any size.
An Italian Free Software and Fediverse advocate, community builder, and system administrator. He has spent years developing, hosting, and moderating large Fediverse communities, helping thousands of users, organizations, and public institutions adopt decentralized social platforms.
He is the founder of several Fediverse initiatives, including Devol and Fedimedia, and actively promotes digital sovereignty, open standards, and ethical online communities through talks, workshops, and community outreach. His work focuses on practical strategies for growing resilient online communities beyond Big Tech platforms while making decentralized technologies accessible to non-technical users.
I have been working in Information Technology for more than 25 years, I have focused not only on building and maintaining reliable systems, but also on promoting the values of Free Software, open standards, transparency, and digital freedom.
I am part of Devol, a volunteer-driven collective that provides free access to a wide range of federated and open-source services, where I help manage and maintain the infrastructure. As an active member of the Prato Linux User Group (PLUG), I contribute to the promotion of Linux, Free Software, and digital rights through community initiatives and local events. Furthermore, I am proud to be one of the founding members of Fedimedia Italia APS, an association dedicated to promoting and supporting the Fediverse and a more open, decentralized web.