Supporting Native Grassroots Projects in the Fediverse

It should be more noticeable that we urgently need to balance the current #mainstreaming inrush in to the #Fediverse, to do this we need to rally support for native grassroots projects. Which strengthen community-driven networks. I have been putting off more funding applications to NLnet, so we need some encouragement and comments, feedback, and some help with sharing these proposals:

1. The MakingHistory Project

A collaborative effort to create a decentralized and participatory network for documenting and sharing:

Grassroots movements
Historical events
Underrepresented narratives

This initiative empowers communities to control their own stories and ensure diverse histories are preserved and accessible.

2. IndymediaBack Project

A Fediverse project to reboot the radical grassroots media network, #Indymedia, with a foundation in trust-based principles:

#4opens: Open Data, Open Source, Open Process, and Open Standards

This project aims to restore Indymedia as a vital, decentralized platform for radical journalism and activism.

3. The OGB Project

Focused on creating a trust-based, decentralized framework for governance, the #OGB project supports:

Grassroots networks
Native community-driven decision-making

Its goal is to enable fair, transparent, and inclusive governance for active producer communities striving for more equity and sustainability.

With all the projects, feedback and support can make a difference. Let’s work together to build goodwill and foster consensus around “native” projects. If you think that there is a need for decentralization, trust-based systems, and grassroots empowerment, please comment, share widely, and help to create a stronger, more inclusive future.

So should we apply again?

Maybe, but, not because they’ll suddenly “get it,” but because persistence itself is part of the composting, a record, a point of pressure.

So we need to apply and simultaneously build a parallel path of community support, donations, partnerships, volunteer time. That way, the inevitable sad #NLnet rejection doesn’t kill all the momentum.

So ow do we shift the blocking? Maybe translate native ideas into their language. Bureaucracies like “deliverables,” “impact metrics,” “alignment with EU digital policy.” Wrap the radical #4opens core in to a framing they can recognise: resilience, digital sovereignty, anti-disinformation, democratic participation? That might be harder for them to ignore.

This could expose the bias, in a bitter way, a constructive one: point out the repeated rejection of grassroots-native projects while funding flows to #geekproblem/NGOs. This grassroots pressure helps them re-balance (and others will maybe notice).

If you want to help, share the 3 projects (#MakingHistory, #IndymediaBack, #OGB) in #Fediverse channels. Frame this positively: “If we want a living #openweb, we need to fund and support native projects, not just corporate/NGO clones.” make it harder for them to keep negatively balancing the #geekproblem mess

#KISS