When we envisioned the Commons, we wanted to create a space apart from the bloated, corporate social media platforms, an alternative space for like-minded people to convene more casually, share news, seek advice, plan projects, or even just express their moods. A place to hang out. A place to have fun and get excited about shared interests. When the wonderful folks at cloud68.co introduced us to the chat platform developed by Mattermost, an open-source and more easily customizable alternative to Slack, we knew we had found our place!
The Commons is our chat messaging space, a social media and email alternative. The more we use it, the more we love to check in and chat informally with others. With public channels that include ways to Ask, Announce, and Workshop things, people can find out what’s going on with others, and create opportunities for engagement on the fly. We’ll have events coming here soon.
Every member also has the ability to create public channels themselves to focus on specific themes or topics; check out some of the new ones that have just gone online, feel free to join in these conversations, and think of a channel you might open yourself. People can also create private channels for invite-only groups to plan, design, share materials and documents, or just chat.
We’ve also found that direct messaging here is a million times better than email! Nothing gets lost in the pile, and the casual style of conversation (plus emojis!) makes chatting lower-stakes and much more fun. The desktop version makes getting notifications a cinch. The mobile app makes ongoing conversations particularly easy to participate in.
Members, sign in to try it out! Non-members, sign up and login!