Digital Prefiguration

Open discussion about so called digital prefiguration. Prefiguration is a central aspect in anarchism. We all know about our voku's, autonomous spaces and mutual aid projects. But what about the digital world. Do we try to avoid big-tech? Do we all use free / open-source software (like Signal) and operating systems (like Linux)? Do we all try to use non-corporate decentralised social media (like Mastodon or Pixelfed)? After years of propagating and offering these alternatives I noticed that most anarchists (and such) are not taking this step. Maybe one or two elements are embraced, but that's it.

Of course everyone has their reasons and they are all valid. That's also the reason I don't want to make it a workshop where I'm the one who does the talking. What I want to do is have an open discussion about why anarchists (and such) are not participating in digital prefiguration. Maybe they never thought about it in this way. Als note that it's not about e.g. hosting your own services, but only about using stuff.

Because this is a broad topic, I want to zoom in something that has very much impact on the political discourse nowadays; social media. Why do we almost all still use big-tech, capitalist, corporate and US social media? There are great user friendly alternatives for Twitter or Bluesky (Mastodon, etc), Instagram (Pixelfed), TikTok (Loops), Facebook (Bonfire, Friendica, etc) and Youtube (Peertube). Alternatives that fit perfectly in our DIY prefiguration state of mind and only need more users to flourish. Let's talk about it together and in smaller groups (maybe sorted by a specific social media platform and its alternative).