BobaBoard

Huge thanks goes out to the volunteers at @bobaboard.bsky.social and Ms. Boba for freely sharing their thoughts and resources on sociocracy. Y'all inspire me. 💚

Screenshot of the panel "working together in a dying world" by Ms Boba. Synopsis reads: "There's no denying it: shit's fucked. From the internet to the world at large—and even within our own communities—it feels like everything’s falling apart. If we're going to make it through, we'll have to do what every ragtag team must: learn to work together. But how do you do that when everything already feels too much?"

This Saturday, I'm giving the spiritual successor to this talk at @citruscon.bsky.social, "Working Together in a Dying World".

If you're a BL fan come to the convention (it's free!), meet new friends, and come listen to it live! And if you're not a BL fan... maybe it's time to become one 😏

Slide 55. Power-within happens when we recognize what we're capable of and know we can make a difference.

Slide 56. The Upward Spiral. A circle or cycle with arrows looping back around. We create healthier, well-governed organizations, more people can step into their own agency, we create healthier, well-governed organizations (and communities! and platforms!)

We'll only get out of our technological bind by giving users the tools and knowledge they need to come shape the Indie Social Web in a way that truly feels *theirs*—flattening the Hierarchy of Power that divides them and platform runners.

This is power-within: knowing YOU can make a difference.

Slide 42. But I can't take on power! 1. I have nothing to contribute. 2. I don't have time to contribute. 3. I'm too x to contribute (x being a variable for whatever the potential contributor feels is preventing them from contributing). With the tweet from g @stopitg (originally RIP to your grandma but I'm different) now RIP to people who can contribute but I'm different.

Slide 54. Learned Helplessness. When someone who is consistently told or shown they are incapable of certain things accepts that as truth.

The talk (and article) offers counterarguments to the objections we've found our community members raise when called to step into their power. I was anxious to name it, but learned helplessness resonated a lot.

@mmasnick.bsky.social talked about "digital helplessness" recently. This is our enemy.

Slide 37. Again adding to the prior slide, now with an arrow pointing from bottom to top, labeled power under.

Slide 38. A quote from Steven Wineman's Power-Under: Trauma and Nonviolent Social Change: Power-under is [...] the power to maintain control of the victim role, creating a context of guilt and obligation.

Slide 39. A set of three excerpts, with key points highlighted, indicated here by surrounding with * asterisks. Excerpt 1: stupidity. this can apply to both staff who shut themselves off from the needs of the users as well as *users who expect overextending care from people who are either unpaid volunteers or comically underpaid laborers* toiling digital fields for less than the abuse is worth. Excerpt 2: These *complaints often use highly emotionally charged language*, sometimes to the point of blaming the staff's failure to comply with their demands for a decline in one's mental health or worse. If the staff is not portrayed as actively malicious, at the very least they must be disinterested in what their users want. Excerpt 3: it's easy to lash out to the staff of websites when you're frustrated with something not working, and *it's even easier to find ways to morally justify it* as long as your verbiage is particular and your arguments are, at face value, difficult to go up against. but i'm a (the statement cuts off).

Above all, power is not as simple as we make it: while we all understand the power that flows from top to bottom of a hierarchy (power-over), we rarely talk about power that flows FROM the bottom of a hierarchy to the top—even though we see it all the time!

Power-under is all around us online.

Rebuilding Community on the (Fujo)Web, pt. 2 — We Need to Talk About Power – Essential Randomness Why Power is a Complex Thing™, and how learning its secrets helps us contextualize "what is wrong with the internet" today

Rebuilding Community on the (Fujo)Web, pt. 2

This part (my favorite) is all about why "getting help from your community members" is not a straightforward way to exit the Downward Spiral of Indie Projects Burnout.

The answer is "simple": power dynamics

www.essentialrandomness.com/posts/rebuil...

Rebuilding Community on the (Fujo)Web, pt. 1 — The Downward Spiral of Community Projects – Essential Randomness Independent online software is caught in a downward spiral of burnout and disillusionment. Can we stop it?

It's (finally) time! A year after my CitrusCon24 talk & 10 days before my next, Part 1 of my "Rebuilding Community" series is on my blog.

This part explores why many indie social projects are caught in a "Downward Spiral" of disillusionment and burnout.

www.essentialrandomness.com/posts/rebuil...

Last day for cookies (and free digital pack)!! store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

It's official! We sold enough gluten free fandom cookies 🥠 to meet the minimum order. These are now the LAST 48 HOURS to buy our cookies before they're gone forever (this time for real...probably)! 👇

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

Thank you so much EVERYONE for your support! 🎉🥠 you all rock!

Fandom Fortunes | The FujoCoded Store Happy April 1st!

Know someone who hates gluten? Curious about what gluten free fortune cookies taste like (we're told, delicious)? Want to help our founder not have to eat a bunch of unsold cookies herself?

Buy our cookies for the very last time!

🥠🛍️ store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies 🥠🛍️

file:./images/img_376819dac31e46cf4ab89785dfd53473.alt.txt

Bake Sale 2: The (limited edition) Re-bakening

Production is ready! Fortunes are chosen, packaging is selected, and only one foe remains—alas, the most terrible of all: minimum orders!

tl;dr: missed our fandom cookies? Buy them AGAIN for a limited time!👇

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

it's time to demand custom avatar decorations so we can all live the @bobaboard.bsky.social halloween-time experience at scale

If you haven't yet managed to fill (or boost) our writers survey, today is the perfect day to drop your contacts in our "on call" list of writers-for-hire 😉💕

forms.gle/ozx68ghTbcFg...

FujoVerse Business Card Drop-Off: Writer Edition About this form: The FujoVerse™ (e.g. FujoCoded LLC, the Fujoshi Guide to Web Development, BobaBoard) occasionally seek to hire writers for one-off or recurring tasks, spanning everything from writing...

Are you a writer? Are you in one—or many!—online communities? Do you want to helps us build a better web for our own (fanworks fandom), help yours in the process, and get some 💵🏧💰 in return?

FujoCoded is looking for writers of all kinds! Drop your contacts in our form ⬇️

forms.gle/ozx68ghTbcFg...

Fandom Cookies — The FujoCoded Store This April 1st to 10th, treat your lucky self to some Fandom Cookies! In three different flavors, so everyone has something to eat.

With ONLY 24 HOURS(ish) left to buy your Fandom Cookies 🥠, what better way to celebrate the *end* of this event than to celebrate those who helped it get its *start*?

Go grab some cookies NOW ⬇️ and read on for our ✨Contributors Spotlight✨! 🧵

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

Fandom Cookies — The FujoCoded Store This April 1st to 10th, treat your lucky self to some Fandom Cookies! In three different flavors, so everyone has something to eat.

Last 24—no, 48 hours!—to get your ✨🥠Fandom Cookies🥠✨!!

April 11th (one day later than planned) is your LAST CHANCE to sweeten up your life with some fandom-based Fortune Cookies!

Once again, in 3 flavors: Kinda Vanilla 🥠, Chocolate Doves 🍫 and Lemony Prompts 🍋!

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

A graphic of "Cookie Rankings", except it's spelled "Cookie Run-Kings" The fandom cookies Chocolate Doves are significantly ahead, with Lemony Prompts and Kinda Vanilla neck and neck behind them The graphic says "Day 9 of 11" with 11 replacing a crossed out 10 - the campaign is now 11 days instead of 10 - and "only 3 days to go! (again) (last time we swear!!!)" At the bottom, there is a link to store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies and art of Boba-tan, the FujoCoded mascot, running away holding two fortune cookies

ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT...again!

Some asked, we listened: ✨ONE EXTRA DAY✨ of fortune cookie buying for everyone—both as a treat, ofc, and to enjoy a delicious 💵 paycheck Friday 💵!

Which means...ONE EXTRA DAY to defeat Chocolate🍫🕊️!

Vanilla🥠! Lemon🍋! We believe in you!

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

Bar chart of the sales of Fandom Cookies, titled "cookie run-kings" (day 8 of 10) with cool colors. Net items sold: In first place are Fandom Cookies - Chocolate Doves. Hot on their tails in second place is the Lemony Prompts flavor. Kinda vanilla is behind, but in close pursuit. The cookie flavors are in purple and pinkish hues that indicate some of the sales for each flavor were the Gluten Free option.

BIG SHAKE UP in the final days of our Cookie Run!

Chocolate Doves🍫 leads by not 1, not 2, but 5 cookies! A big spurt, since Lemony Prompts🍋 was yesterday's #1.

The race isn't over! Will the former king retake the throne? Will "Kinda Vanilla🥠" rise up?

Find out👇

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

Bar chart of the sales of Fandom Cookies, titled "cookie run-kings" (day 7 of 10) with cool colors. Net items sold: In first place are Fandom Cookies - Lemony Prompt. Hot on their tails in second place is the Chocolate Doves flavor. Kinda vanilla is behind, but in close pursuit. The cookie flavors are in purple and pinkish hues that indicate some of the sales for each flavor were the Gluten Free option.

Only 3 DAYS left in our Fandom Cookies campaign, and the run-kings continue being head to head! Lemony Prompts and Chocolate Doves now sit at JUST 1 UNIT distance, with Kinda Vanilla only 3 UNITS behind.

The gap can still be bridged! Help your fave win:

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

Thread: what has boba-tan's stolen? Git and GitHub's underwear. She holds it up in the next pic, then fujocoded account states there will be 10% off for people drawing them in those.

fandom cookies banner

🥠🥠🥠 YOU GET A DISCOUNT! YOU GET A DISCOUNT! YOU GET A DISCOUNT! 🥠🥠🥠

We now have TWO cookies promos officially underway:

🚢 Already bought cookies? Get FREE SHIPPING on another order with code ENCORE
🧑‍🎨 Want 10% OFF? Git & GitHub's underwear WANTS YOU (see pic & 🧵)

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

What has she stolen? (wrong answers only) #fandomcookies

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

Super Mario Maker meme. On the original box art, Mario wears a construction worker outfit and holds up a question block in front of an example game stage. The meme has the Raccoon Express Boba-tan logo pasted on Mario's face, and he now holds up a golden glowing fortune cookie. The Fandom Cookies (Kinda Vanilla, Chocolate Doves, Lemony Prompts) promo banner displayed diagonally across the Mario stage. The original form of the meme reads, You fuckin' make it then if you're so god damn smart. The new version for our purposes says, with some text strategically crossed out, You kindly promo it then if you're so god damn funny (thank you)

Today, it's up to you! Help us spread our Fandom Fortune cookies #FandomCookies ⬇️ to the masses with memes, engagement bait, fortune-cookie-fied pictures of blorbos, or whatever else! I don't know! You do you, I gotta focus on work.

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

Looking at the stats change has been a lot of fun, and I'm honestly surprised that "Lemony Prompts🍋" and "Chocolate Doves🍫" have been so head to head the whole time!!

"Kinda Vanilla🍦", you can do it 😭 i believe in you 🔥🔥🔥

Folks, it's that time of the year:

Welcome the (almost) April, with the BobaBoard "end of year(ish)" retrospective, featuring what we did, what we will do, and how you can help us do more of it!

Link here 👇 or check out the quote for a walkthrough

bobaboard.com/retro/develo...

"she is so back!!" (aka Shopify is back up & the store works again)

Go get your fandom fortune cookies!!

store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies

Fandom Cookies — The FujoCoded Store This April 1st to 10th, treat your lucky self to some Fandom Cookies! In three different flavors, so everyone has something to eat.

This April 1st, there's a sweet, sweet surprise in store (😏) for you:

Introducing: FANDOM COOKIES, the first cookie specifically created to satiate your hunger, so you can work hard to quench your thirst!

Buy them here store.fujocoded.com/fandom-cookies and discover our 3 exclusive flavors below👇

Slow weekend? Spend some time catching up with our 2024 retrospective and learn what we've been up to, and where we've been going!

bobaboard.com/retro/develo...

"who put the xenogears reference in there" you will all be so shocked to know it was me

("Hey, are you doing an April 1st joke again this year?")

What sort of question is that?? Of course we are!! See you in a couple days with the sweet, sweet reveal 😉

BobaBoard — Be the Monarch of Your Own (Fandom) Realm! Another year has gone by, and with that, a new BobaBoard retrospective comes around. What happened in 2024? Open and find out.

...and with this, here's the link again! Our volunteers worked hard, so please enjoy it and let us know your thoughts.

We aren't organized enough (yet) to update consistently, but keep up with @fujocoded.bsky.social for some "transversal" news and volunteers call!

bobaboard.com/retro/develo...