Want to be part of a group for Kyiv Independent community members?

Definitely on the Facebook dinosaur. possibly as a Mastodon group

Lots of the group platforms need you to provide personal information such as your phone number (Facebook, discord, etc). The discord style of app works great however needing to link your phone number is a pain, it means you have to use your existing discord account which many people won’t want to do. Instead of trusting a private company with your data, and hoping they continue to operate, I think a better idea would be to create a matrix group. It’s open source like mastodon and means we have control of the data and platform. https://matrix.org/ There are many apps to interface with the matrix platform, the most popular is element: https://element.io/ These platforms are about supporting people not profit, which I think aligns with journalism very well.

Perhaps a LinkedIn group could be interesting.

Have your own Mastodon server

Facebook might be helpful, but Patreon is functional and a great resource. A suggestion, given the massive migration of Twitter users to Mastadon, may you kindly consider an account for The Kyiv Independent on that platform as well. You can use the link below to automatically crosspost in either direction or both (twitter <-> mastodon) which makes content accessible for those on either platform. Just use this link: http://crossposter.masto.donte.com.br Thank you for the superb work of all your staff and the invaluable journalism! BRAVO!

I am happy to suppot Journalists, who struggle for independence and quality. Thank you and bravo!

Just host a hidden bulletin board on the KI website, easy and secure.

Happy to be supporting. A group is a nice idea and I think a good one but I wouldn't check in very frequently. Definitely not fishook.

I prefer that there is no community - Patreon is plenty. My reasons 1) I became a patron to hear from Ukrainian voices. I feel a community could fill up with more people like me (well meaning, non-Ukrainian westerners) 2) I am keen for the team to continue the focus on journalism and other related activities such as podcasts. Anything to help educate and share information. I wouldn't want it to be a distraction for you because... 3) Anything else is one more thing you have to manage, administer, etc. I think Patreon does the job nicely as a way for us to connect to you.

I’m happy to be part no the platform.

Facebook is fine. I don't have time to surf between platform.

I like the group idea but I am not a FB user and only familiar with WA, which doesn't seem like a good option for this.

Facebook is definitely the last choice.

Let's just keep it here on Patreon. Love it. Any relevant or interesting posts on my FB always seem to drift towards the bottom anyway, so let's just leave it here.

Facebook was connected with Cambridge Analytica and its Russian dark money funding of, among other things, weakening Britain via Brexit. Nothing pro-Ukraine/EU in their struggle against Russian control should be near Facebook. IMO!

Mastodon?

Not FB. Don’t know what the problem is with Patreon.

Perhaps not facebook? Even telegram is better

Love to be connected whatever people decide

Facebook is fine. I don't know how to use other platforms, but am wary of twitter.

I can join through any platform.Although I tend not to use Facebook. It sends many friend suggestions that aren’t relevant.

Definitely not crazy about Fb - on the contrary - but the groups work well and are the reason I still have an account.

The project is good, even though honestly I don’t trust ANY platform…

Facebook is acceptable, but I would prefer anotherplatform.

Slack??

I would be happy to be part of closed group but am not wedded to Facebook. Twitter seems a bit of a gamble at the moment though!

Anything but meta.

How about Signal? I'm anything but a rookie on internet security, but as far as I understand , Signal is one of the available-for-all options more secure options (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong:-))

WhatsApp is not very recommendable for security reasons as far as I understand (I'm thinking about censorship and hacking and control).

This sounds like a great idea. I’ve stayed away from FB because I don’t trust Zuch and now I’m weaning myself off TWT because Musk has gone rogue.I recently joined Mastodon and so far it seems to have promise and many others seem to be showing up although discovery is a bit challenging. Maybe you guys should host a Mastodon server and accumulate some reliable voices…

I think having a group is a great idea. I'm fine with Facebook but Telegram is also good. I'm not familiar with Discord although I know a few people who use it and I'd be willing to do it.

Telegram is great and encrypted use it daily to communicate with friends in Ukraine

Discord is a great option - I’m a member of several Discord servers for podcasts I support as well as NAFO and my friends’ group chat, and it works really well for having different topics people can discuss. For instance, there might be a channel for discussion of the latest podcast episode, but also an announcements channel, general chat, politics, pets, food and drink, etc.

I am definitely interested in a group for Kyiv Independent community members. I have accounts with FB, Twitter, (and after the Musk takeover) Mastodon, & Counter Social. I maintain FB because a few friends have only that. I prefer Twitter as it's been able easy selectively to follow accounts of reputable news platforms, people, and some science sites. Twitter combines all of these into one giant public feed and lets users find their people, building interesting conversations from the collisions that this unusual state of affairs created, or I can easily block them. I have stayed away from Instagram as it is an affiliate of FB, and FB already has too much of my information, TicTok because of it's association with China. I'm still unsure of Mastodon's security protection, given ongoing and recently discovered current issues involving password theft via the chrome autofill feature. The others, I have no information about. But, all said, I absolutely support the concept of a closed account group for KI community members and will gladly come along. So, my choice of one of the first two options is actually a choice for the platform, and not actually a firm yes or no for FB. Thank you, KI, for the idea, and seeking responses.

The most important thing will be that we love and support Oekraine :-)

Would do Facebook if it’s really the best platform but would prefer to keep the whole Meta world out of this. Also, are there platforms where people who may less open social media access could participate (Telegram?)?

I don't see Slack on here, but it's a very useful tool.

Publisher & sometime journalist would love to help in some way.

Would vote for Discord or WhatsApp, but Discord probably more versatile. I'd be up for trying Mastodon but found it pretty bizarre in my first look tbh. Looking forward to seeing what comes from this!

Fully support this great idea. I’d be OK with Facebook, but would prefer another platform that isn’t so intrusive. Substack is one option, though I can’t speak to its functionality.

I don't have, nor attend to what 'news' comes from, FB on principle. I am a member of one WA Ukraine group already so would be happy with that, but I fear that if we became numerous, WA software might not handle the numbers so well as other social network platforms.

Maybe discord? Great idea btw

I'd prefer Facebook for the convenience factor, but if that's not gonna happen, then I strongly suggest that the platform has some form of email activity digest as otherwise most people will stop checking it after a while of inactivity.

I'd love a community space, but rather not facebook. Not sure what platform can do that though, could it not be a part of the patreon?

This is a great idea and I am happy to be in a group with supporters - don’t mind whether it is a closed Facebook group or a WhatsApp or another platform - just preferably one I already use. Telegram would also work for me.

Mastodon?

There are many good options fot platforms - avoiding facebook is a big plus for me. Great idea and I would love to be a part of the group.

What about creating a "Joint Bank of offered skills" among the interested people?

If you ultimately opt for a Facebook group, I guess I can live with that. I'll just echo the above concerns about data and privacy, and I hope you can find another platform to invite us to (should you decide to move discussions off this Patreon page).

... and I hope you are taking very strict measures to ensure the group's user data is secure and cannot be hacked by people further east ...