Thanks for sharing! This looks really interesting, careful, and caring! On Tue, Jul 22, 2025 at 12:22 PM Robert W Gehl via Air-L < air-l@listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
Hello, AoIR friends!
I'm really excited to announce that my new book, Move Slowly and Build Bridges: Mastodon, the Fediverse, and the Struggle for Democratic Social Media, is now available online from Oxford University Press!
And there will indeed be an old-school print version out in a couple weeks.
The book draws on interviews and years of participant observation to tell the story of the activists, developers, moderators, and everyday folks who have built the fediverse, a noncentralized, largely noncommercial alternative social media system.
Regardless of whether or not the fediverse expands or fades away, I think the book gives a lot of insight into questions of digital governance. I hope you'll agree!
You can learn more about the book here:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://moveslowlybuildbridges.com__;!!Mih3wA!FQ...
It means a lot to me to announce this here on AIR-L, because this book has been influenced by many of you. Not only due to your scholarship, but also to the organization itself, which has experimented with our very own Mastodon server (aoir.social) to explore alternatives to corporate social media. I've learned a great deal by being one of the admins of aoir.social, and those lessons have informed the book.
Please reach out if you have any questions about the book.
Regards,
Rob -- Robert W. Gehl (he/him/his) Ontario Research Chair of Digital Governance for Social Justice, York University Fulbright Scholar, University of Calgary
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.robertwgehl.org__;!!Mih3wA!FQgJpw08E6... | @rwg@aoir.social
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-- Lilly Irani Associate Professor, Communication & Science Studies Faculty Director, UC San Diego Labor Center <https://laborcenter.ucsd.edu/> Co-Director, Just Transitions Initiative <https://justtransitions.ucsd.edu/> Faculty, Design Lab Affiliate Faculty, Computer Science Member, Institute for Practical Ethics http://quote.ucsd.edu/lirani/ http://justtransitions.ucsd.edu/ Books: Redacted <https://tallercalifornia.cargo.site/Libros> (Taller California 2021) | Chasing Innovation <https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691175140/chasing-innovation> (Princeton University Press 2019) I respectfully acknowledge that I live and work on the unceded territory of the Kumeyaay Nation that spans across and precedes the US-Mexico border. I further acknowledge the lands of the many other Indigenous Peoples of this territory, and of those Indigenous lands where my work may take us in the future. I give gratitude for their labor and stewardship since time immemorial. I wish to respect your need for rest and separation from work. Please reply at a pace that is sustainable and respectful of you.