At a past job there was an employee-run "donut club" where members would rotate every week bringing in donuts for everyone else. By the time that I joined this club there was over 30 people meaning almost everyone on the team was bringing in donuts once or twice a year.
When it was your turn to bring donuts you got to "host" the boxes of donuts in your cubicle meaning everyone in the donut club came to you, said hello, introduced themselves, and all that.
I didn't know it at the time, but donut club was an amazing tool for socializing and organizing. We were enjoying our donuts, but we were also strengthening our bonds with coworkers. Some of the people I met in donut club I'm still good friends with. Like all good friends we sometimes discuss labor conditions and help each other with job hunting, negotiating, and being paid fairly.
Why make a donut club in the Fediverse?
I propose the creation of a "Fediverse Donut Club"
with an every-other-week #FediDonutFriday event
where everyone in Fediverse Donut Club procures
and shares pictures of donuts to meet others
in the Fediverse.
I'm interested in how we can make online communities more "horizontal" like the real world, where people aren't divided only by their hyper-specific interests and bubbles. This is an experiment to see if a few posts in the Fediverse can get you out in your local community bakery for an occasional donut and connecting with others online.
Seems like a good deal to me! 🍩
How to join Fediverse Donut Club
- To participate, follow the
#FediDonutFridayhashtag on your Fediverse instance. - If you're interested in "bringing donuts" for the next donut Friday then
create a post containing the hashtag
#FediDonutFridayin the Fediverse. At the end of the week I'll tally every post I can find with the hashtag and randomly select a "donut captain" for the next donut Friday. I'll reach out to confirm the date and that you're still interested in being donut captain. - On the next
#FediDonutFriday, the donut captain creates a post with a picture of one or more donuts (or other baked goods). I'll share that post in the Fediverse and in this website so other donut club members can find it. - Everyone who's a member of the Fediverse Donut Club retoots the captain's post, leaves comments, and shares pictures of their own baked goods.
If you're not sure whether your post will be discoverable (due to your instance being small, for example) you can direct message me on Mastodon with the hashtag.
When is the next #FediDonutFriday?
#FediDonutFriday is every two weeks starting Friday, March 14th 2025.
I created the below QR code to add a reminder to any calendar.
Note there's no "responding yes", tracking, or surveillance in this ICS file, it's a simple recurring event. You can also import the ICS file manually if you'd like.
Have thoughts or questions? Send them my way:
sethmlarson.99(Signal)
sethmichaellarson@gmail.com
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