Hiding behind a phony veil of joyful silliness, the jester travels around the courts of the world, getting close to every king, observing the most recondite power dynamics. In reality, this role has the capacity of reading and adapting to the most diverse environments, sneaking in the most unusual conversations, hiding in plain sight.

The Fediverse is the jester’s playground. It is a labyrinthic and fascinating tangle of stories and perspectives, precious raw material for a bard’s craving for tales. What does it mean to inhabit and to navigate it with happiness and enthusiasm, while still acting up to fight injustice, to speak truth to power, to mock fascist dullness, and to expose hidden layers of invisibilised labour exploitation?

This talk intends to be a restitution of Tommi’s initial research on the relationship between Web-surfing (that is: Fediverse travelling) and in-person networking. What role do these practices have in accruing social capital? What role to privilege, feminism, queerness, and anarchist theories play in this fine line on which the jester has to walk?

It all started with this toot.