Northsky Social Cooperative is a group of passionate web developers and community moderators working to build a digital space designed around active moderation and user safety for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
Operating as a Worker Cooperative
Northsky Social operates as a worker-owned non-profit cooperative, where those building and maintaining the platform have decision-making authority as a group through democratic processes.
We hold each other accountable to our mission of providing a safer social network for minority groups, because we are members of those groups.
We currently self fund the operations of the platform via contributions from our members, and we plan to be able to accept tax free donations in the future to grow the platform.
All funds raised for Northsky Social Cooperative will go into the continued development and management of the platform, and cannot be used to enrich any investors of members of the cooperative, as per our Articles of Incorporation and our Rules. This will keep us accountable to our members and our users, not venture capitalists.
Our business and technical infrastructure is Hosted in Canada on Canadian data centers, which provides fast response times globally, but with the added protection of being located in a politically stable country.
Our Commitments to Our Community
Northsky Social's mission is primarily for the benefit of marginalized communities and specifically prioritizes the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Think Blacksky, but serving trans & queer people and marginalized content creators.
Due to the inherently intersectional nature of queerness, spanning and intersecting other marginalized groups in terms of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, immigration and refugee status, (dis)abilitiy, neurotype, and so many more... we hope our work to improve ATProtocol tech and actively foster community will be a net positive to all the above.
How do we plan to do this? By committing to doing things better than what we've seen so far, and by engaging in a truly open dialogue with our community. These commitments are principles and actions we believe will do our community justice, and we're eager to actively discussing them with you to improve over time.
1. We commit to creating a culture that protects our users from abuse and serious harm while also allowing those who unintentionally harm others to learn and grow, if they are willing.
We aren’t going to let people abuse or repeatedly harm you, even if they’re sneakily doing it in ways that don’t outright violate terms of service. However, we also believe that people make mistakes, and we want a community that educates people who cause unintentional harm instead of simply dunking on them.
2. We commit to using the principles of restorative justice when dealing with intracommunity harms that rise to the level of instance moderation.
When we choose to step in as moderators, our goal is to find a resolution that allows those causing harm to take responsibility for their actions, make amends, and have those amends be accepted by the harmed in the spirit of restorative justice. As our mission is to preserve and foster our community, we want to avoid driving out or banning people if we can.
3. We commit to making sure that users who are last in line for help and first in line for harm in society are first in line for help and support on Northsky.
We believe strongly in the principle of equity. Northsky Social, built for marginalized people by members of those groups, is for those of us who are never heard first. Some of us experience that more than others, and in the spirit of equity, we'll put those users first.
4. We commit to telling you why we made a certain decision in plain language, without violating the privacy of other users.
We will be up front with the reasoning behind our decisions, and won’t hide behind vague comments or rules that don’t make sense. We also draw the line at enabling targeted abuse (doxxing, cyber-bullying, etc...) of people who violated a rule and are subjects of our moderation.
5. We commit to protecting our community from influences that would compromise the mission of the cooperative regardless of profit, power, or personality.
Community comes first and we aren't selling out. If we receive a lot of donations, they'll be used to accelerate our mission and keep the Cooperative sustainable long term. No member of Northsky Social Cooperative has more power than anyone else. We operate as a one member one vote democracy. We aren't doing this to get rich.
6. We commit to measuring every decision we make against the Commitments outlined above.
We can't outline every single issue in our code of conduct or policies. In every situation, context matters and will be included in our assessments. If it's the spirit of the law vs the letter, we choose spirit every time.
We want to hear your thoughts about these commitments! As our community grows and develops, these commitments will mature and develop as well, and we're committed to doing that together.
Want to support our mission financially?
Donations are gratefully accepted, but are currently not tax deductible. All donations do directly to the coop to pay our infrastructure costs and help us keep the lights on!
Want to know more?
Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about Northsky Social Cooperative, such as how to sign up for an invite, how to donate, or how to volunteer your time.
or