Gander

Social media is often a dumpster fire. This is one of the reasons I deleted my Twitter/X accounts last year. I also couldn’t continue to support a system that further enriched a man who has more than any one person should have, particularly when that someone chooses to harm others with his words and actions.

During the early days of Twitter (and other social media), I found it to be an incredibly useful tool to connect people, to share stories, and to support each other. I’m confident that some of my community-engaged work would never have happened were it not for events precipitated by the communities and connections I found there. But then Twitter changed and I had to say goodbye.

When I left Twitter behind, I opted to move to Bluesky. There I found a community friendly to science and social justice. It also provided me more control over what was in my feed, and a noticeable reduction in vitriol and violent language.

But then the Trump administration began to threaten Canadian sovereignty – suggesting we’d be better off as the 51st state. In response, I began to cancel services and subscriptions that supported U.S. based companies where I could; replacing them with Canadian (or non-U.S.) alternatives. I also made the decision that I would no longer travel to the United States. Given the current state of things, I fully expect that I would be detained at the border for a variety of reasons – including posts I’ve made on social media.

Bluesky is American. That does not mean it’s inherently bad. But it does mean finding a Canadian alternative would be great.

When Gander was announced, I immediately wanted to know more (and signed up to review early releases). Advertised as “The Social Media You Want, Built in Canada”, I was hopeful this might provide me another means of supporting locally grown products. The fact the infrastructure for the platform is based outside the United States also means my data won’t take “an unexpected trip down south”. Both of these are wins in my eyes.

With all this in mind, I am now actively using Gander to evaluate and test their project before it fully launches. I’m hopeful it will be a better social media tool – a place that builds communities, fights for social justice, and supports each other. If you’re also taking part in the testing, I’m honking with the handle @DrDanielGillis.