I am trying to work out, given the current employer insistence that people have certificates / evidence for skills etc if we should as a community come up with our own for using mastodon / fediverse and other free software tools.
I found a LaTeX template so am experimenting a little here.
No idea how we could award this, but could be some sort of internal thing, to those who have been here and interacted for say 6th months +
Just a thought.
This is Mur 
Probably, but how else can people evidence they can use a platform that most people have never heard of.
If the Fediverse expands, (which it appears to be) as more people realise big tech has it's own data agenda and move here, there may be a demand for this sort of certification. I would much rather the framework was in place, developed by the community who care it, and not from some big corporation
A business can be on here, but things work differently there are no algorithms to help find people, we need to use the right tags
People already here know that, if we want more people here, they will eventually expect to interact with their favourite brands, but those brands need to be here on OUR terms, if they can find the people who can help them. it makes it easier for them to use this platform,
So in a way this idea is a pre-emptive move to try and make sure we can help people make the move here.
@zleap You might be able to get some inspiration on http://upgrader.gapminder.org. On the other hand, giving out certificates is not really in the decentralised spirit :P
Because everyone has their own interpretation of how it should be used etc.
If you're setting something up, I'd rather focus on sharing knowledge, so creating a wiki with experts of people in the whole stack of fediverse technology, from digital rights activists to scientists to mods to sysadmins to code contributors?
@Erik Good idea, on that, it is just an idea we could develop as a community,
As I have seem to have struck a chord with this, I have downloaded the source files from overleaf and put on gitlab (qoto)
https://git.qoto.org/zleap/mastodoncertifcation
The original source is here
https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/46406/package-for-certificates
@Erik
We could use the qoto.org discourse instance to put some ideas together on that.
@floof-rocks Not sure but the forum is already set up, so if we make use of what already exists with hosts that are sympathetic tothe fediverse
@freemo
@floof-rocks @freemo Ah yes, for the level 1 digital skills course you just have to send a message for example send an e-mail attach a document to an e-mail and evidence.
I would like to raise the bar here, so you HAVE to be here for say six months and interact with people.
I like the way discourse rewards you for posting, replying etc, but I think that is called Gamification.
I have been here for over six months and on the fediverse for longer, employers just need / expect evidence, hence my suggestion.
In some ways I am trying to suggest a way to bridge the two worlds maintain our privacy, promote the fediverse, and satisfy the current demand for everyone to have bits of paper for everything.
Having set up an account on Mastodon UK to promote Torbay, certification could help convince people I can use the platform and make a more official / formal presence here,
Early days I am just trying to come up with ideas.
@zleap An interesting idea.. Would it be just for fun or would it server a functional purpose?