Why do some parts of the community have a membership fee?

There are two reasons for this: first, there is a cost to house the community on the Mighty Networks platform.

Second, Fictive Kin is built on intersectional feminist principles. Therefore, we need to strike a balance between reducing / removing financial barriers to access for its members, while also making sure that its employees, contractors, and anyone who contributes to the smooth operation of the community must be compensated for their labour with a living, thriving wage.

I’m already part of a Facebook / WhatsApp / TikTok group. Why do I need another social media group?

The short answer is, this community isn’t a social media group. It’s not an algorithm-based, content-generating, ad-serving, attention-stealing machine. 😛

The biggest difference with this community, though, is two-fold: 

First, social media platforms make it almost impossible to create nuanced mechanisms for handling and managing conflict within the group. Most options serve as a very blunt instrument, which was not designed to take nuance, context, or complexity into account.

Second, any intimacy that is built through participation in the Collaborative is earned: the community is structured to allow us to be in deep community and right relationship with each other. There is no expectation or encouragement to share all the details of your life, just for the sake of likes.

I’ve been in online community groups like this before, and they often fall apart. How is this one different? 

As mentioned above, this community is carefully structured to drive meaningful, thoughtful engagement: yearly plan, monthly themes (some of which recur), and daily prompts and actions.

As the Host, I am ultimately accountable for keeping the community together; and as Members, you are accountable for keeping the community running through the sharing of your ideas, experiences, and insights.

Also, the nature of the Mighty Networks platform means that there are virtually limitless opportunities for learning, convening, and building relationship with each other.

Is this community confidential and anonymous?

While the Terms & Conditions do set the expectation for all members to respect the privacy of others, this is not something I can guarantee. It’s not possible to do so, not least because screenshots are a thing. 

The community is also not anonymous, for reasons of transparency and safety. If we want to build trust within the community, we have to say who we are. While you are required to use your legal name for registering, you may use only first names, or first name + first initial in your member profile.