Post B2ZwMyJrNGYSf0cK00 by squirrel@norden.social
(DIR) More posts by squirrel@norden.social
(DIR) Post #B2ZSJfVTrhuuowYriq by _elena@mastodon.social
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Dear Fedi friends,I'm pretty fired up exposing the ridiculousness of #WSocial, a new social network purported to be a European alternative to X that launched at Davos (yikes). The French press devoted many articles to it (meanwhile: crickets about the Fediverse).Before I go full steam ahead grabbing domain names and creating a web site that shows the weaknesses of W / suggests to check out the Fediverse instead, I want to put it to you: should I do it?
(DIR) Post #B2ZScB9WweTqBJ7XtI by ed@livellosegreto.it
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@_elena I think that we need more "why/how you should join the Fediverse" rather than "why you should not use platform X, Y, W".We (as in: the internet) spoke loudly about why not using certain type of softwares and platform and it didn't really made a substantial difference.I think we need to focus on bringing people (and make them stay) here rather than scare them about another software or platform.
(DIR) Post #B2ZSftHHLVL9twVyts by JonasJRichter@pnpde.social
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@_elena Hard to say if it's worth it at this point. Maybe it lands on its face right away, but if it does receive attention and lots of actual people create accounts there, having information about that site would be useful.Does it need to be its own website in that case? Not sure.
(DIR) Post #B2ZShwjLToFhBlcgmO by everton137@vivaldi.net
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@_elena in my opinion, it's a waste of energy. I'd rather focus bringing more politicians herehttps://leavex.eu/politicianshttps://social.vivaldi.net/@everton137/115943237711423792
(DIR) Post #B2ZSkVRnNFglRNdQ00 by d1re_w0lf@mstdn.social
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@_elena It’s ironic that the supposed European alternative to X and the answer to independence from U.S. tech is… using “American” ATProto instead of “European” Mastodon. https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xgvzy7ni6ig6ievcbls5jaxe/post/3mcxmdf7ma22z
(DIR) Post #B2ZSoLeRjlDwDXNslE by borisschapira@framapiaf.org
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@_elena Press is often lazy. Coverage is often a matter of whether or not Press media received a ready-to-publish communicate. That's why most private orgs, with com teams, get covered while many communities and public-service associations are not.
(DIR) Post #B2ZSq5fE9I1JDEa1yK by joakimfors@mastodon.green
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@_elena Chaotic neutral: set up a masto/goto instance on a wsocial:ish domain 😈
(DIR) Post #B2ZSum0sdZeZiMwPz6 by nopatience@swecyb.com
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@_elena No, please don't. Spend your beautiful energy and time on building and contributing to what we already have.Don't waste a second on deconstructing, arguing against stuff we don't control.Make more videos like you did before, the Mastodon / Fediverse intro video. It was beautiful and awesome.That's what you should do. Build, don't destroy.
(DIR) Post #B2ZSzD4FzWkqmTdUvY by _elena@mastodon.social
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@joakimfors OMG this is BRILLIANT! 😂
(DIR) Post #B2ZT3DyWYj7Wknrw3s by mensrea@freeradical.zone
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@_elena they seem like great domains to start hosting fedi services. they go looking for euro-corp they find international co-op
(DIR) Post #B2ZV4UeuDPRWh9QRJQ by odd@mstdn.social
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@_elena its probably better not to sabotage EU alternatives, but by grabbing domains the fediverse could be injected into the news cycle, if done with a coherent message to the media.
(DIR) Post #B2ZVwkXROKIla9nyiW by sturmsucht@mastodon.social
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@d1re_w0lf @_elena EDIT: Sorry, I mixed up Wsocial with Wedium https://wedium.socialNew social networks are popping up everywhere these days.
(DIR) Post #B2ZXAsVAgF1mHx2oTo by vladcampos@mastodon.social
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@_elena Honestly, I think that will only create a sense of division: "Mine is better than yours".I don't believe that's what the world needs now. I think we need to try to find a common ground. For example, why did they choose the ATProto? Although I would prefer them to have decided on ActivityPub, maybe they have a reason.
(DIR) Post #B2Zaga9Ekpl2UiatHc by aslakr@mastodon.social
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@sturmsucht @d1re_w0lf @_elena Does anyone of these people (from wedium GmbH) exist in any form on an activtypub instance or atpro/bluesky?
(DIR) Post #B2ZbOGxtRBK9k17aCm by sturmsucht@mastodon.social
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@aslakr I have no idea. The short interview I heard was with Johannes (if I'm not wrong) where he talked about that trust and safety will play a huge part and that they want to achieve this with verification. They also plan to monetise it to make it sustainable. I'm not really sure which platform they will use or if they will code something themselves. @d1re_w0lf @_elena
(DIR) Post #B2Zci0RAhGT0E8n0oi by juergen@hello.jyrgi.de
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@_elena Regarding domain name grabbing: I don’t think this is worth it. I would wonder if they haven’t already reserved the domains they are going to use before the announcement. So that’s likely a waste of money.
(DIR) Post #B2ZcrjKz80oI5ZX5OK by 0xtero@ohai.social
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@_elena I don’t think it’s worth the effort. Couple of people announced some vaporware launch and press lazily took it as ”Europes answer” to US social media without a second thought about how ridiculous that statement is. Let them build. Spend your energy on something more productive (improving fedi) instead. Press hype will die after couple of minutes of fame.
(DIR) Post #B2ZfXFW8aZERfrftUu by _elena@mastodon.social
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@0xtero I found out some really disturbing things about this initiative and I don't want to stay silent. I may write a blog post about it, collecting and sharing the evidence... so that if people appreciate what I write, they could point others to it (people looking at the initiative with interest or journalists for example). And hey I grabbed a domain name that is PERFECT as a short URL / to redirect to my article. Sometimes staying silent on these things is dangerous
(DIR) Post #B2ZfgVCpd0qkwD3a64 by _elena@mastodon.social
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@juergen they've been so myopic about the whole thing that they forgot to register some key domain names. I grabbed one this morning and some of my followers did the same yesterday and told me about it.This is resistance at work 🤗
(DIR) Post #B2Zh3q4cJF6AGuuEMq by zeroase@fosstodon.org
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@_elena I'd say let's wait and see if anyone still remembers this ominous letter platform in a week.
(DIR) Post #B2ZpZlavIS7zHSkhQO by NatureMC@mastodon.online
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@_elena You can grab the domains but will it be worth the energy?You know who controls most of the French media and how little credibility they have left. I would not base my work on theirs – and I am a journalist (not for French media) living in France. 😉It's like the question: Do politicians waste energy to fight the so-called "Peace's Board" or do they fight for peace structures like the UN and reforming them?Do we fight blown up "alternatives" or do we fight *for* our visions?
(DIR) Post #B2ZpnItMoCOsJcpm9g by _elena@mastodon.social
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@NatureMC I'm planning to write a blog post about it - I'm pretty strong at the SEO game and I'd like to write an article with evidence that people can easily find / refer to. I only grabbed one domain name for 4 Euros... some awesome fedi people have grabbed other TLD in the same spirit.An article I wrote years ago on my blog exposing a big company still gets lots of hits - a decade later! I simply can't stay silent on this...
(DIR) Post #B2Zq6W6ftviUnnDika by NatureMC@mastodon.online
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@_elena This I understand completely, do it!My comment was more if you plan a big long lasting campaign ...
(DIR) Post #B2Zr3Eh2HtctseE9mi by bigbelgianbopper@mastodon-belgium.be
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@_elena I voted yes. But maybe it would be better to put energy into making the fediverse more accessible. Even to my medium tech savy friends, the fact that you have to choose a server is complicated. So either they choose the default one or they don’t join because they don't see the point in all these different servers (lots of people are lazy to read and be interested). Your introduction was really nice but we might need more ‘tutorials’/why? video's or texts.
(DIR) Post #B2Zr4JQMBR5wqJwHaa by cbw@techhub.social
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@_elena https://www.reddit.com/r/japanese/comments/brwidu/why_do_some_japanese_sentences_have_wwwwwww_on/
(DIR) Post #B2ZwMyJrNGYSf0cK00 by squirrel@norden.social
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@_elena @joakimfors wsocial.social is available 😁
(DIR) Post #B2ZzK1DCSlbYcpmkkq by 0xtero@ohai.social
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@_elena Ok, now I'm intrigued and want to know the details :) I just hate how this was branded as "European answer" by the press, like it would be official EU project - when it clearly was just attention grab by some limelight hungry random CEO. Luckily it doesn't seem to have had much news value (papers in Sweden didn't pick it up)
(DIR) Post #B2a2gqJDSwIXKjAs7s by fmors@fosstodon.org
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@_elena to be very honest, I think you can drive that energy towards something more constructive. Too bad that Fediverse gets only crickets in terms of press attention, but it is what it is. We are growing. Less than others, but who cares? It is about quality, not quantity.
(DIR) Post #B2a3CINZ9SQvMuCsdM by daniel@masto.art4.se
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@_elena In the name of @blogg I allergy sent them a open letter telling them how stupid this idea is. An I published it at the same blog. Sense it is the Swedish government authority, Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten, I did write it in Swedish.
(DIR) Post #B2a7C3GFl8oyIVvRNQ by _elena@mastodon.social
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@0xtero there are allegedly links to the Swedish right (that would explain the requirement of IDs to post). Still researching the claims
(DIR) Post #B2abDHnWCBiKIQzQCu by hashraydamon@me.dm
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@_elena this map can help to make the case for the fediverse in Europehttps://toot.wales/@jaz/115938939835763217
(DIR) Post #B2b5vfHlE8cwVcDGD2 by BrennpunktUA@mastodon.social
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@_elena they didn't even remove the name "Bluesky" on various parts of the website 🤣🤣🤣https://stage.wsocial.eu#WSocial
(DIR) Post #B2bQDoUzhzQ1NbKm92 by 0xtero@ohai.social
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@_elena Had a quick look. Seems the domain is registered by a Swedish company WeDontHaveTime (who seems to run wedonthavetime.org). The company is owned by a foundation, so no idea who the real owner are (the foundation owns US based company of a same name as well). This guy is their CEO https://www.forbes.com/sites/ingmarrentzhog/ - the company has 9 employees and revenue of 15-20 million SEK yearly (loses twice the revenue yearly -17M SEK in 2024).
(DIR) Post #B2bQlOJzXfho2OCO36 by _elena@mastodon.social
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@0xtero thank you for the info! Yes I had seen the non-profit info but not the revenue. Wow.
(DIR) Post #B2bQrBGsyVX5IiVTY8 by 0xtero@ohai.social
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@_elena here's the company info (sorry, in Swedish) https://www.allabolag.se/foretag/wedonthavetime-ab-publ/stockholm/informationskonsulter-kommunikationskonsulter/2KGW5D6I5YFD4
(DIR) Post #B2bQzkwkDfWiGJAu12 by _elena@mastodon.social
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@0xtero thanks!!! can someone explain to me how is it possible to have such terrible profit margins but then "solidity = very good"?
(DIR) Post #B2bR1yyd1f1yM77M6y by 0xtero@ohai.social
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@_elena They have cash in the bank basically.
(DIR) Post #B2bT4aoRWZDSBkj45Y by Nick44@vivaldi.net
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@_elena a social created to be an alternative or a copy is already a failure.We have just to wait for, #X is melting down as #tesla https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/threads-continues-to-add-users-as-x-sees-ongoing-declines/809940/
(DIR) Post #B2bX23PV8r81pZ6Xdg by lutindiscret@mastodon.libre-entreprise.com
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@ed @_elena this. 100% this.Elena, je comprends ton exaspération mais pour répondre à la question, tu te fatigues pour rien. Surtout maintenant.Au bout d'une vingtaine d'année de militantisme sur ces sujets. J'en conclue qu'il est vain de dissuader les gens aller sur ces plateformes. Tous les arguments qu'on mobilise, en paeticuler celui sur la vie privée et la surveillance de masse n'ont pas d'effet. Les gens sensibles à ces arguments sont déjà parti. C'est une minorité. 1/?
(DIR) Post #B2bX24EY53xgNszJCq by _elena@mastodon.social
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@lutindiscret @ed I hear you but I still want to at least write an article about it collecting all the evidence I found. They had TERRIBLE security in place and are asking for government IDs to join. I don't feel like staying silent on this. Taking 2 hours to write a blog post is nothing... the press about it has been all P.R. and I want to do the work that lazy journalists didn't do
(DIR) Post #B2bX4FY2z6m03S9HqC by lutindiscret@mastodon.libre-entreprise.com
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@_elena si aujourd'hui, vu le niveau de merdification de twitter et meta, les gens y sont toujours c'est qu'on ne les aura pas avec des arguments politiques. Ton documentaire aussi insiste beaucoup sur l'argument de la surveillance/nos données. C'est vain.Nous devons nous concentrer sur l'émergence d'alternatives et sur créer une meilleure expérience et se focaliser sur le contenu proposé qui doit être plus intéressant.2/?
(DIR) Post #B2bdagdMPp9L3EU5uC by FrankauLux@polyglot.city
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@_elena A couple of arguments, if I may:1) why reinvent the wheel ???2) why a proprietary system (as it is derived from bluesky)3) why not simply ask every member state to put up an official mastodon instance and use that ??? That would be much simpler and cheaper !!Good luck
(DIR) Post #B2bdahmy7aQgdJzHWK by humanhorseshoes@mastodon.world
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@FrankauLux @_elena all they did was tap the EU for funding and they’re so cautious and clueless they backed it because they used the right buzzwords
(DIR) Post #B2bdamZKLjULSSdxS4 by frebelt@mastodon.online
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@humanhorseshoes @FrankauLux @_elena Do you know if w received any eu funding?
(DIR) Post #B2bdan1geIAosPubei by humanhorseshoes@mastodon.world
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@frebelt @FrankauLux @_elena for an "expert" on privacy running it it is unusual to see a very old privacy policy with large holes in it on their site
(DIR) Post #B2bdanq1d8RJOXSo7M by _elena@mastodon.social
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@humanhorseshoes @frebelt @FrankauLux based on what I’ve seen (in terms of technical weaknesses) their site looks like a pasta colander to me 🤡
(DIR) Post #B2belvIoJntVgUnIp6 by humanhorseshoes@mastodon.world
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@_elena @frebelt @FrankauLux I've seen this play before, the company behind it appears to be a professional greenwashing funding harvester
(DIR) Post #B2bkdfGmdwHDMtI7fM by AnderstS@vivaldi.net
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@_elena @0xtero There are no links to the swedish right. But links the teh swedish upper class and conservatives. And to WeDontHaveTime as well as to euopena AI-interests (mainly in France as it seems). https://blog.zaramis.se/2026/01/24/personerna-bakom-w-social-vill-tjana-pengar/
(DIR) Post #B2bnDT7pTOH42JIsHg by Minimac@mastodon.world
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@_elena You're right, I'm with you. I deleted my X account almost two years ago. Why would anyone vote no, that it's not worth it? Seriously, what's wrong with them?
(DIR) Post #B2btjhLsiIut9QcyfI by craiglambie42@fosstodon.org
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@_elena I totally support you.I am trying something different.I am creating a fedi/mastodon instance just for the pollies in Australia.I plan to invite them all too it.It will be au.politicians.social i partially got started today with the domain.Do you want to setup ie. Or irl.Only allow .gov.ie emails to register on it.Then it is a "verified" server for the MPs.
(DIR) Post #B2btmnVmGiup7ijakK by craiglambie42@fosstodon.org
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@_elena We have states and local auths too, all with similar emails..vic.au.poltiicians.social will be the State electorate pollies.
(DIR) Post #B2dTjiOecWPHtoBxMO by narF@mstdn.ca
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@squirrel @_elena @joakimfors could you get w.social ? 😆
(DIR) Post #B2dTjjNGz8tcvoYMqW by _elena@mastodon.social
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@narF trust me I checked but it was already taken.that being said, you’re speaking to the proud owner of wsocial.it 💁🏻♀️@squirrel @joakimfors
(DIR) Post #B2dYHuB7ipOu6OQCK8 by deadsuperhero@social.wedistribute.org
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@_elena It might be funny to use language like “W is actually an L”, considering how Internet slang conflates W with winning and L with losing. A common phrase when someone needs to accept defeat is to “take the L”.
(DIR) Post #B2dYHvIxXBGLaz5yAy by _elena@mastodon.social
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@deadsuperhero yes! brilliant point Sean
(DIR) Post #B2eUrqAxsLHzSGBetc by BrennpunktUA@mastodon.social
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@_elena vv.social? 🤣🙈@narF @squirrel @joakimfors
(DIR) Post #B2eYnB4DAvJocG3nTE by _elena@mastodon.social
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@BrennpunktUA stop tempting me please! 😂 but also: is it available? Asking for a friend 🤪@narF @squirrel @joakimfors
(DIR) Post #B2eZKrGpHi3v421M1I by BrennpunktUA@mastodon.social
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@_elena YES! vv.social is still available at this very moment.@narF @squirrel @joakimfors
(DIR) Post #B2eeAJ9fllvs8FSnTc by BrennpunktUA@mastodon.social
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@_elena also, I bet you already noticed it says "wrong password" instead of "wrong invitation code". Does that mean, there might be only one "invitation code" around? 😁@narF @squirrel @joakimfors
(DIR) Post #B2eeAJkBa18hxUXxOC by _elena@mastodon.social
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@BrennpunktUA yes indeed! Noticed it from a user's post a few days ago... he was going around asking what the password may be 😂 @narF @squirrel @joakimfors
(DIR) Post #B2eeZExOVyiWLrboye by _elena@mastodon.social
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@BrennpunktUA awww sadly it's really expensive, sigh: $260 !!! Shall I start a crowdfunding campaign for it, so I can introduce myself as "Elena Rossini, the CEO of VV.social"? 🤪 @narF @squirrel @joakimfors
(DIR) Post #B2eel7czadJH60jQzw by BrennpunktUA@mastodon.social
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@_elena really, that much!? Are .social domains that expensive in general, or just with your provider?@narF @squirrel @joakimfors
(DIR) Post #B2egMoHm3Hym47LGYy by BrennpunktUA@mastodon.social
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@_elena https://www.eurodns.com/de/whois-suche/social-domain
(DIR) Post #B2egMp5365OWWwOcMq by BrennpunktUA@mastodon.social
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@_elena I see now, it's a so-called "premium domain", having only two chars! It's the registrar, asking for that much money, not the provider.Crowd-funding it anyways? Not sure tbh! But maybe if you have many followers and everybody gives max. 1 Euro, why not!
(DIR) Post #B2egMpdn0vBSGgeMW8 by _elena@mastodon.social
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@BrennpunktUA it was a joke! I wouldn't waste that much money on a vanity domain, even if it was to troll something I'm against 😅
(DIR) Post #B2egeipV4mV2M9esEq by BrennpunktUA@mastodon.social
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@_elena 🙏👍