Mutual aid posts and the fediverse

Over the last couple of years, I’ve noticed more and more “mutual aid” posts. These are posts in which someone is asking for money (usually) or some other kind of support, other than on a commercial basis.) Mutual aid posts are nothing new - I certainly remember them from Twitter - but I don’t recall seeing the same volume of them. Just counting those in my feed right now (mostly boosts by people I follow of other people’s posts) there are 16. It could be that I am just seeing more of them. The number is the same, but I am exposed to more of the people who are asking. It could also be that there simply are more of them. That more people are finding things difficult, or have reached their threshold for needing to ask for help. And, given everything (waves hands) going on in the world at the moment, that feels entirely plausible. More people are struggling. I am also seeing a difference in approach. I am used to seeing public #mutualaid posts, phrased in a variety of different styles.…