If you've been following me for a while, you might have seen me mention FTA and wondered, "What is that?" So before I get into the story of what happened, I think it's important to explain what FTA actually was.
The Federation Transparency Archive (FTA) was an independent collective that focused on transparency, accountability, and documenting events across the fediverse. The idea was simple: create a place where people could find information, read about important events, and have informed discussions without relying entirely on rumours or word of mouth.
When I joined FTA, I became the head of community management and one of the project's writers. I spent my time helping manage the community, writing articles, and working with the rest of the team to build something that we hoped would last for a long time. I genuinely believed in what we were trying to do, and I was excited to see where the project could go.
Sadly, things didn't work out that way.
Like many community projects, there were disagreements behind the scenes. Over time, those disagreements grew into larger conflicts. Eventually, one of the moderators became unhappy with the way FTA was being run and requested that the project be shut down. A project that was supposed to keep growing suddenly came to an end.
For me, that wasn't the only difficult part.
What happened behind the scenes made me realize it was time to step away from the collective. Leaving wasn't an easy decision, but I felt it was the right one. Even after I left, however, the discussions and drama surrounding FTA didn't simply disappear they continued long after the project had effectively ended.
I'm writing this because I think the story of FTA is worth documenting. Over the next few posts, I'll be sharing what FTA was, what my role was, what happened behind the scenes from my perspective, and how everything eventually fell apart.
This isn't about reopening old arguments. It's about sharing my experience, providing context, and preserving a small piece of fediverse history that many people may not know about.