Billionaires and corporations have taken over our digital social spaces, making the rules for where we work, play, and live our lives. But Bluesky, not just what it is now, but what it could be — independent, democratic, a scaffolding to build on — has revealed a crack!.

RT @clockwerks: For the almost 30 years I’ve spent making things on the internet, I’ve helped build and grow strong online communities. But….

#FreeOurFeeds is raising funds for an independent, public-interest foundation to support Bluesky’s underlying technology, with their approval. It’s an ambitious project to protect our freedom and choice as social media evolves.

Bluesky is already bubbling with people who care about reimagining the social internet into something better. Here's a starter pack.

"We are about to see the biggest reshuffling of power on the internet in 25 years, in a way that most of the internet’s current users have never seen before . a few of the most important changes haven’t gotten any discussion at all." . –@anildash.

RT @OSoMe_IU: 🎉 OSoMe Awesome Speakers is back 🎉.Join us on February 8th for @davidlazer's talk, The Emergent Structure of the Online Infor….

Experimenting with design features that make norms visible:. Here's a concept sketch of a search box for community stewards that provides recommendations on steps they can take to emphasize their community’s norms.

Generative AI has the potential to disrupt content moderation as we know it, but it's not quite intuitively easy yet. Here are some tips for writing LLM-Interpretable content policies from @techpolicypress .

NEW VIDEO! Looking at online groups and the people who make them thrive: community stewards like mods and admins. "We're building for the creators, maintainers, and community builders!"

Research: most of us are lurkers. "The vast majority of those who say they use these platforms have accounts with them, but less than half who have accounts — and even smaller proportions of all U.S. adults — post their own content.".

Let's zoom in on an under-examined dimension of online groups: the visibility of group norms. We’re sharing what we've learned about supporting community stewards in establishing prosocial norms with our co-design partner, @hylo.

"Nearly 1 in 10 Gen Zers are more likely to rely on TikTok than Google as a search engine.". Top categories include finding new recipes, music and DIY tips.

Check out Bonfire's experiment based on a design pattern documented by @DesignProsocial: adding a feature that allow moderators to label posts misleading, reliable, or related.

See you after work in Washington, DC, at our Happy Hour with the Integrity Institute from 5-7 at Bar Chinois near Chinatown .

an oldie but goodie.

RT @OpenFutureEU: Our first newsletter of 2024 is out 💌.✦ Check out our 7 policies for the #DigitalCommons.✦ Read more about our new team m….

.@zephoria on KOSA and attempts to regulate social platforms in the name of protecting children:. "This doesn’t get fixed by pushing youth to the darkest corners of the internet or outing them to their parents through surveillance tools.".

A perfect storm for online scams: . 📈 cybercrime increased exponentially during the pandemic. 🤖 deepfake creation tools are cheap and accessible. 💸 platforms are investing less in moderation.

Research: What do users think about content moderation and toxic speech?. They sort toxic comments into incivility, intolerance, and violent threats, and conclude:. "There is limited demand for action against toxic speech in general.".

The EU may be gearing up to pass a European Public Digital Infrastructure Fund. This could enable the creation of new, reliable digital tools and services, such as public media services, educational tools, or civic solutions for local communities.