RE: https://mastodon.social/@wearenew_public/115729800203396909
We've been working hard over the past six months to ship Roundabout to our pilot communities. It's amazing to see them come to life, and I'm so excited to keep building & learning to support healthy online spaces for local communities. 💖
RE: https://mastodon.social/@wearenew_public/115645917115143165
Six months ago, I joined New_ Public to help build a new social platform for local communities. Today, I could't be more excited and proud to share what our amazing little team has cooked up, and is launching in closed beta this week.
This isn’t another toxic, chaotic space — Roundabout is designed to be useful, fun, and helpful and it isn’t motivated by stealing your data and selling you stuff.
Learn more at https://joinroundabout.com
I love @bonfire's slow and determined approach to building this important piece of the social web.
As we at New_ Public work towards our early Local lab launch, I'm really looking forward to participating in wider conversations about how communities can thrive in federated social environments. Bonfire's work is so inspiring towards that goal.
Congrats on the 1.0, y'all! 🎉❤️
RE: https://indieweb.social/@bonfire/115507615653471686
What @bonfire are working on is impressive and important and y'all should consider supporting their crowdfunder!
Bonfire was absolutely the top contender for my work building New_ Public's Local project (https://newpublic.org/local); in the end, I'm building mostly from scratch not because Bonfire isn't great, but because I wanted our team's 2+ years of research, planning, and design to lead the conversation, not the technology.
BUT we're in a unique spot. Most communities could use Bonfire.
As part of our mission, we’re committed to building new online infrastructure to foster community and civic health. But what does that actually look like?
Our Co-Directors, @elipariser and Deepti Doshi, often turn to IRL public infrastructure for inspiration.
In this case, BRIDGES 🌉
A decade ago, I was an invited expert at a meeting to review the technical architecture of a £330m fraud detection system for Universal Credit at the UK Treasury.
My conclusion was that the proposal was not only massively over-priced (basically fraud-levels of overcharging), but that the system as designed would obviously have issues where automated decisions would leave vulnerable people in dire straits, against the legal requirements.
And so it goes: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/oct/30/uk-woman-who-booked-oslo-flight-but-did-not-fly-loses-child-benefit-because-she-emigrated
As mainstream social media platforms move further away from local news and community connection, local newsletters are stepping in to fill the gap.
Friend of New_ Public Logan Elmore started his newsletter in Chattanooga, TN with the intention of going beyond news and inspiring community pride.
https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/are-these-local-newsletters-local-news-and-does-it-matter/
Five years ago last week, the Social Dilemma hit Netflix. Revisiting the film, it’s amazing how much both has and hasn’t changed.
Since then…
Elon bought Twitter
Zuck pivoted to Meta (more of the same?)
Frances Haugen blew the whistle
Schools started rejecting cell phones
LLMs chewed up the internet and spit it out again
What do you think are the most important changes to the social internet since 2020?
We tweet, we like, and we share— but what are the consequences of our growing dependence on social media? As digital platforms increasingly become a lifeline...
New_ Public
