| New_ Public | http://www.newpublic.org |
Social media researcher @jonathanstray shares promising results from the Prosocial Ranking Challenge!
After testing five algorithms, two approaches showed statistically significant depolarization effects:
- Adding personalized news from credible, ideologically diverse sources
- Upranking bridging content while downranking toxicity.
https://rankingchallenge.substack.com/p/its-possible-to-reduce-polarization
📢 Announcing the Open Social Awards🏆
Alongside @publicspaces and @waag, we aim to honor the work of independent builders around the world, creating innovative products for the open web!
More details below…
“The next time you use an AI system, ask one question: Is this working for me, or am I working for it? That instinct (to notice, to question, to expect better) is where sovereignty starts.”
Our friends at Project Liberty recently launched their newsletter, and we’re loving this first post on how we can maintain agency when using AI tools
https://projectlibertynewsletter.substack.com/p/is-ai-working-for-you-or-are-you
A healthier internet isn’t just wishful thinking — our friends at the Prosocial Design Network have a whole library of research-backed design solutions for building prosocial spaces online, organized by our Civic Signals research!
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Why is the Knight Foundation investing in Bluesky? It’s the potential of the tech that powers it: AT Protocol.
“If we care about the First Amendment in practice, we must also care about the architecture that shapes and facilitates speech in our own era.
That’s why we believe ATproto was worth investing in.”
https://knightfoundation.org/articles/why-did-knight-foundation-invest-in-bluesky/
FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! 🔥🥵🌶️
Okay, now that we’ve got the algorithm’s (and hopefully your) attention, we want to show you something cool: New_ Public’s latest Bulletin Board newsletter has great internet finds like upcoming prosocial tech events, new research, and ways to connect!
(Sorry if we scared you 😅 but the internet is probably on fire somewhere)
https://newpublic.substack.com/p/bulletin-board-atmosphere-custom
Big tech doesn’t know what tech tools your neighbors need — but your neighbors do.
Thanks to changing forces and capacities in tech, communities might have the power to finally build what they need for themselves. And we want to be part of that shift in power 👏
“The real value is not in the single piece of content but in you getting addicted to the algorithm.”
A fascinating (and a little unsettling) feature-by-feature breakdown from Enrico Tartarotti on how short-form video content is meticulously designed to control your attention.
Have a request for our community of 16k+ newsletter readers? We’d love to share it! 📢
Whether you’re looking for collaborators on your next pro-social venture or amplifying an event, we’re making space for community requests on our “bulletin board” newsletter every month.
Feel free to comment your request here or using our contact form:
A day in the life of an enshittificator … Norwegian Consumer Council really nailed it 👏😂
New_ Public
