It’s here! Honored to contribute to this important anthology from The All American and present a vision for the future that makes people feel hopeful and less alone.

Like me, @blaine.bsky.social wants to build a platform for local digital spaces because HE wants it to exist. We’re thrilled to have him, and it makes me even more confident that we’re going to get this right!

We love to see digital civic experimentation at every level of government. After the LA fires, impacted community members submitted over 1,300 comments through @engaged-california.bsky.social, a new platform to help people directly communicate with their neighbors and elected officials.

Our Co-Director @deeptidoshi.bsky.social draws on her parents' journey to the U.S. to argue that American ideals only become real through local community action. To Deepti, our neighborhoods, schools, and digital spaces are where we actually practice freedom together — not just defend it from afar.

For almost the entire 30 years I’ve spent making things on the internet, I’ve helped build and grow strong online communities. But the internet kinda feels broken. Everyone feels disconnected and overwhelmed. So I’m joining @wearenewpublic.bsky.social to imagine something different and build it

Digital community-building is on the agenda at #SXSW2025! New_ Public's @deeptidoshi.bsky.social joins a panel to share her hands-on experience building digital tools that foster more democratic online spaces. Catch Innovating Democracy: New Ways to Power the People on Monday at 4pm CST!

"If we don’t act soon, our online world will continue to be run at the whim of capricious billionaires." @eli.bsky.social & @deeptidoshi.bsky.social in MIT Technology Review this morning, with more information about @freeourfeeds.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/17/1...

@eli.bsky.social and I wrote an op-ed about why we are supporting #FreeourFeeds in this moment! "...we need to act, because the future of the internet can’t depend on whether one of the richest men on Earth wakes up on the wrong side of the bed." www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/17/1...

We’re fascinated by local digital spaces like neighborhood Nextdoor and Facebook groups. When they’re good, they’re super useful, fun, and interesting. Here’s some of the ways people use them, according to our research.

In @couldrynick.bsky.social’s latest book “The Space of the World”, he makes a powerful argument that social media companies have been able to do something no king, emperor or dictator has ever been able to do in human history: design the complete social spaces where we live our lives.

My New_ Public Co-Director Deepti Doshi and I wrote about #FreeOurFeeds for @technologyreview.com: “This is an opportunity to bring much more independence, innovation, and local control to our online conversations.”

I wrote about the push to "billionaire-proof" social media, including plans for a new nonprofit to build out "an entire ecosystem of interconnected apps" running on Bluesky's protocol. Gift link to today's Tech Brief: wapo.st/40fTk4X

HULK SMASH PUNY TECH OLIGARCHS

Today’s one for the history books: Mastodon is becoming an independent non-profit, and Bluesky is supporting #FreeOurFeeds taking their AT Protocol in the same direction.

Tell me the last time a social network CEO understood the importance of their protocol being governed by an independent foundation. History in the making. Join us. And thank you, @jay.bsky.team for your inspired leadership.

Exciting to see new, independent projects spin up to decentralize the atproto ecosystem! Building alternative infrastructure is a big step towards giving users more choice and making the network billionaire-proof.

So thrilled to be working with folks like @audreyt.org , @markruffalo.bsky.social , @moonalice.com , @alexwinter.com on #FreeOurFeeds We’ve got a chance here: Bluesky’s open protocol is an incredible opportunity to reimagine social media and take back the internet from fickle billionaires.

This was a fun one!

This platform is already bubbling with people who care about reimagining the social internet into something better. Here's a starter pack. Reply with more folks we should add!