Happy 25th birthday @wikipedia.org! 🥳 Celebrate the collaborative internet experiment that shouldn’t have worked (but somehow did) through this interactive look at Wikipedia’s journey.

DWeb Virtual Meetup: Latest from the DWeb Ecosystem — featuring @mauve.moe of @awana.digital, @blaine.bsky.social of @newpublic.org, & @l5y.tech of @dod.ngo Join us next week, Wed Jan 28 10 am PT / 1pm ET / 19 CET Register here >>> www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...

I did a lil video tour of my favourite indie web haunts with the lovely people at @newpublic.org

If you’re feeling trapped within the Big Tech apps you rely on, Canadian tech critic @parismarx.com shares his list of global alternatives and his progress in trying to divest. “It’s not an easy task to reject services that have become so ubiquitous and are made to be easy to use.”

Everyone’s posting about 2016, with a heavy dose of nostalgia. In 2016, Instagram switched their default feed from purely reverse chronological feed to algorithmically-sorted. In retrospect, this marks the beginning of a shift towards a passive, spoon-fed internet. Design matters for connection.

The Internet is alive! @chezpanique.bsky.social builds on her viral newsletter and takes us on a tour of the indie web. These are hand-coded, independent websites, outside the walled gardens created by tech giants. “It’s a canvas for boundless creativity and really you can be yourself.”

You never know what’s going to happen in the comments. Here, over a decade ago, a commenter on a Times of London article bore their soul, and other commenters showed up for them. @benwhitelaw.bsky.social l says, “I believe in the comments, and I think they have a future.”

Hi @newpublic.org, we've since posted a write-up of why that Danish study got us convinced: www.prosocialdesign.org/blog/we-find...

Last chance to be part of our 2025 survey – we’d love to hear your thoughts and questions about New_ Public, what you’d like to see us focus on in 2026, and your experience accessing information in your local community.

This is what we’re thinking about right now. Let’s peel the onion together 🧅 New_ Public Co-Director @eli.bsky.social wants your opinion: How will we be talking to each other online in two years?

Rather than settle for the status quo of social media, artist and writer @joshuacitarella.bsky.social imagines a truly “public” platform, as useful and universal as the post office. What’s possible when we disconnect from the underlying business incentives that have shaped the social internet?

Have you noticed that a lot of news sites are restarting or reimagining their comment sections? Which news orgs are doing comments exceptionally well right now? www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/news...

Why are we disconnected, and how could we reconnect? The US Chamber of Connection just released the Social Connection Index, a “practical, data-backed blueprint for rebuilding social bonds, trust, and belonging across communities.” Take a closer look at the full report:

Last year, we shared a lot of innovative research findings showing that having meaningful connection and conversation on social media isn’t a lofty dream — it’s possible! Here are some of our favorite studies from 2025. 🔬🦠💬

We need far more new, independent, and sustainable infrastructure for social media! Welcome!

Our friends at the @prosocialdesign.bsky.social recently updated the effectiveness of apps for regulating your time spent on social media, like @hankgreen.bsky.social’s Focus Friend, from “tentative” to “convincing” based on new research from Denmark. www.prosocialdesign.org/library/digi...

In the 2010s, too many newsrooms shuttered their comments sections. But now there’s a mini renaissance happening, according to @benwhitelaw.bsky.social. He ran the comment section for the Times of London, and learned firsthand about its value (in building community, and revenue!)

For Ctrl-Alt-Speech, @benwhitelaw.bsky.social and I are putting together a bingo card for 2026 news regarding online speech, content moderation, and internet regulation. What should we include?

Big fan of @brihreed.bsky.social's Nieman Lab prediction and the way he unpacks his own changing mindset about social media regulation in the US. Go and read, then fight your way through the other 200+ predictions www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/jour...

How did Belfast, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo double down on social infrastructure? By creating a network of … 👐 Havens 🌉 Hubs and 🛹 Hangouts What would that look like online? www.gehlpeople.com/projects/soc...

To reach a healthy social media ecosystem that serves the public, not billionaires, we’re gonna need a lot of new ideas and tools. Our friends at @metagov.bsky.social have been funding new governance systems that allow for community agency and value community stewards. More is needed!

cool to see other technologists getting excited about what we’re building at @newpublic.org !

While AI chatbots are helpful, writes Daniel Barcay for Center for Humane Technology, the more they know about us, the greater target we become for manipulation. “And when advertising enters this equation, it seems more likely than not that the con artist will overtake the therapist.”

Technologist/podcaster @rabble.nz calls Roundabout, our new local community app in closed beta, “the Good Place version of Nextdoor.” In an interview with Bluesky’s @jay.bsky.team, they talk about how New_ Public is moving from research & critique ➡️ building flourishing digital public spaces.

So much great thinking in @niemanlab.org’s 2026 predictions, especially about the role journalism orgs and practitioners play in local media ecosystems around the country. Here’s a playlist of great pieces:

Reminder: we’re still collecting responses to our annual survey for folks who read our newsletter or follow us on social media. What feels worth paying attention to? What do you want to know more about? Where should we be directing our focus? Hint: Don’t comment here, answer the survey :)

Back online after the holidays. Tell us about one of your favorite offline holiday traditions! Forget the usual considerations (revenue, gamification, etc.) … can you imagine a digital equivalent of that tradition? What would that look like? How would it work?

We’re signing off for the rest of the year. From the whole team at New_ Public, hoping the holidays bring you rest, peace, joy, and light.

A year ago, Meta announced they were introducing a new Local tab on Facebook. So where is it? Your guess is as good as ours, but this fits a pattern: the only features that succeed on Facebook are the ones that boost metrics like “time spent on the app” and increase ad revenue.

We can’t let the frontier AI labs double down on the business incentives that have ruled social media. New_ Public Co-Director @deeptidoshi.bsky.social writes that AI companions have the potential to trap us in a “synthetic intimacy” doom loop. However:

The Resonant Computing Manifesto authors, including @komorama.bsky.social and @mmasnick.bsky.social, want to encourage technology that brings out the best in us, feels human, and resonates with our deeper values. resonantcomputing.org

Is this an inflection point for algorithmic choice on social media? Threads, TikTok, Instagram, and Bluesky are all experimenting with features that allow users to fine tune their feeds, based on interests. Experts and users are demanding “good defaults, visible controls, and meaningful choices”

Let’s talk about one of the most fundamental aspects of social media: ad incentives. Nothing on social media is by accident. Everything from the “someone liked your post” notification to the algorithms pushing polarizing posts is there to juice engagement, growth, and profit. Here’s how it works:

CME's @taliastroud.bsky.social discusses new research in collaboration with @newpublic.org that looks at which local digital spaces people use, how they use and view them, and how they feel about their community. Check out the discussion:

If you’re interested in the future of the internet, you need to know about MCP — the protocol that may become the way AI agents interface with apps, tools, and information. Donating MCP to Linux and building a neutral foundation around it, could lead to widespread adoption. archive.is/WNyFG

With Roundabout, our new local community app, we’re reimagining a lot of familiar surfaces and features of “social media.” Here’s how Roundabout is different: Let’s dive in! 🧵

Doesn’t it always come down to this? There are good people working at Big Tech social media companies, and they mean well. But because of the underlying incentives, nothing is ever allowed to get in the way of profit and growth. time.com/7336204/meta...

New_ Public Co-Director @deeptidoshi.bsky.social writes about the underlying incentives that have warped social media towards the twin evils of extraction and surveillance. To have any hope of building a more prosocial and public-spirited internet, we need new business models.

Amazing to see New_Public roll out the first look at their new app. Thoughtful design for healthier digital public spaces isn’t just an idea, they're actually building it!. Big moment, and excited to see what this unlocks next!

What would it look like to move on from Meta? Comedian Maddy Kelly explains that leaving Instagram won’t be easy, but just like when younger people left Facebook, it IS possible. (hint: read the comments for real-life examples of people who made the switch!) youtube.com/shorts/jzvuC...

It’s not just social media apps that can suck you into an addictive doom loop — many modern dating apps have similar features and incentives. Candice Lim writes for @mozilla.org: mozilla.substack.com/p/the-issue-...

New_ Public advisor Catherine Tait how public media can double down on its advantage with local reporting and build closer to digital-first audiences. “I think there's an enormous opportunity right now to be the morels that grow from the roots of the scorched earth." youtu.be/zbnzbSXxcS8?...

Cambridge Dictionary’s 2025 word of the year is “parasocial.” It describes one-sided relationships with people we don’t know but feel like we do from watching them. While parasocial relationships can bring much-needed kinship and empathy, we might be due for less “para” and more “social” in 2026…

We’re about to see what happens when an English-speaking developed nation completely cuts off its 5M+ kids 16 and under from social media. The world is watching with great interest: Malaysia, Denmark, Norway, and the European Parliament are already following in their footsteps.

Imagine if librarians could only issue fines. That’s what many online platforms have reduced the job of “moderator” to: punishment. We think community stewards (as we like to call them) are capable of a ton if they’re supported and empowered — curating info, forging connections, and much more!

RESEARCH: Can our social media feeds politically polarize us? Researchers used a browser extension to change users’ exposure to polarizing content, and found significant effects on polarization. However, we don’t know the long term effects. www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....

Have not had the time to read this yet but the alive/dead question came up in a very similar way yesterday: what are key differences between “old” internet and the “new” internet? That discussion settled around human v robot (acknowledging that line is hard to draw!).

@spencer.place’s “alive internet theory” rejects the inevitability of a “dead internet” and boldly proclaims that “we will never let the open internet die.” Instead he asks… “How can we make the open internet more resilient, vibrant, and collaborative than ever?”

Can’t stop thinking about this quote: “At first it was amazing to be able to find people like you anywhere in the world. Then we got so wrapped up in the internet that we lost touch with our neighbors. Now, it’s time to build technology that connects us where our feet are.”

@pewresearch.org just updated their report on social media use 👀 TikTok, WhatsApp and Reddit have grown, but are still used far less than Facebook and Instagram. See more of Pew’s extensive breakdown of the social media landscape across key demographics. www.pewresearch.org/internet/202...