New_ Public
@newpublic.org
We’re a nonprofit R&D lab that’s reimagining social media. Join us in building digital public spaces that connect people, embrace pluralism, and build community. newpublic.org
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New_ Public
@newpublic.org
· Dec 1
Introducing Roundabout: a local community web app built to help people live a flourishing life in their local town or neighborhood.
Based on rigorous research and optimized for trust. Built by a nonprofit, for the public.
Find resources, connect with neighbors, celebrate your community.
Based on rigorous research and optimized for trust. Built by a nonprofit, for the public.
Find resources, connect with neighbors, celebrate your community.
How do we build more escape hatches from closed Big Tech social media? @fediforum.org is looking for ideas on how to grow the Open Social Web!
Submit a position paper for their Un-workshop by Feb. 16th, hosted by @j12t.org and @mmasnick.bsky.social:
fediforum.org/2026-03-grow...
Submit a position paper for their Un-workshop by Feb. 16th, hosted by @j12t.org and @mmasnick.bsky.social:
fediforum.org/2026-03-grow...
January 30, 2026 at 4:30 PM
How do we build more escape hatches from closed Big Tech social media? @fediforum.org is looking for ideas on how to grow the Open Social Web!
Submit a position paper for their Un-workshop by Feb. 16th, hosted by @j12t.org and @mmasnick.bsky.social:
fediforum.org/2026-03-grow...
Submit a position paper for their Un-workshop by Feb. 16th, hosted by @j12t.org and @mmasnick.bsky.social:
fediforum.org/2026-03-grow...
Reposted by New_ Public
A thread worth reading
AT Protocol, the infrastructure powering Bluesky, “represents one of the most concrete opportunities for Europe to create their own social networking infrastructure,” says Dutch data analyst Laurens Hof (@laurenshof.online).
Here are four case-studies on European projects that give us hope:
Here are four case-studies on European projects that give us hope:
January 29, 2026 at 7:16 PM
A thread worth reading
AT Protocol, the infrastructure powering Bluesky, “represents one of the most concrete opportunities for Europe to create their own social networking infrastructure,” says Dutch data analyst Laurens Hof (@laurenshof.online).
Here are four case-studies on European projects that give us hope:
Here are four case-studies on European projects that give us hope:
January 29, 2026 at 4:23 PM
AT Protocol, the infrastructure powering Bluesky, “represents one of the most concrete opportunities for Europe to create their own social networking infrastructure,” says Dutch data analyst Laurens Hof (@laurenshof.online).
Here are four case-studies on European projects that give us hope:
Here are four case-studies on European projects that give us hope:
Reposted by New_ Public
As we confirm speakers & talks, we're also extending travel support offers.
With @newpublic.org coming on as a parter, we have dedicated support for Europe travel.
Not to be outdone, @bsky.app has increased their commitment and having some folks from Japan join us.
More detail on this soon!
With @newpublic.org coming on as a parter, we have dedicated support for Europe travel.
Not to be outdone, @bsky.app has increased their commitment and having some folks from Japan join us.
More detail on this soon!
January 29, 2026 at 2:46 AM
As we confirm speakers & talks, we're also extending travel support offers.
With @newpublic.org coming on as a parter, we have dedicated support for Europe travel.
Not to be outdone, @bsky.app has increased their commitment and having some folks from Japan join us.
More detail on this soon!
With @newpublic.org coming on as a parter, we have dedicated support for Europe travel.
Not to be outdone, @bsky.app has increased their commitment and having some folks from Japan join us.
More detail on this soon!
Reposted by New_ Public
We've got a huge list of updates ahead of the end of early bird tickets, including announcing confirmed workshops for Thursday & Friday
Early bird ends, pre-conference workshops, travel support updates
An omnibus flurry of updates
news.atmosphereconf.org
January 29, 2026 at 2:25 AM
We've got a huge list of updates ahead of the end of early bird tickets, including announcing confirmed workshops for Thursday & Friday
Reposted by New_ Public
Great summary of the current situation.
Many Europeans want to be free of American and Chinese Big Tech apps.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
🇪🇺🌐 The future of social media may be decided in Europe
A survey of European AT Protocol projects, including 4 mini case-studies
newpublic.substack.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Great summary of the current situation.
Our research into local digital spaces shows that community stewards, the admins and mods who care for these spaces, make a real difference!
That’s why Roundabout, our local community app in closed beta, is organized around stewardship.
That’s why Roundabout, our local community app in closed beta, is organized around stewardship.
January 28, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Our research into local digital spaces shows that community stewards, the admins and mods who care for these spaces, make a real difference!
That’s why Roundabout, our local community app in closed beta, is organized around stewardship.
That’s why Roundabout, our local community app in closed beta, is organized around stewardship.
Reposted by New_ Public
I wrote for New_Public, about European projects building on atproto
Many Europeans want to be free of American and Chinese Big Tech apps.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
🇪🇺🌐 The future of social media may be decided in Europe
A survey of European AT Protocol projects, including 4 mini case-studies
newpublic.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 8:46 PM
I wrote for New_Public, about European projects building on atproto
We're thrilled to announce that New_ Public is supporting the upcoming #ATmosphereConf, the global conference for AT Protocol.
Join @atprotocol.dev on March 26-29 in Vancouver, BC – early bird tickets are still available!
Join @atprotocol.dev on March 26-29 in Vancouver, BC – early bird tickets are still available!
Early Bird Tickets and Speaker Announcement - ATmosphereConf News
Buy your tickets now to join us in Vancouver, March 2026
news.atmosphereconf.org
January 27, 2026 at 7:43 PM
We're thrilled to announce that New_ Public is supporting the upcoming #ATmosphereConf, the global conference for AT Protocol.
Join @atprotocol.dev on March 26-29 in Vancouver, BC – early bird tickets are still available!
Join @atprotocol.dev on March 26-29 in Vancouver, BC – early bird tickets are still available!
Decentralized protocols like Activitypub and AT Protocol seem to be reaching a new level of maturity. @rude1.blacksky.team and Co.’s Blacksky is an inspiring example of how a community can grow organically, secure independent infrastructure, and reimagine self-governance.
🔭🖤🚀 Social media’s next evolution: decentralized, open-source, and scalable
How Blacksky grew to millions of users without spending a dollar
newpublic.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Decentralized protocols like Activitypub and AT Protocol seem to be reaching a new level of maturity. @rude1.blacksky.team and Co.’s Blacksky is an inspiring example of how a community can grow organically, secure independent infrastructure, and reimagine self-governance.
Ok, yes, the state of the social internet is not ideal. We’re so numb to horrific violations of decency and disrespect, that we mostly accept that “this is just how it is.”
But here are some thriving spaces and powerful ideas we discovered last year that give us hope for 2026 and beyond✨
🧵👇(1/6)
But here are some thriving spaces and powerful ideas we discovered last year that give us hope for 2026 and beyond✨
🧵👇(1/6)
January 27, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Ok, yes, the state of the social internet is not ideal. We’re so numb to horrific violations of decency and disrespect, that we mostly accept that “this is just how it is.”
But here are some thriving spaces and powerful ideas we discovered last year that give us hope for 2026 and beyond✨
🧵👇(1/6)
But here are some thriving spaces and powerful ideas we discovered last year that give us hope for 2026 and beyond✨
🧵👇(1/6)
Join Blaine Cook, New_ Public’s Principal Software Engineer for Roundabout, at a @getdweb.net virtual meetup this Wednesday from 1-2pm EST
Blaine will present on Roundabout, our new local community app! Folks from @awana.digital and @dod.ngo will also present.
Blaine will present on Roundabout, our new local community app! Folks from @awana.digital and @dod.ngo will also present.
DWeb Virtual Meetup—The Latest in the DWeb Ecosystem (January 2026)
Join us at our next virtual meetup and hear our speakers share updates on some latest DWeb releases and community organizing efforts.
www.eventbrite.com
January 26, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Join Blaine Cook, New_ Public’s Principal Software Engineer for Roundabout, at a @getdweb.net virtual meetup this Wednesday from 1-2pm EST
Blaine will present on Roundabout, our new local community app! Folks from @awana.digital and @dod.ngo will also present.
Blaine will present on Roundabout, our new local community app! Folks from @awana.digital and @dod.ngo will also present.
Many Europeans want to be free of American and Chinese Big Tech apps.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
🇪🇺🌐 The future of social media may be decided in Europe
A survey of European AT Protocol projects, including 4 mini case-studies
newpublic.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Many Europeans want to be free of American and Chinese Big Tech apps.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
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.
Celebrate the collaborative internet experiment that shouldn’t have worked (but somehow did) through this interactive look at Wikipedia’s journey.
25 years of Wikipedia
wikipedia25.org
January 23, 2026 at 8:09 PM
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.
Celebrate the collaborative internet experiment that shouldn’t have worked (but somehow did) through this interactive look at Wikipedia’s journey.
Reposted by New_ Public
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...
Join us next week, Wed Jan 28 10 am PT / 1pm ET / 19 CET
Register here >>> www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
January 22, 2026 at 11:15 PM
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...
Join us next week, Wed Jan 28 10 am PT / 1pm ET / 19 CET
Register here >>> www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
Reposted by New_ Public
I did a lil video tour of my favourite indie web haunts with the lovely people at @newpublic.org
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.”
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.”
A tour of the indie web
YouTube video by New_ Public
www.youtube.com
January 22, 2026 at 5:56 PM
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.”
“It’s not an easy task to reject services that have become so ubiquitous and are made to be easy to use.”
We need to reassess our relationship to digital tech
Getting off US tech led me to a wider questioning of digital convenience
disconnect.blog
January 22, 2026 at 4:29 PM
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.”
“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.
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.
January 21, 2026 at 7:34 PM
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.
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.”
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.”
A tour of the indie web
YouTube video by New_ Public
www.youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:36 PM
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.”
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.”
@benwhitelaw.bsky.social l says, “I believe in the comments, and I think they have a future.”
January 20, 2026 at 4:14 PM
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.”
@benwhitelaw.bsky.social l says, “I believe in the comments, and I think they have a future.”
Reposted by New_ Public
Hi @newpublic.org, we've since posted a write-up of why that Danish study got us convinced: www.prosocialdesign.org/blog/we-find...
We Find It Convincing that Digital Self-Control Apps Work. Here’s What That Means.
We’ve just updated our confidence rating for Digital Self-Control Apps.
www.prosocialdesign.org
January 16, 2026 at 10:02 PM
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.
The New_ Public Survey 2025
Tell us about what's important to you: we'd love your opinion on both social media and New_ Public.
newpublic.typeform.com
January 16, 2026 at 7:43 PM
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?
New_ Public Co-Director @eli.bsky.social wants your opinion: How will we be talking to each other online in two years?
January 16, 2026 at 4:20 PM
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?
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?
What’s possible when we disconnect from the underlying business incentives that have shaped the social internet?
The Case for a Public Social Media Platform - JSTOR Daily
Artist and writer Joshua Citarella explores why corporate platforms corrode democracy—and what a postal-service-style digital commons could do differently.
daily.jstor.org
January 15, 2026 at 7:46 PM
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?
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...
www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/news...
January 15, 2026 at 4:34 PM
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...
www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/news...