Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 4h

Our most recent newsletter starts to explore how AI could impact social media, journalism, and even politics in both good and bad ways, using an excerpt from Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders’s upcoming book: Rewiring Democracy.

If you're thinking about these same questions, it's worth a read.

🏛️🧨🪛 Will AI break democracy or fix it? Yes.

An excerpt from Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders' new book

newpublic.substack.com

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 4h

We see some key parallels in the rise of social media platforms.

Will we retread the same patterns, and will AI be built to maximize growth, engagement, and profit at all costs? Will AI transform everything about the social internet unrecognizably, with entirely different incentives and outcomes?

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 4h

It’s tough to talk about AI with confidence and certitude — it’s evolving quickly, it means something different to everyone, and it’s extraordinarily divisive.

Depending on who you ask, it’s a grift, a bubble, a toolset, or a world-changing shift. But without doubt, AI is already making an impact.

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 4h

It’s time we talked about the elephant in the room.

How we talk to each other online, where we get news and information, and how the internet shapes our lives and communities, is rapidly changing.

Generative AI might rearrange everything we’re working toward.

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 10h

How well did we really know the terms of our bargain with social media when we agreed to participate?

Tracy Durnell argues we’ve traded authenticity for aesthetics, and privacy for belonging.

tracydurnell.com/2025/09/21/h...

A screenshot of a social media graphic with a light pink background and red vertical line on the left margin. The text reads: "The imperative to participate—as media users, content creators and curators, and members of virtual communities—has become a defining aspect of digital life... What sets participation in the contemporary digital era apart from preceding manifestations, however, is its omnipresent and compulsory qualities." Below this, additional text states: "We feel obligated to weigh in on 'Social Media Events'" (with red underline). "The 'online disinhibition effect'" (with red underline) "means we reveal more about ourselves to people online than we would in person. Our increased participation has had follow-on effects: by training us to share everything, social media has evaporated our expectations for privacy" (highlighted in blue) "and built a culture of sousveillance and surveillance."

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 14h

Thanks for joining us!

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 4d

A majority of queer youth say they’ve turned to online spaces for support and community. But what if that goes away?

Two new studies show that losing access to online safe spaces — whether because of age verification laws or restrictions on LGBTQ expression — could be devastating.

LGBTQ+ youth have worse mental health outcomes without access to safe online spaces, studies show | TechCrunch

These online communities have become more critical in a time LGBTQ+ rights are under attack in the U.S.

techcrunch.com

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 5d

Don’t forget!

Tomorrow, join New_ Public’s Kasiana McLenaghan at the Public Interest Technology Career Summit, hosted by @stanford.edu’s PIT Lab and the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society.

Register now ⬇️

Public Interest Technology (PIT) Career Summit

This free summit connects Stanford and college students with career leaders that bridge tech, ethics, and policy for the public good.

www.eventbrite.com

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 5d

📚 Add this to your reading list 📚

In their upcoming book Rewiring Democracy, Friends of New_ Public Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders explore how generative AI could transform our democracy, and how citizens can use it to make democracy stronger and more participatory.

Rewiring Democracy

AI is changing democracy. We still get to decide how.AI’s impact on democracy will go far beyond headline-grabbing political deepfakes and automated mi...

mitpress.mit.edu

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 6d

The obsession with making the next “everything app” is taking us some weird places.

As @stokel.bsky.social says, “Most attempts to ride the zeitgeist are shallow grabs at relevance. The best features, in the best apps, are developed with deep thought about how to benefit users.”

archive.is/q66C4

$Screenshot from an article. The text reads: "WHY NOBODY WANTS A DO-IT-ALL APP In the press release announcing the feature, the music streaming giant promises that 'Messages are for the conversations you're already having about music, podcasts and audiobooks with your friends and family.' But the flaw is right there in the pitch: if you're already having those conversations on WhatsApp or iMessage, why would you uproot them into a side-channel inside Spotify? At best it duplicates what's happening elsewhere, and at worst it fractures the conversation into yet another notification stream. (Fortunately, users can turn off the function, too.)" A portion of the text is highlighted in light blue.$

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 6d

Friends of New_ Public Deborah Tien and Josh Nesbit talk about why bringing agency, consent, purpose to our digital relationships — and leaning into the weird — can deepen our connections with people around us.

Another inspiring conversation from Sam Pressler in Connective Tissue 💜

Building tech that's relational, place-based, participatory, and ~weird~

A Q&A with Josh Nesbit and Deborah Tien, co-founders of the Relational Tech Project

connectivetissue.substack.com

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 7d

With social media algorithms rewarding surprising videos filmed in public and internet detectives going viral, it’s no accident that anonymity is disappearing and we’re all opting in to unending surveillance.

archive.is/s5mQQ

Living in the panopticon means every person you meet is also someone who can ruin your life. Take “West Elm Caleb,” a guy who went viral for… dating. Apparently, he met women on dating apps, was briefly enthusiastic, and then ghosted them. (Not great behavior, but hardly uncommon.) Of course he was immediately doxxed. As the internet has increasingly traded on dating app screenshots for content, people have begun writing responses to each other with the assumption that the conversation won’t remain private. That does seem counter to, you know, dating, since a successful relationship requires vulnerability, the exact thing online daters now avoid.

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 7d

Have five minutes? Our own @joshpkramer.bsky.social has a lightning talk on Public Spaces Incubator and reconnecting public media to the public:

“When you give up on hosting the conversation, and you cede it to these companies, what happens when they go crazy?”

Open Technology Institute Lightning Talks: “Reconnecting Public Media to the Public”

YouTube video by New America

www.youtube.com

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 8d

Social media changed the game, and we’re seeing parallels in generative AI's potential to disrupt and transform.

In this excerpt of their new book, Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders make some predictions about AI's impact on our democracy and remind us we still have agency to shape the outcome.

🏛️🧨🪛 Will AI break democracy or fix it? Yes.

An excerpt from Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders' new book

newpublic.substack.com

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 8d

Learn more and apply here 💌

Social Media Fellow - NewPublic.org - Career Page

Apply to Social Media Fellow at NewPublic.org in Remote.

newpublicorg.applytojob.com

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 8d

Calling all digital storytellers! New_ Public is looking for a Social Media Fellow starting as soon as November.

As our work picks up steam, we need your help to spread the word about the movement to reconnect our communities and build a better social media.

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 8d

Amazing recommendations, thank you! Ursula Franklin was definitely on our long list.

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 13d

It's not only nonfiction. We think science fiction books like Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower are must reads.

And there are *many* more books on design, sociology, political science, and the failings of algorithmic social media that we can recommend.

Let us know what you want to see next! 📚

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 13d

Nobel Prize-winning economist Elinor Ostrom’s “Governing the Commons” and Priya Parker’s “The Art of Gathering” show the power of stewardship in physical spaces.

In our work, we try to adapt their principles to help people connect in online spaces.

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

How We Meet and Why It Matters

bookshop.org

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 13d

To call out a few: Robert Putnam’s books are a rallying cry to re-engage with our communities and be active citizens.

Putnam, alongside influential thinkers like Robin Wall Kimmerer and Jane Jacobs, have shaped our understanding of the power of community and inspired us to look for solutions.

Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

The Collapse and Revival of American Community

bookshop.org

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 13d

Introducing the New_ Public Canon: A non-exhaustive, in-no-particular-order selection of books about communities, technology, and civic life that our team loves and references (almost) every day.

What are we missing? Any recommendations?

Reading list titled 'The New_ Public Reading List Part 1: The Big Books' on purple background with coral section. Books listed: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs, Governing the Commons by Elinor Ostrom, The Filter Bubble by Eli Pariser (obviously), and The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters by Priya Parker. Decorative 3D geometric shapes in bottom right corner.

Reading list on coral background with purple footer. Title reads 'Let us know what we're missing!' Books listed: Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam, Governable Spaces by Nathan Schneider, Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy by Audrey Tang & E. Glen Weyl, and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Decorative 3D geometric shapes in bottom right corner.

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 13d

Learn more about the role and apply here

Research Fellow, AI & The Future of Social Conversation - NewPublic.org - Career Page

Apply to Research Fellow, AI & The Future of Social Conversation at NewPublic.org in Remote.

newpublicorg.applytojob.com

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 13d

How will technology continue to shape how we talk to each other? We’re seeking a researcher to help tackle big questions like this.

Working with Co-Director @eli.bsky.social, this is a chance to engage with experts, dive into the research, and contribute directly to the field and our strategy.

Job posting graphic with coral orange background featuring white text that reads "NOW HIRING Research Fellow - AI & The Future of Social Conversation" with an abstract geometric illustration of a door or archway. Details include 20-25 hours per week, $40/hour, remote position for U.S. or Canada, working through 2/28/26.

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 14d

There’s never been a better time to build the local, healthy, digital spaces we want and deserve.

If you’re in San Francisco tomorrow (October 1st), join our Co-Founder Deepti Doshi at the Good Neighbor Hack-a-Thon and be a part of the solution!

www.sfgoodneighborweek.org/good-neighbo...

Retro computer monitor displaying 'GOOD NEIGHBOR HACK-A-THON' with 'Hello, neighbor!' (where 'world' is crossed out) on screen. Two seals wearing Victorian houses as hats sit on either side of the beige computer, surrounded by yellow circular glows and white dash marks. A coffee cup sits in front of the keyboard. The background is bright magenta/purple.

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Reposted by New_ Public

Eli Pariser @eli.bsky.social · 14d

When I wrote the Filter Bubble in 2011, I portrayed an algorithmic tug of war between your impulsive, present-tense self and your more forward-thinking, aspirational self.

Now a big showdown between your long-term and short-term self is here. The question is, which side will your chatbot be on?

The era of hyperpersonalized content is here

Everyone needs to pay attention to the most recent AI products rolled out by OpenAI, Meta, and Google, because they tell us something important about the future of digital media. In the last week… Ope...

www.linkedin.com

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