Deepti Doshi: Co-Director of New_ Public
RadicalxChange(s)
The Role of Technology in Democracy
CNN's John Defterios talks to Mark Zuckerberg about the power of social networks. He says they can help people form communities that are more than just a single person. The Arab Spring is an example, but technology has its own challenges as well, he adds.
In today’s episode, Deepti Doshi, Co-Director of New_ Public (and leader in the intersection of social media, community organizing, and leadership development) speaks with Matt Prewitt on how to create online spaces that foster interconnection, mutual dependency, and democratic outcomes. Together, they explore the need for socio-technical expertise and community stewards to work together to design a healthier and more equitable digital ecosystem. They give consideration to the role of technology and tools in creating democratic spaces, and the potential impact of generative AI on social spaces and democracy. They share a hopeful and exciting outlook for building a more democratic political economy online.
References:
- Marshall Ganz (American scholar for grassroots organizing)
- 2012 Nirbhaya Case (TW: Sexual Assault)
- Arab Spring
- Lola Omolola (Nigerian journalist who founded the Female IN (FIN) group on Facebook - formerly “Female In Nigeria”)
- John Dewey (American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer (1859–1952)
- Transcript: Ezra Klein Interviews Danielle Allen - The New York Times
- New_ Public
- Community by Design | New_ Public
Bios:
Deepti Doshi co-leads New_Public with Eli Pariser and Talia Stroud. New_Public is a product studio for healthy digital public spaces; spaces where people can connect with one another, build understanding across differences, and work towards shared goals, and that are built to maximize plurality, equity, and cohesion - not financial returns.
Her work has focused on the intersection of social media, community organizing, and leadership development. Deepti was a Director at Meta, where she helped set up Meta's New Product Experimentation team, created the Community Partnerships team to build products (namely, Groups), programs, and partnerships that support community leaders, and led Internet.org across Asia.
Prior to Meta she founded Haiyya, India’s largest community organizing platform, Escuela Nueva India, an education company that serves the urban poor, and the Fellows Program at Acumen Fund to build leaders for the social enterprise sector.
Deepti is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and the Wharton Business School, and holds a bachelors degree in Psychology. She is a TED Fellow, an Aspen Institute First Movers Fellow and Ideas Scholar, and her work has been featured in multiple publications. She lives in Berkeley with her husband, Adrien, and two boys, Aiden and Luca. When not working, you can find her playing tennis, cooking, meditating, or planning the next block party.
Deepti’s Social Links:
Connect with New_ Public:
- New_ Public - Website
- @WeAreNew_Public | Twitter
- New_ Public | Instagram
- New_ Public | LinkedIn
- New_ Public | Substack Newsletter
Matt Prewitt (he/him) is a lawyer, technologist, and writer. He is the President of the RadicalxChange Foundation.
Matt’s Social Links:
- @m_t_prewitt | Twitter
- Matt’s Substack: Matt's Writings
Production Credits:
- Produced by G. Angela Corpus.
- Co-Produced and Audio Engineered by Aaron Benavides.
- Executive Produced by G. Angela Corpus and Matt Prewitt.
- Intro/Outro music by MagnusMoone, “Wind in the Willows,” is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
This is a RadicalxChange Production.
Connect with RadicalxChange Foundation:
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