How to Build a Social Network for Small Communities

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Zickeman says social networks don't need to focus on worthy sounding things like local community issues or politics in order to be a positive experience. To try and put this idea into practice, Zickeman's lab is building an experimental social network called Small Town that's designed for small communities.

Can we get rid of the bad bits of social media and keep the good? Is it possible to create a more positive social media experience than the one we get from the platforms that dominate the landscape today? In this episode, Elaine Moore asks what the social media platforms of the future should look like, and whether platforms designed for smaller groups of users with shared interests are the way forward.

We hear from writer and tech historian Benj Edwards about the BBS era of the early 1990s; University of Massachusetts professor Ethan Zuckerman; Sarah Gilbert, researcher at Cornell University and Reddit moderator; and Jonathan Abrams, partner at 8-Bit Capital and the creator of Friendster.

Presented by Elaine Moore. Produced by Edwin Lane and Josh Gabert-Doyon, Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Hannah Murphy.

Mentioned in this podcast:

The Lex Newsletter: Reddit and the API apocalypse

Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

Reddit stands firm in clash with users as blackout on forums escalates

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.