iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Sam Liebeskind

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 13/08/2026

Thrilled to share that our project @roundabout.town (give them a follow!) will be powering new, healthy digital public spaces in Chicago! This is part of Chicago.com, a partnership with Chicago Public Media, which is the @chicago.suntimes.com and @wbez.org. www.niemanlab.org/2026/08/can-...

niemanlab.org

Can public media build its own social network? Chicago Public Media teams up with New_ Public to try

"This is a community platform, not a news site — it's very much not a news site."

35421

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I feel like the social element that could be built within Spotify has long been neglected. I wish it was better (they seem to at least somewhat be moving in this direction), or that an even more open alternative emerges that does this well

010

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

@grain.social (apologies if this is a dumb question!) after I’ve created an account using my Bluesky login, is there a way to see a list of the people I follow on Bluesky who have Grain accounts and decide if I want to follow them on Grain too? Almost like import contacts

000

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Our team at @newpublic.org has spent the last couple of months co-designing & building Roundabout — a new platform to help local communities share information & support, without the chaos and toxicity common elsewhere. This week, we’re moving into a closed beta in 5 towns/cities across the US 👀

394

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Idk if follow friday is still a thing, but felt like doing a little thread to shoutout some of the people whose thinking & work around community and online spaces I've been appreciating recently...

220

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

As our team at @newpublic.org explores the idea of building a new, sustainable social product for local communities (think: a healthier alternative to Nextdoor or town-wide FB groups), I wrote up some of our initial thinking about how it all might work...

newpublic.substack.com

🧭🏘️📲 Exploring a new social product for local communities

We’re seeking local partners for collaboration as we pilot new concepts and designs

282

Reposted by Sam Liebeskind

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 10/04/2025

New_ Public Co-Director @deeptidoshi.bsky.social writes in @ssireview.bsky.social about how flourishing local digital spaces could be the next major cornerstone of civic infrastructure. Empowering local community stewards and finding new business models are important steps along the way.

ssir.org

Local Digital Spaces Are Essential Civic Infrastructure (SSIR)

With traditional community spaces underfunded and neglected, investing in the health of our online gathering places has become essential.

1146

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

The problem of social platforms isn’t algorithms. It’s algorithms that we don’t get to understand or control.

0112

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Great exploration of different ways to design systems that give people more control over their algorithms arxiv.org/pdf/2409.03247 by @leijiew.bsky.social, @cqz.bsky.social, @axz.bsky.social, and a couple of others

arxiv.org

371

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

A really great breakdown of how different types of social media algorithms work knightcolumbia.org/content/into...

knightcolumbia.org

Into the Driver’s Seat With Social Media Content Feeds

020

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Love the potential of this... "Staying informed about your community shouldn’t be a chore. Civic Sunlight delivers concise summaries of local government meetings straight to your inbox, saving you time and keeping you civically engaged." civicsunlight.ai

civicsunlight.ai

Civic Sunlight - Get the inside scoop on local decisions.

Stay informed, not overwhelmed. Civic Sunlight delivers local government meeting summaries to your inbox in a format that's easy to read.

010

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 24/09/2024

Local Facebook groups and other online spaces for towns & neighborhoods can be amazing, or awful. This new guide from our team at @newpublic.substack.com is full of advice for mods and admins who want to make their spaces more uplifting & inclusive newpublic.substack.com/p/just-launc...

newpublic.substack.com

🚀 📒 Just launched: Your essential guide to local digital community building

Best practices for creating and maintaining a public-spirited online space for your neighborhood, town, or city

043

Reposted by Sam Liebeskind

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 10/05/2024

Are you the creator, admin, or moderator of an online space for people in your local community? Do you strive to make it inclusive, uplifting, and public-spirited? Introducing our Neighborhood Steward Fellowship! Deadline: May 20 🗓️

newpublic.org

Neighborhood Steward Fellowship | New_ Public

An eight-week program bringing together leaders of local-oriented online spaces to experiment with fun new practices and ideas

122

Reposted by Sam Liebeskind

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 05/04/2024

📣🚨📣🚨 If you help run a digital space for your local neighborhood, town, or city, we want to hear from you! Think: a Facebook group, Subreddit, email list, or forum. We're are hoping to chat with a few people in the US, in exchange for a small stipend. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

023

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 08/12/2023

A beautiful zine for and by people thinking about the future of social spaces on the internet Includes a fun little piece I wrote on what digital product designers can learn from the field of urban planning sublime.app/zine Shoot me a DM if you want a discount code :)

020

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

Are more people creating tools that make it easy for people to create their own @bsky.app feed using natural language (i.e. I could say "make me a feed for posts related to sports from anyone I follow")? @skyfeed.app's "Feed Builder" and @skyline.gay by @louis02x.com are the best I've seen so far

020

Reposted by Sam Liebeskind

Mary Beth Hunzaker @mbhunzaker.bsky.social · 27/09/2023

⚠️Digital Community Researchers & Practitioners⚠️ What research/insights re:encouraging healthy digital communities do you wish more tech builders/designers were aware of? I’m refreshing our lit review on digital communities/community stewardship at New_ Public & would love to include your work!

294

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 22/08/2023

Have there been any social networks that limited the amount of times each person could post per day or week? BeReal (1x/day), Retro (1x/week), and I know Minus was an experiment where you had 100 posts for life (slightly different concept). Any others?

010

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 09/06/2023

Good new resource for anyone looking for a job / looking to hire in the "impact-tech" space www.tekalo.org

010

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 18/05/2023

Wrote up an overview of decentralized social networks for non-technical folks - maybe a little too 101 for most folks here, but I hope it's helpful for anyone trying to wrap their head around all the different emerging protocols newpublic.substack.com/p/the-summer…

000

Reposted by Sam Liebeskind

Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 04/05/2023

Wrote about content moderation questions, the "nazi bar" problem, impossible tradeoffs, & why I'm still kinda optimistic about how Bluesky/AT Protocol moderation could work: www.techdirt.com/2023/05/04/on-soci…

31305119

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 14/04/2023

bullish on the concept of AI summarization of social platform conversations like Narwhal is doing - especially if you can make it prioritize / focus on the views & sentiments of ppl you follow (alpha.thenarwhalproject.com/welcome) What other apps are playing with this kind of thing too?

010

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 11/04/2023

I'm excited to meet everyone! I'm thinking a lot these days about the future of digital public spaces (aren't we all?) so if that's your kind of thing, say whats up

020

Sam Liebeskind @sammy.bsky.social · 11/04/2023

Hi new bluesky friends ☀️☀️☀️

020