Sometimes, folks ask me why I've been advocating for #alternativeSocialMedia for over a decade now:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/technology/dhs-anti-ice-social-media.html

We just held another Alternative Social Media Reading Group meeting, this time discussing Hwang et al's fantastic paper, "Governing Together: Toward Infrastructure for Community-Run Social Media."

https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.19653

Looking forward to adding this to our library!

https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/bib.html

#alternativeSocialMedia #governance #fediverse

We just held another Alternative Social Media Reading Group meeting, this time discussing Hwang et al's fantastic paper, "Governing Together: Toward Infrastructure for Community-Run Social Media."

https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.19653

Looking forward to adding this to our library!

https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/bib.html

#alternativeSocialMedia #governance #fediverse

The first post of 2026 on the Alternative Social Media Researchers Blog is live! It's by @jjsylvia and it presents a syllabus of a course in social media ethics. The course uses a classroom instance of Mastodon to work through ethical issues in digital media.
https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/2026/01/12/teaching-mastodon.html
Replies to this post will appear as comments on the blog.
#Mastodon #pedagogy #alternativeSocialMedia

The first post of 2026 on the Alternative Social Media Researchers Blog is live! It's by @jjsylvia and it presents a syllabus of a course in social media ethics. The course uses a classroom instance of Mastodon to work through ethical issues in digital media.
https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/2026/01/12/teaching-mastodon.html
Are you also teaching using Mastodon or other alternative social media? Reach out to us!

#alternativeSocialMedia #pedagogy

@rra That presentation (co-authored with Roel) can now be found here:

https://robertwgehl.org/presentations/AOIR_ASM.html

and the 'script' is here:

https://robertwgehl.org/presentations/AOIR_ASMText.html

#alternativeSocialMedia #AoIR2025

@rra That presentation (co-authored with Roel) can now be found here:

https://robertwgehl.org/presentations/AOIR_ASM.html

and the 'script' is here:

https://robertwgehl.org/presentations/AOIR_ASMText.html

#alternativeSocialMedia #AoIR2025

Tomorrow I will present a paper co-authored with @rra, "What is 'alternative' about 'alternative social media'?"

If that title alone doesn't entice you, come for the shout-out to a really cool alternative social media system that began right here in #Brazil!

Then stick around for a 'Birds of a Feather' Alternative Social Media meetup!

https://www.conftool.org/aoir2025/index.php?page=browseSessions&form_session=642#paperID346

#alternativeSocialMedia #AoIR2025

Tomorrow I will present a paper co-authored with @rra, "What is 'alternative' about 'alternative social media'?"

If that title alone doesn't entice you, come for the shout-out to a really cool alternative social media system that began right here in #Brazil!

Then stick around for a 'Birds of a Feather' Alternative Social Media meetup!

https://www.conftool.org/aoir2025/index.php?page=browseSessions&form_session=642#paperID346

#alternativeSocialMedia #AoIR2025

A new post up on the Alternative Social Media Researchers blog! This one is making a strong claim: PeerSon was the first alternative social media system.

https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/2025/10/10/peerson.html

The post is based on a research collaboration between @rra and @rwg.

#alternativeSocialMedia

A new post up on the Alternative Social Media Researchers blog! This one is making a strong claim: PeerSon was the first alternative social media system.

https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/2025/10/10/peerson.html

The post is based on a research collaboration between @rra and @rwg.

#alternativeSocialMedia

Hey! If you're new to the fediverse and curious about it, may I humbly suggest my new book, Move Slowly and Build Bridges?

https://moveslowlybuildbridges.com/

It offers a history of Mastodon and discusses the highs and lows of content moderation and governance on the fediverse. This is a complex space, but... it's *our* space. We can make it what we want.

#fediverse #mastodon #alternativeSocialMedia

Hey! If you're new to the fediverse and curious about it, may I humbly suggest my new book, Move Slowly and Build Bridges?

https://moveslowlybuildbridges.com/

It offers a history of Mastodon and discusses the highs and lows of content moderation and governance on the fediverse. This is a complex space, but... it's *our* space. We can make it what we want.

#fediverse #mastodon #alternativeSocialMedia

There's a new Researcher Interview at the Alternative Social Media blog!

https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/2025/10/02/tkacz.html

In this interview, Nate Tkacz talks with Blake Hallinan about a new paper, "Eventful migration: Rethinking social media migration with help from Elon Musk’s sink," which is about the movement away from Twitter towards Mastodon in late 2022/early 2023.

#interviews #academicChatter #alternativeSocialMedia

There's a new Researcher Interview at the Alternative Social Media blog!

https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/2025/10/02/tkacz.html

In this interview, Nate Tkacz talks with Blake Hallinan about a new paper, "Eventful migration: Rethinking social media migration with help from Elon Musk’s sink," which is about the movement away from Twitter towards Mastodon in late 2022/early 2023.

#interviews #academicChatter #alternativeSocialMedia

This kind of came a bit unexpectedly today, but I have a new article out:

https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/1556

It focuses on those most controversial moderation tools on the #fediverse: #blocklists. I consider the philosophy and practice of listing to argue that those who run blocklist services work hard to mitigate their problems.

I also make a case that we simply need more scholarship on content moderation on #noncentralized, noncommercial social media.

#alternativeSocialMedia