☀️🍉⛱ Summer Updates
Is that a vibe shift I feel?
Last August I took over as Newsletter Editor. I’m proud that I’ve been able to write all sorts of weird, thought-provoking pieces here in the newsletter, with the help of Wilfred Chan, Eli Pariser and the rest of the New_ Public Team. This is my last newsletter as Editor. However, I’ll be continuing to write here regularly, and I’m excited to watch how the newsletter and our community evolve.
Before I leave, and in case you missed them the first time, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite editions, organized into a few common threads:
We’ve examined unusual platforms, and done dives on aspects of large platforms that function as digital public space for users.
🌄 MetaFilter’s rule-laden mini-utopia
🎁 The rules for buying nothing
🤵🏻♂️👰🏽♀️ Something old, something new, and something scalable
We also found a lot of wisdom in history, both from early in the social internet, and far earlier in the timeline of American innovation.
☮️ Lessons from a radical, anti-establishment bulletin board
🛩 Soaring through history
🦃 Thanksgiving’s origin is a technology story
And sometimes, we’ve gone deep into the nitty gritty of how social platforms work and exactly what we should be concerned with if we’re going to fix the apps we’ve got and build flourishing new spaces online.
🕵️♂️ The case for integrity workers
🛑 Stopping viral toxicity before it starts
🤔 What comes after the social feed?
In the spirit of living our values and creating time for reflection and rest, we are switching to a summer schedule, and sending a newsletter every other Sunday until the fall. We will be using the time to catch up on reading, connect IRL and explore new provocations, voices, and spaces to bring you. Look for our next issue on July 10th.
As I transition, we have also been reflecting on how we bring more voices from New_ Public’s extended community to the newsletter. Your perspectives on healthy digital public spaces have influenced how we think about building them, and we want to share your viewpoints and ideas to our broader community. Moving forward, we are looking to bring more of these voices here to you. If you are interested in being a contributing writer in one of our upcoming issues, let us know.
Thanks for everything, and I look forward to being a reader and contributing writer, starting in two weeks.
Signing off,
Josh Kramer
Gif made of illustrations drawn for New_ Public by Josh Kramer. Follow Josh’s travels at his newsletter.
New_ Public is a partnership between the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas, Austin, and the National Conference on Citizenship, and was incubated by New America.