Directions for ‘civic social media’: designing and managing trusted online community spaces

Date

3:00 pm—3:20 pm · June 11, 2025

Room

Auditorium / Livestreamed

Recent developments at Facebook and X have shown the need for 'civic social media' platforms — thriving and trusted digital meeting spaces that allow communities to safely meet, without economic exploitation or the fear of harassment. What does it take to design and manage such sites?

The Civic Interaction Design Research Group (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) has teamed up with PubHubs, a public values-based Dutch community network, to carry out user research and develop use cases that can be put into practice by various public organisations, from libraries and cities to patient advocacy groups. Our design research has led to the establishment of various principles such as ‘a warm welcome’, ‘thriving communities’, and ‘relationality’ and turned these into UX propositions.

Building upon these insights with Public Spaces — a coalition of over 40 public institutions in the Netherlands fighting for an internet based on public values — we have also drawn up a road map for the further development of social civic media, highlighting the role of design, technology, policy and public organisations in its realisation.

Hear an overview of civic social media use cases, the implications for public organisations, a series of design principles to actualise them, and a peek into the future by means of a road map. If you are a designer, platform owner, public organisation, or policy maker, be inspired to reflect on civic social media and your role in its realisation.