DOCSLIB.ORG

Building a New Social Network

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Building a New Social Network Building a New Social Network SCAD | DGMT 720 OL | Professor Hilary Collins | Spring 2018 TABLE OF INTRODUCTION 3 - 7 RESEARCH 8 - 158 CONTENTS Secondary Research: Social Networks & Dating Networks 10 - 37 Primary Research: Interviews & Surveys 38 - 123 Network Users: Empathy Maps & Personas 124 - 138 Competitor Analysis 139 - 158 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 159 - 180 Building A Brand 161 - 169 Business Model Generation 170 - 178 Marketing Strategies 179 - 180 CONTENT DEVELOPMENT 181 - 193 User Driven Features 183 - 189 User Experience 190 - 193 PROTOTYPING 194 - 206 For Users 196 - 205 For Business 206 - 209 APPENDIX 211 - 245 2 THE GOAL of this project is to analyze the current social networking market and determine where there are opportunities for innovation. Using design thinking methods, we will construct a new social network and full prototype based on current gaps in the Online Dating social market. These gaps will be defined from contextual design inquiry, competitor analysis, and research into the user network. DESIGN THINKING is a highly effective approach to innovation which is based around a process, or a systematic way of thinking. The design thinking process follows a path of steps which covers research toward understanding the current market and its consumers, analysis of all gathered information, visualization and quick prototyping, an emphasis on close collaboration with the audience and team within all steps — all through a business-lens approach. Through these systematic steps for innovation, this approach will be successful in discovering a new approach to social media networking. (Lockwood, 2011) The Team Zubeida Alawi Rebecca Brand Danielle Barisic Tracy Mextorf PROJECT TIMELINE WORKING WALL Social Networks User Groups PROTOTYPING HMW Features Information Architecture Sketching- Mockups Online Dating Networks Empathy Map Sketch Brand Color Ideas 7 RESEARCH Secondary & Primary SECONDARY Contextual Analysis Procedure: We began by researching and breaking down current social networks to help us analyze social trends and topics within the RESEARCH current market space. Through synthesis of secondary research we decided to focus on and began developing an online dating network. We researched our PROCESS competitors and conducted interviews of current users, non users, bartenders and experience seekers. Then we defined our users, generated a business model of our network, developed a brand and created a network commercial. 1. Define ‘Social Network’ and Reasons Why People Use Them 2. Research and Compile Existing Social Networks Into Groupings 3. 2x2 Analysis Charts: Quantity vs. Quality 4. Define and Focus on One Opportunity Area: Online Dating 5. SWOT of Online Dating Networks 6. Different and Good chart 9 SECONDARY RESEARCH Social Networks REASONS PEOPLE USE SOCIAL NETWORKING We define Social Network as Serious Non-serious Platonic Relationships Relationships Friendships forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, Mentorship & Part of a Business Sharing Learning Community Opportunities Content and content. (Schauer and Schauer, 2018), (Boyd and Ellison, 2010) LANDSCAPE Initial Organization of Popular Social Networks 12 LANDSCAPE Online Dating Networks 13 LANDSCAPE Online Dating OVERVIEW OF COSTS & Networks FEATURES, CONTINUED 14 Google Drive link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1 wzjkqWdfFv4H1wRpmPP8TJ3I_nDdLFfXsd 89vhUV0rw/edit#gid=1543351677 LANDSCAPE To better understand the success of social networks, we bucketed the most popular Types of Social services by the following categories: Networks Personal Networks Status update networks Location networks Used to share information Used to post short status Used to share one’s real-time about ourselves with detailed updates in order to location, either as public online profiles through communicate with other information or as an update only connecting with others users quickly and identify for contacts that you’ve given important people to follow permission to see Content-sharing networks Shared-interest networks Used to share content, such as Used to connect a subset of individuals music, photo and videos through who share a common interest such as personal profiles, with ability to hobbies, political affiliations, ethnic make connections and interact backgrounds, religious views, sexual with other users orientations or other defining interests (Privacyrights.org, 2018) 15 A competitor analysis tool is a 2x2 where two axes are used to create a 2x2 comparison between two categories. We utilized this 2x2 tool to identify global, ANALYSIS large-scale trends and takeaways which would guide our next step in analysis. Users vs. Cost X Axis = Average # of Users Per Month Indicates the level of activity, and therefore, popularity (Most Famous, 2018). This was chosen to compare each of the top social networks in the five stated networking categories. To define the difference between less users vs. more users, the median value was used. Therefore, all platforms above 300M MAU were placed in the ‘More’ category and everything under that metric was considered ‘Less’ for this analysis. Y Axis = Cost Specifically Free vs. Not Free, was chosen as a comparative measure to visually see which types of social networks are most popular compared to whether or not the service charges it’s users.* *Due to the highly varying cost structures for some networks, and the varying types of features added at the different payment tiers, the cost axis was simplified to a binary category axis. 16 2x2: Users vs. Cost FREE SnapChat 300 Million DeviantArt Meetup SnapChat Instagram 11 Million 40 Million 300 Million 800 Million Life360 Foursquare Swarm Reddit Youtube 10 Million 50 Million 330 Million 1 Billion Glympse Pinterest Twitter FB Messenger 10 Million 175 Million 330 Million 1.2 Billion Nextdoor Neighbor Musical.ly Twitter WhatsApp 10 Million 200 Million 330 Million 1.5 Billion GromSocial LinkedIn Google+ Facebook 12 Million 260 Million 395 Million 2.2 Billion Houzz LinkedIn WeChat Facebook LESS # USERS 40 Million 260 Million 550 Million 2.2 Billion MORE # USERS PER MONTH PER MONTH Plenty Of Fish 90 Million Tinder 46 Million Match 24.5 Million Personal Networks Status update networks Location networks Content-sharing networks NOT FREE Shared-interest networks *Sources in Appendix 17 2x2 There is interest in researching Personal Networks further, since they have a unique, pay-for-service business model compared to other types of social ANALYSIS networks. Users vs. Cost 1. Monthly Active Users among popular networks in all 5 buckets spans between: a. Facebook - 2.2 Billion Takeaways b. Nextdoor Neighbor -10 Million 2. ‘Not Free’ networks only fall under Personal Networks. Plenty Of Fish, Tinder, and Match, all gain revenue from not only ads, but also a subscription service. 3. Networks that fall under multiple social network buckets: a. Facebook - Personal & Status Update b. Twitter - Status Update and Location c. SnapChat - Content Sharing & Location d. LinkedIn - Personal & Status Update 4. Value in fulfilling multiple types of needs within one network, because the four above networks ranked the highest (Facebook) in the number of users or at least around the median value (LinkedIn). This indicates that there could be. 5. Status Update Networks are the most popular in terms of users: 4 out of 5 networks fall into the quadrant of ‘More # of Users Per Month’ and Free. 6. Shared Interest Networks are congregated mostly within: ‘Less # of Users Per Month’ and ‘Free’. A stand-out statistic is Reddit, which exceeds SnapChat in ‘More # of Users Per Month. 18 2x2 A second 2x2 was conducted in order to increase the number of meaningful large-scale takeaways across all social media buckets. ANALYSIS Users vs. Time X Axis = Average # of Users Per Month A global metric which indicates the level of activity, and therefore, popularity (Most Famous, 2018). This was chosen to compare each of the top social networks in each of the below five categories. Y Axis = Time Spent on App Specifically 30 seconds - 90 minutes, was chosen as a comparative measure to visually see how much time people spend on an app. 19 2x2: Users vs. Time MORE TIME SPENT DeviantArt 11 Million 150 minutes/day Tinder 46 Million 82 mins/day WeChat 550 Million Match 66 mins/day 24.5 Million 63 mins/day Plenty Of Fish 90 Million WhatsApp 45 mins/day Youtube Facebook 1.5 Billion 1 Billion 2.2 Billion 40 mins/day 40 min/day 35mins/day LESS # USERS MORE # USERS PER PER MONTH SnapChat MONTH 300 Million Instagram 32 min/day 800 Million 24 min/day Reddit 330 Million FB Messenger Pinterest 15 min/day 1.2 Billion 175 Million 15 mins/day 14.2 min/day Meetup Musical.ly 40 Million 200 Million 7 mins/day 13 min/day Houzz 40 Million Google+ 4.5 min/day 395 Million 3.5 min/day Foursquare Swarm Personal Networks 50 Million 4 mins/day Status update networks Nextdoor Neighbor 10 Million Location networks 3 min/ day Twitter 330 Million Content-sharing networks 1 min/day LinkedIn Shared-interest networks 260 Million 30 seconds/day LESS TIME SPENT *Sources in Appendix 20 2x2 Findings and insights from the second 2x2 identified an opportunity within the Personal Network in the area of ‘online dating’ because people spend a lot of ANALYSIS time on personal apps, relatively compared to the other social network buckets. Users vs. Time 1. Time spent on social networks: 30 seconds (LinkedIn) towards 150 minutes (DeviantArt) per day Takeaways on any particular app. 2. Range of number of network users: 10 million (Nextdoor Neighbor) to 2.2 billion (Facebook). 3. Majority of users spend their time on Personal Networks and Status Update Networks and the least amount of time on Shared Interest Networks. 4. Most amount of users are on Personal Networks and Status Update Networks and the least amount of users on shared interest networks. 21 2x2 Based on the takeaways from 2x2 Analysis, the following are opportunities for further exploration. ANALYSIS Opportunity 1. Personal Networks: How might we further explore the an opening in the market using effective cost structure and Areas 1 the current drivers behind retaining network users.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Investor Presentation
    July 2021 Disclaimer 2 This Presentation (together with oral statements made in connection herewith, the “Presentation”) relates to the proposed business combination (the “Business Combination”) between Khosla Ventures Acquisition Co. II (“Khosla”) and Nextdoor, Inc. (“Nextdoor”). This Presentation does not constitute an offer, or a solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any securities, investment or other specific product, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities, investment or other specific product in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The information contained herein does not purport to be all-inclusive and none of Khosla, Nextdoor, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, and Evercore Group L.L.C. nor any of their respective subsidiaries, stockholders, affiliates, representatives, control persons, partners, members, managers, directors, officers, employees, advisers or agents make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information contained in this Presentation. You should consult with your own counsel and tax and financial advisors as to legal and related matters concerning the matters described herein, and, by accepting this Presentation, you confirm that you are not relying solely upon the information contained herein to make any investment decision. The recipient shall not rely upon any statement, representation
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Content Manager
    OFFICE OF CHAIR NATHAN FLETCHER IS HIRING Job Title: Digital Content Manager We are seeking a Digital Content Manager to work with the Director of Communications and Multimedia Designer to plan, create and deliver a robust and engaging digital media program. The person we are looking for must have the skills to help us connect directly to target audiences, build trust, create organic online dialogue and expand our reach using digital channels, including website, social media platforms, blogs, email campaigns, mobile, and new innovations in digital. In this role, the person will develop strategies, craft written content for all platforms, and create special campaigns. This person will be our expert in getting the most from our digital platforms and analyze the results to ensure the Office of Chair Nathan Fletcher is effectively communicating about its policies, positions, initiatives and events with its online communities. Essential Duties and Responsibilities Primary Functions ● Manage digital media and content strategy, including website, all social media platforms, email and newsletter program, blog, etc. ● Develop & execute a weekly social media calendar that includes posts for all Office digital media platforms, with timely and relevant content throughout. ● Develop & publish a weekly newsletter from the Office that goes out to constituents, highlighting news, priorities, & services. ● Maintain the Office Website, including routine updating of News Articles, Press Releases, and other requests made by staff members. ● Develop and manage digital campaigns, from concept to launch to evaluation. ● Develop and manage editorial calendars and outline monthly content plans. ● Analyze analytics of the different digital media platforms weekly, monthly and annually in order to optimize posting to ensure the communication team is meeting goals.
    [Show full text]
  • Facebook Nextdoor Twitter Digital Ads Press Enews Streaming
    Setting Speed Limits: Public Input Summary, December 2019 I. Background Between May 2018 and June 2019, staff and the community actively developed the Vision Zero Action Plan. A part of the plan identified two speed-related strategies utilizing the safe systems approach that focuses on all types of road users including bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists. The safe systems approach acknowledges that people will make mistakes and seeks to design a system that allows for these mistakes, rather than expecting perfect driving behavior, to minimize death and injury. The city hosted public meetings and opened an online forum to gather public input on lowering speed limits in the city. II. Outreach Four public meetings were held on Saturday, November 16 (16 attendees), Thursday, November 21 (14 attendees), Thursday, December 11, 2019 (34 attendees) and Saturday, December 14 (41 attendees). The topic was posted online from November 16 – December 28, 2019 on Tempe Forum and received a total of 233 unduplicated survey responses. FACEBOOK NEXTDOOR TWITTER DIGITAL ADS 11/13 – public meetings 11/13 – public meetings 11/13 – public meetings 11/1-21 public meetings Reach/Impressions: 3,122 Reach/Impressions:14,915 Reach/Impressions: 3,341 Reach/Impression Engagement: 603 Engagement: 603 Engagement: 48 168,604 Engagement: 200 12/5 – public meetings 12/5 – public meetings 12/5 – public meetings Reach/Impressions: 3,269 Reach/Impressions:10,378 Reach/Impressions: 5,143 12/1-14 public meetings Engagement: 759 Engagement: 117 Engagement: 62 Reach/Impressions: 262,043 Engagement: 387 STREAMING PRESS ENEWS 12/15-28 public input Reach/Impressions: Pandora ads 10/30 – public meetings 11/14 – Tempe this Week: 60,771 Impressions: 104,851 Emails sent: 1,489 Emails sent: 3,774 Engagement: 238 Click rate: 44 open rate: 27.8% open rate: 33.8% 12/05 – public meetings 12/12 – Tempe this Week: IHeartRadio ads Impressions: 47,248 Emails sent: 1,551 Emails sent: 3,764 Click rate: 0 open rate: 30.9% open rate: 35.5% III.
    [Show full text]
  • Providence Outline Detailed
    Latest Tips & Tactics for Connecting with Social Shoppers Get Your Message to Your Market and Sell More Stuff presented by Irene Williams - [email protected] ! I. Introduction A. Once Upon a Time on Instagram: A Case Study 1. Actual Food Nashville - The story of how I happened upon a pop-up brunch, Haymakers (J Michaels new brand), and master barber TJ Klausing, and ultimately became a devoted customer of all of the above B. The Current State and Latest Stats of the Digital-Social-Mobile Marketplace 1. According to a recent L2 study (L2 is a business intelligence service that tracks the digital competence of brands), department stores are expected to grow 22 percent globally over the next five years, and one key to success is enhancing traditional retail campaigns with effective digital marketing strategies. 2. The numbers for social are huge. We all need to fish where the fish are, and clearly the fish are very social. Numbers below are reflect data from 1st and 2nd quarters 2014. a) Twitter: 271 million active users / 500 million Tweets sent daily / 78% mobile b) Facebook: 1.23 billion active users / 874 million mobile / 728 million daily / Avg 20 minutes per session c) Instagram: 182 million active users / 58 million pix per day d) Pinterest: 70+ million active users / 75% mobile / Avg. 14 minutes per session e) Google+: 400 million active users / Avg 3:46 minutes per session f) YouTube: 1 billion active users per month / 6 billion hours of video watched monthly g) LinkedIn: 300 million users h) Tumblr: 199.1 visitors globally per month / 69.1 million monthly in U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Media Report By
    Social GWI’s flagship report on the latest trends in social media 04 Discover our data Methodology 06 Key insights & definitions 08 The psychology of social media All figures in this report are drawn from GWI’s May-November 2020, which are carried out in – how has the pandemic enhanced or online research among internet users aged the U.S. and UK only. Our September Zeitgeist altered key attitudes toward social media? 16-64. We only interview respondents aged study is the only exception, as it covers the 16-64 and our figures are representative of the following 7 countries: Brazil, China, France, 14 Tracking time spent online populations of each market, not its total Germany, India, UK, and the U.S. – are we spending as long on social population. Note that in many markets in Latin sites as we did during lockdowns? America, the Middle-East and Africa, and the Throughout this report we refer to indexes. Asia-Pacific region, low internet penetration Indexes are used to compare any given group 22 Lining up the leading platforms rates can mean online populations are more against the average (1.00), which unless oth- In this – which platforms have seen recent young, urban, affluent and educated than the erwise stated refers to the global average. For increases or drops in popularity? total population. example, an index of “1.20” means that a given group is 20% above the global average, and an report 30 Keeping tabs on behavioral trends Each year, GWI interviews over 688,000 internet index of “0.80” means that an audience is 20% – how have online social behaviors fluctuated users aged 16-64 via an online questionnaire for below the global average.
    [Show full text]
  • Dating App 20140708.Key
    From ‘Like’ to Love: How Brands Can Woo Users on Messaging and Dating Apps 7/10/14 Dating goes digital The generation accustomed to communicating at all times is coming of age and bringing the same attitude to their romantic lives. ! “ I think in the time I was in a relationship, all dating communication went exclusively to text. You can’t call anybody anymore. If you call someone, they’re like ‘What? Are you on fire? Then quit wasting my time. Text me that [stuff].’” – Aziz Ansari, Comedian Credit: Comedy Central © 2013 IPG Media Lab. Proprietary & Confidential 2 We heart mobile dating apps Online dating services and apps are an increasingly common way to meet potential mates: • 1 in 3 single Americans have used an online dating service • 1 in 6 couples married in the last three years met online ! Graph Sources: marketingland.com/founders-whisper-tinder-75424; www.internetlivestats.com ! ! Sources: www.pewinternet.org/2013/10/21/online-dating-relationships/ cp.match.com/cppp/media/CMB_Study.pdf © 2013 IPG Media Lab. Proprietary & Confidential 3 Dating apps moved to mobile as messaging apps began to proliferate © 2013 IPG Media Lab. Proprietary & Confidential 4 But it’s not just dating apps Dating apps, social networks, and messaging apps are blurring as people seek, create, and document new relationships: • Glimpse connects people based on their Instagram photos • LinkedUp turns the professional site into a dating platform • Kik users share usernames instead of digits on multiple platforms © 2013 IPG Media Lab. Proprietary & Confidential 5 What’s going on here? As we noted in our white paper on Messaging Apps , messaging platforms are fighting for consumers and introducing new features to increase audience engagement.
    [Show full text]
  • Facebook Dating Application
    Facebook Dating Application A Business Plan by Koen Heine, Alex Paninder & Fai Nopsuwanwong Idea: A Facebook dating application that will revolutionize the way people meet and date on the Internet. By choosing a superior business model, our company will outperform our competitors and change the faith of single people forever. This business plan is confidential. Business idea in itself or information from this description may not be used, reproduced or made available to third parties without the prior written permission of Koen Heine. 5/4/2011 Final Hand in –Entrepreneurship Program Facebook Dating Application Executive Summary The Internet is becoming an increasingly big part of our lives. We read the news, discover new music, watch video clips and communicate with social contacts. Meeting a romantic partner is a logical extension of the technology. This is where dating websites come in. However, research has shown that while people spend a lot of time on these websites, they are dissatisfied with the payoff. Despite the problems with current online dating solutions, the industry is estimated to be worth about $3-4 billion a year. The business model of choice for existing websites can be separated in monthly subscriptions and free dating sites that make money through advertising. According to competitive research by OkCupid, men are usually the contact initiator. On the paid dating website eHarmony, a man can expect a reply only 30% of the time, mainly because the receiving woman is not a paying member and is unable to reply. Scholarly research on a major American dating websites finds that women reply only 15.9% of the time.
    [Show full text]
  • An Empirical Analysis of Online Dating∗
    What Makes You Click: An Empirical Analysis of Online Dating¤ GÄunter J. Hitsch Ali Horta»csu Dan Ariely University of Chicago University of Chicago MIT Graduate School of Business Department of Economics Sloan School of Management January 2005 Abstract This paper uses a novel data set obtained from a major online dating service to draw inferences on mate preferences and the match outcomes of the site users. The data set contains detailed information on user attributes such as income, education, physique, and attractiveness, as well as information on the users' religion, political inclination, etc. The data set also contains a detailed record of all online activities of the users. In particular, we know whether a site member approaches a potential mate and receives a reply, and we have some limited information on the content of the exchanged e-mails. A drawback of the data set is that we do not observe any \o²ine" activities. We ¯rst compare the reported demographic characteristics of the site users to the characteristics of the population-at-large. We then discuss the conditions under which the user's observed behavior reveals their mate preferences. We estimate these preferences and relate them to own and partner attributes. Finally, we predict the equilibrium structure of matches based on the preference estimates and a simple matching protocol, and compare the resulting sorting along attributes such as income and education to observed online matches and actual marriages in the U.S. ¤We thank Babur De los Santos, Chris Olivola, and Tim Miller for their excellent research assistance. Seminar participants at the Choice Symposium in Estes Park, Northwestern University, the 2004 QME Conference, the University of Chicago, and the Stanford GSB provided valuable comments.
    [Show full text]
  • Regulation OTT Regulation
    OTT Regulation OTT Regulation MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS EUROPEAN UNION DELEGATION TO BRAZIL (MCTIC) Head of the European Union Delegation Minister João Gomes Cravinho Gilberto Kassab Minister Counsellor - Head of Development and Cooperation Section Secretary of Computing Policies Thierry Dudermel Maximiliano Salvadori Martinhão Cooperation Attaché – EU-Brazil Sector Dialogues Support Facility Coordinator Director of Policies and Sectorial Programs for Information and Communication Asier Santillan Luzuriaga Technologies Miriam Wimmer Implementing consortium CESO Development Consultants/FIIAPP/INA/CEPS Secretary of Telecommunications André Borges CONTACTS Director of Telecommunications Services and Universalization MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS Laerte Davi Cleto (MCTIC) Author Secretariat of Computing Policies Senior External Expert + 55 61 2033.7951 / 8403 Vincent Bonneau [email protected] Secretariat of Telecommunications MINISTRY OF PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT + 55 61 2027.6582 / 6642 [email protected] Ministry Dyogo Oliveira PROJECT COORDINATION UNIT EU-BRAZIL SECTOR DIALOGUES SUPPORT FACILITY Secretary of Management Gleisson Cardoso Rubin Secretariat of Public Management Ministry of Planning, Development and Management Project National Director Telephone: + 55 61 2020.4645/4168/4785 Marcelo Mendes Barbosa [email protected] www.sectordialogues.org 2 3 OTT Regulation OTT © European Union, 2016 Regulation Responsibility
    [Show full text]
  • Using Locative Social Media and Urban Cartographies to Identify and Locate Successful Urban Plazas
    Cities 64 (2017) 66–78 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cities journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities Using locative social media and urban cartographies to identify and locate successful urban plazas Pablo Martí ⁎, Leticia Serrano-Estrada, Almudena Nolasco-Cirugeda University of Alicante, Building Sciences and Urbanism Department, Carretera San Vicente del Raspeig s/n., 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain. article info abstract Article history: Locative social media networks as open sources of data allow researchers and professionals to acknowledge Received 25 November 2016 which city places are preferred, used and livable. Following this hypothesis, this paper proposes a methodology Received in revised form 18 January 2017 to identify successful public spaces – plazas – through the location-based social media network Foursquare and to Accepted 18 February 2017 analyze their urban position using morphological and historical cartographies. Available online 24 February 2017 The overall methodology comprises three stages. First, the most important cities of the province of Alicante were fi Keywords: selected. Second, the most relevant plaza of each city was identi ed using data retrieved from the social network Public space Foursquare. Finally, the location of each plaza is analyzed in relation to the historic center and the main axes of the Plaza city. Possible correlations between their urban location and their vibrant character were subsequently identified. Square Two findings have emerged from this study: (a) a strong spatial relationship exists between the most successful Social networks plazas and the historic city center, which reinforces their traditional social character; and (b) all plazas share two Livable spaces similar traits, their location within the urban network and their proximity to the main axes of the city.
    [Show full text]
  • The Public Square Project
    THE PUBLIC SQUARE PROJECT The case for building public digital infrastructure to support our community and our democracy With majority support from Australians on curbing Facebook’s influence and role on our civic spaces, it is time to create an alternative social network that serves the public interest Research report Jordan Guiao Peter Lewis CONTENTS 2 // SUMMARY 3 // INTRODUCTION 5 // REIMAGINING THE PUBLIC SQUARE 10 // A NEW PUBLIC DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE 12 // CONSIDERATIONS IN BUILDING PUBLIC DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE 17 // TOWARDS THE FUTURE 19 // CONCLUSION 20 // APPENDIX — ALTERNATE SOCIAL NETWORKS OVER TIME The public square is a place where citizens come together, exchange ideas and mediate differences. It has its origins in the physical town square, where a community can gather in a central and open public space. As towns grew and technology progressed, the public square has become an anchor of democracy, with civic features like public broadcasting creating a space between the commercial, the personal and the government that helps anchor communities in shared understanding. 1 | SUMMARY In recent times, online platforms like Facebook In re-imagining a new public square, this paper have usurped core aspects of what we expect from proposes an incremental evolution of the Australian a public square. However, Facebook’s surveillance public broadcaster, centred around principles business model and engagement-at-all-costs developed by John Reith, the creator of public algorithm is designed to promote commercial rather broadcasting, of an independent, but publicly-funded than civic objectives, creating a more divided and entity with a remit to ‘inform, educate and entertain’ distorted public discourse.
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluating Platform Election-Related Speech Policies Platform Policy Details
    Evaluating Platform Election-Related Speech Policies Platform Policy Details In practice, policies covering election-related content often intersect with other platform policies, such as those addressing misleading information, threats of violence, or health misinformation. However, this overview of platform policies is mostly restricted to those that specifically refer to elections and voting in order to shed light on how platforms are preparing for the upcoming election. Again, it is important to note that the comprehensiveness of these policies isn’t a guarantee of their effectiveness or of ​their consistent enforcement, and information other than content is also taken into account, such as the gravity of the infringement, the nature of the account posting the content, and prior infringements made by the account posting the content. Nevertheless, these are the policies as they appear in each platforms’ community guidelines. This document is intended to contribute to our understanding of the platforms’ policies in three ways: it offers a summary of each platform’s policies, provides a detailed breakdown of how these policies fall into separate election-related categories, and explains how we arrived at each rating. First Published: August 18, 2020. Updated: September 4, 2020. Facebook Facebook’s policy is the most detailed in terms of content related to election-related misinformation and disinformation; this specificity includes ​statements from Facebook’s leadership​ on how consequences of infringement will be implemented, including labeling content the platform chooses to leave up under its “newsworthiness” policy with a ​prompt​ that the content the user is sharing may violate Facebook policies. However, Facebook also has some broad clauses that make it difficult to determine what specific content would fall under the policy.
    [Show full text]