Sam Liebeskind

Our model, which we call Form-From , characterizes social media based on (1) the form of the content, either threaded or flat, and (2) from where or from whom one might receive content, ranging from spaces to networks to the commons.

For example, in one experiment, Stroud found that when comment sections on news sites replaced the “like” button with a “respect” button, users engaged with the content and each other in a less partisan way. In a few cases, the “respect” button led people to be more willing to click on comments expressing politics that differed from their own.

Audience growth, however, has rarely been romantic.

“We’ve gotten really good at Meta lead ads,” Heafy said. “We can acquire subscribers for under a dollar.”

Despite Facebook’s declining cultural cachet, Heafy remains blunt about its effectiveness. The company uses paid acquisition as a baseline, comparing every other growth tactic against it.

We can immediately rule out reproducing the current system in which a tiny number of companies govern permissible speech and what safety means for billions of people. We don't want social media that's like Twitter except without a demented owner. You cannot fix social media by having a non-profit run it or by guiding it with some ethical principles... See more