Reckoning with the Evolving Social Media Landscape

Over the last five years new platforms like TikTok, Bluesky, and Truth Social have grown in popularity, and established ones like Twitter have been captured and transformed by concentrated interests, spurring rapid and profound changes to the social media landscape. An ecosystem once dominated by large, pluralistic platforms has splintered into a mosaic of small, highly differentiated digital communities. This shift has unleashed novel designs and business strategies including ultra-personalized feeds, decentralized governance and web architectures, and significant modifications to content moderation.

These developments raise important questions about the future of social media and its effects on individual users and society as a whole. While users now have more choices available, the experience of using these platforms could also introduce new risks. Entire platforms have descended into echo chambers populated by like-minded groups of users, reinforcing long-standing concerns about the connection between social media and polarization. And popular decentralized platforms like Bluesky and Mastodon may lack adequate resources and technical infrastructure to effectively govern their rapidly growing digital communities, which has motivated independent groups to launch new initiatives in support of the resilience and viability of these platforms.

This discussion will reckon with the recent evolution of social media and its consequences for our everyday life. Bringing together leading experts – including researchers, advocates, and technologists – the panel will survey a fragmented social media ecosystem and unpack its implications for platform governance and technology policy in the years ahead.

Key Questions

1. What factors have driven the popularity of new platforms like TikTok, Bluesky, and Truth Social in recent years? 
2. How are these spaces different from the large, centralized platforms that have dominated social media markets until recently, and what implications do these differences have for individuals and society? 
3. What unique governance challenges do decentralized platforms face, including in maintaining community standards and information integrity?
4. What challenges and opportunities does this more fragmented social media landscape present for policy and law? What changes are possible and needed? 

Moderator: Zander Arnao, KGI

Speakers:  

• Renée DiResta, Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy
• Sean Martin McDonald, Digital Public
• Samantha Lai, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Prithvi Iyer, Tech Policy Press