New businessmodels for new social media

Recent developments at Meta and X underline the urgent need for alternative social media platforms. In the Netherlands, PublicSpaces—a network of public and civil society organisations—has been working for several years on building a landscape of Civic Social Media: platforms designed for people rather than profit,. These platforms are based on public values rather than profit margins.

Our goal is to create a decentral system of interoperable platforms built on public values, managed in a sovereign manner by organisations and initiatives with a social mission.

Together with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), PublicSpaces developed a roadmap for the further development of civic social media, highlighting the roles of design, technology, policy, and public organisations. A key challenge identified is the need for alternative business models that can sustainably support these platforms without undermining public values.

In this workshop, we share lessons learned and challenges encountered, and engage the audience in an open discussion on viable, value-driven business models for civic social media.