Five Takeaways from the Public Spaces conference
June 15, 2025•330 words
Last week I attended the 2025 Public Spaces conference, in the funky Pakhuis De Zwijger Amsterdam. It was a popular and crammed event - hundreds of enthusiastic attendees committed to designing a version of the Internet based on public values.
Here are five takeaways from the event.
Rethinking the Metric: Current social media networks encourage quantiative, one way engagement - increase the number of followers! get more likes! Look at us and performative attention grabbing!
How then can we rethink our use of social media, focussing on community (more than on simply communications), and on in-depth engagement with users? Significant examples are the of Mastadon by Groningen University Library, and the launch of the Next Social manifesto.
Don't hide behind technical complexity. Don't fall for the corporate stories of hyperdata centres, of massive computing power, of the need for more and more computer power. Don't fall into the belief it can't be done because it's too complex. NLnet has made significant contributions to multiple tools with limited means. Open source already powers many of the systems round the world, based on a small number of developers.
The Internet started as means to keep communication after a nuclear attack. Future US investment in Big Tech is likely to consolidate this military context, especially the current government: and thus with values a long way from the public good.
But don't forget why BigTech and gigantic social networks are so popular. They are cheap to use, have slick interfaces and often meet a need that was not met elsewhere. We ignore this at our peril.
An extended role for libraries? Regaining digital sovereignty is not just about interoperable tools that don't slurp up your private data. It's also about communities. Groups of people forming, sharing ideas, resources and training, and collaborativily developing new networks and tools, away from the searchlight of BigTech. Libraries are the shared space that can empower individuals and organisations to do just that.