PDN Pro-Social: Middleware & Discourse w/ Richard Reisman
Most of us in the responsible tech field have our focus on reforming social media platforms, pushing tech companies to create healthier environments where users have agency and discourse can flourish. But is there another strategy?
Join us for a conversation with Richard Reisman to discuss the potential of "middleware" - third party apps that mediate our social media experiences - to restore our agency and recreate the conditions for healthy social discourse. This will be a meaty conversation exploring innovative technologies, so we encourage you to read Richard's inspiring discussion of the promise of middleware and, if you want a deep dive, FAI's symposium paper on middleware.
About Richard: Richard Reisman is an independent media-tech innovator and frequent contributor to Tech Policy Press, who blogs on human-centered digital services and tech policy at SmartlyIntertwingled.com. Recent work includes contributions to CIGI’s Freedom of Thought Project and a series for Tech Policy Press on delegation and user choice and the media ecology and technical architectures that can regain social media’s promise for augmenting digital society, and most recently on how this also relates to AI. He has been studying and designing systems for augmenting human collaboration and for sensibly distributing control of technology for decades. Richard is Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation.
About Pro-Socials: Pro-Socials are informal meet-ups, where technologists and researchers can learn from - and inspire - each other around understanding and integrating prosocial design. Each Pro-Social includes a motivating question, conversation with experts and break-out convos where you can meet like-minded technologists (designers, product managers, entrepreneurs and trust & safety professionals) and researchers to share insights and begin to co-create new knowledge together.
In partnership with the Council on Technology and Social Cohesion.