Ashwin Nagappa

This is a flyer inviting participants to join a study to share their thoughts on making new social media platforms safe and welcoming

Are you active on platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, Pixelfed, or Eurosky? Please consider participating in an asynchronous brainstorming activity to share your suggestions to make them safer. See project details and sign up here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx

@qutdmrc.bsky.social @admscentre.org.au

Internet Protocols, Power and the Rebirth of the Border Connectivity is political, and governance must accept that fact, writes Konstantinos Komaitis. The age of innocence is over, and the age of empires is emerging.

When it comes to Internet governance, the age of innocence is over. The question isn't whether states govern the net—they do. It's whether power can be made predictable, reciprocal & bound. That's the only narrow path forward, says Konstantinos Komaitis.

We look forward to hearing all perspectives to help us understand and develop frameworks for building and sustaining prosocial digital media spaces.
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The study will be non-binding, conducted online, and asynchronous, allowing participants to contribute at their convenience. Please watch for official details on how to participate in the study in the coming days.
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GCM brings together diverse viewpoints and helps identify the key ideas at the heart of complex issues—in this case, the challenge of building and sustaining prosocial spaces.
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Group concept mapping - Wikipedia

We invite participants to contribute their perspectives through a group concept-mapping study (learn more at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_c...).
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Therefore, we will be inviting stakeholders, users, instance owners, developers, and moderators involved in emerging platforms—whether using ActivityPub (Fediverse), ATproto (Atmosphere), or other novel approaches— that aim to build a prosocial digital media landscape.

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Understanding solutions for social media governance is a complex challenge that cannot be addressed by a small research team alone.

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The project is hosted at the @qutdmrc.bsky.social and
@admscentre.org.au. You can find more details about the project here: decenteredsocial.info

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AXA Research Fund <div>Supporting Scientific Research to Protect What Matters</div>

Hello World
I wanted to share an update on my project, supported by the AXA Research Fund axa-research.org postdoctoral fellowship. The project aims to identify the optimal characteristics of decentralised social media platforms that foster prosocial digital spaces (promote safe communication)
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I predict we will hear the term "interoperable" much more often than before. In a time when we are overwhelmed by AI, we have an opportunity to build a different, less harmful internet for ourselves—if we can embrace kindness and patience. 3/3

I am optimistic about the new developments in the Fediverse (ActivityPub) and Atmosphere (atproto), which aim to solve past problems and create a kinder digital space. It feels reminiscent of the 90s, but with a more thoughtful, deliberate approach and sensitive leadership. 2/3

It feels like we have been living in 2020 again, surrounded by grief, anger, and despair. However, I want to share what gives me hope that one day we will move beyond the pandemic and the infodemic. 1/3

Scientists have developed a life-saving antivenom from the deadliest venom. Don't think PR agencies, ad firms or tech giants could do the same. But they are apparently in charge of social media safety. Social scientists have better answers to make social media a safer space, if only we are heard

A poor answer to a complex problem Australia’s social media ban won’t protect teens, but it shows who holds power. Europe should make sure to choose a different path

I’ve published a new piece in IPS Journal (in English and German) on Australia's social media age-ban, a policy that disconnects millions of young people from key online spaces while giving us no real way to measure what it achieves.
www.ips-journal.eu/work-and-dig...

In case you hadn’t seen it yet, this is just brilliant, brilliant news – very excited for our wonderful early-career researchers at the @qutdmrc.bsky.social.

#AANZCA25 folks, you might be interested in hearing about these projects too…

Congratulations!! 🎉

AI chatbots are encouraging conspiracy theories – new research If you interact with chatbots about conspiracy theories, research shows you can can easily fall down the rabbit hole.

PhD researcher Kate FitzGerald has a new article out in The Conversation today looking at generative AI chatbots and conspiracy theories.

My @qutdmrc.bsky.social colleague @katemfitzgerald.bsky.social has a great new piece in @aunz.theconversation.com about what happened when we asked AI chatbots about conspiracy theories. The results were … mixed. ☹️

ADM+S researchers awarded 2025 Queensland-Bavaria Collaborative Research Grants - ADM+S Centre ADM+S researchers have been awarded more than $100,000 under the 2025 Queensland-Bavaria Collaborative Research Program, supporting research in the use of AI in news personalisation and online search.

Congratulations to ADM+S researchers awarded grants under the 2025 Queensland–Bavaria Collaborative Research Program, supporting projects that advance research in the responsible use of AI in news personalisation and online search. Read more bit.ly/4ngSRcc

Check previous posts from the Search Experience blog series

Part 1 - medium.com/automated-de...

Part 2 - medium.com/automated-de...

Part 3 - medium.com/automated-de...

We discuss the foundations of information, the role of information producers, the evolution of SEO, and how all of these are being reconfigured in the age of AI.

Watch out for more work from @admscentre.org.au , Australian Search Experience 2.0 project in the following months.

As AI transforms how we discover and create information, privately controlled gateways—such as search engines, social media, and AI platforms—gain significant power over what content is visible and what fades into obscurity.

The road is a metaphor for a network. The town represents the digital information you, I, and others produce and share on the internet. Search engines and digital media platforms are private entities that govern traffic, flow, and information.

What happens when the only road to your town is privately owned—and they change the rules overnight?

In this concluding post of our Search Experience blog series, we (@kkasianenko.bsky.social, @olegzendel.bsky.social and I) explore the impact of AI on the information ecosystem.

“My first thought was Africa”: Gates as a floating signifier in global COVID-19 philanthropy discussions on X Philanthropists play an important role in tackling global crises. As observed in scholarly studies and acknowledged by philanthropists themselves, the…

@guangnanrio.bsky.social, Uttama Barua, George Gyamfi, Shima Saniei and I have published an article piloted at SICSS-Sydney (organised by @olgarithmic.bsky.social @sssharc.bsky.social). In it, we show the breakdown of trust in global philanthropy. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

2026 DMRC Summer School – QUT Digital Media Research Centre 2026 DMRC Summer School | 2 - 6 February 2026The DMRC 2026 Summer School is back again for another year, featuring interactive sessions showcasing digital...

Delegate registration will open the week of the 13th October 2026, so please keep an eye out on our socials and webpage for the release. To sign up to our Summer School mailing list and for further information, visit our website:

! SAVE THE DATE !
The DMRC 2026 Summer School is back again on our Kelvin Grove Campus in Brisbane, Australia from 2 February to 6 February 2026, featuring interactive sessions showcasing digital humanities and social science research across key programs and projects within the DMRC.

People are using ChatGPT twice as much as they were last year. They’re still just as skeptical of AI in news. "For news organizations, our findings are in some ways bitter medicine."

"The generative AI wave isn’t coming — it’s already here, and it’s reshaping how the public finds information." @felixsimon.bsky.social has written about our recent report, including rapid growth in how many (and how) people use generative AI to get information www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/peop...

The telegraph was hailed for its revolutionary ability to span distance. Now AI is hailed as a great leap forward. Both came with environmental costs.

👉 theconversation.com/from-th...