June 1 2023 GM

Glitter Meetups What are Glitter Meetups Notes from Past Glitter Meetups Virtual Events Calendar Join the TCU Mattermost

Glitter Meetup is the weekly town hall of the Internet Freedom community at the IF Square on the TCU Mattermost, at 9am EDT / 1pm UTC. Do you need an invite? Learn how to get one here.

• Date: Thursday, June 1
• Time: 9am EDT / 1pm UTC
• Who: Vardon Hamdiu
• Moderator: Rima
• Where: On TCU Mattermost "IF Square" Channel.
  • Don't have an account to the TCU Mattermost? you can request one following the directions here.

Let's explore alternative models to the destructive digital media attention economy through Sparkable

Today’s information environment is dominated by the advertisement business model and heavily concentrated on a few giant technology corporations for whom attention and profit maximization are more important than social cohesion and progress. This has led to hyper-personalized filter bubbles, extreme societal polarization, hate speech, the erosion of human rights and democratic norms, and countless other issues.

This glitter meetup will present the details of how I’m working on a fundamentally new not-for-profit business model for the internet, in which all incentives work towards a better information environment. One that brings out the best in us instead of the worst, by rewarding the creation of mutual understanding instead of attention-grabbing. I speak on information models that inspire unity instead of division.

Vardon Hamdiu worked in a communications job for half a decade where he had to read around 400 news articles every day. During the same time, Vardon lived in South Africa for half a year and worked with refugees. The gap between what he experienced and what he read in the news made him realize emotionally that we need to change the for-profit systems that govern our collective attention today. They fuel echo chambers, societal polarization, hate speech, and countless other dangerous trends. We need alternative, not-for-profit systems that bring out the best in us instead of the worst. That’s what Vardon is working on now, at a small organization called Sparkable.

Notes

Notes will be posted here