Social media platforms began as a groundbreaking way to build communities and cross the divides that separate us. With time, these platforms also unleashed a dangerously broken system of online exchange that spills over into the real world. Still, what lies at the heart of social media is the genuine possibility to create meaningful human connections between friends, colleagues, and strangers.
That is why Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center launched the Applied Social Media Lab. The Lab gives industry-trained technologists the freedom to build social media solutions that center the public interest.
The Lab members will work with BKC’s interdisciplinary community of experts from academia, government, civil society, and industry. Through these unique collaborations, the Lab will create new open-source software and protocols, new analyses, and new policy recommendations that will foster a more humane – and more human – experience online.
A better Internet is possible — let’s build it together.
