Taking Action
You’ve listened, learned, and thought about public space online. Now it’s time to take action. Below are three interactive side quests to help you go deeper into the issues. The section Tools You Can Use provides you with pro tips to help organize and advocate in your context.
Side Quests
Digital public spaces are more than just places to post and scroll. They are where communities form, ideas are exchanged, and civic life unfolds. Here are some resources to test new ideas for better online conversations, learn through gaming, and audit your own digital environment. Each quest is a doorway into a different kind of public space online waiting for you to step in and try it out.
Public Spaces Incubator
A group of public broadcasters from around the world have come together to improve the quality of online conversations for civic discourse.
The incubator is testing hundreds of ideas on how to build relationships, re-establish support with audiences, and make sure new voices are heard in digital spaces.
Source: New_ Public, a non-profit dedicated to designing and improving online public spaces.
Minecraft Education
Online gaming is a huge and significant place to find community on the internet. Games like Minecraft are fun – and also an opportunity for socializing and education.
Minecraft Education is a site dedicated to tapping the power of online gaming for forming community, especially among young people.
There are resources here to help young people beuild social skills, collaborate, and problem solve through the fun and interactive world of Minecraft.
Source: The Minecraft Education website, run by Microsoft, the owner of Minecraft.
The Digital Powerwas
This is a self-auditing tool developed by PublicSpaces to help organizations evaluate whether the digital tools they use align with core public values such as privacy, transparency, and user autonomy.
You can enter a list of your software inventory and answer some simple yes/no questions. You will receive a score that indicates how closely your organization aligns with an internet where users are treated as equal partners in an ecosystem that is transparent and non-commercial.
Source: PublicSpaces, a network of organizations advocating for an internet rooted in public values like privacy, transparency, and inclusivity.
Go to the website and take the Powerwash Questionnaire.
Tools You Can Use
Here are some advocacy tools and training opportunities that you can adapt for your context or use to strengthen your skills relating to building, using, and protecting public space online.
Terms and Conditions in Plain English
Social media terms and conditions are notoriously long and difficult to understand. They typically cover things like who owns content and how your data is used, policies for hate speech and spamming, and so on. But how does it impact you? What rights do you surrender when you click “Accept Terms and Conditions”?
The Diana Award Anti-Bullying Programme offers child-friendly versions of popular social media platform terms and conditions in plain, easy-to-understand language. Even though the site is aimed at a younger audience, it is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to participate in public spaces online. (Source: The Anti-Bullying Programme, a project of the Diana Award, a registered charity in the United Kingdom.)
The Movement Hub
Offline and online advocacy can go hand in hand. But how can we make them work together for maximum impact? How can we protect those who speak out on the streets and in group chats? The Movement Hub has a great selection of resources and ideas for how to participate in traditional and digital public spaces. These include how-to guides on facilitating, protecting data online, digital organizing and retaining members. (Source: The Movement Hub, founded by Greenpeace and Civil Rights Defenders, provides resources for a broader audience).
Code of Conduct Generator
There are generative AI tools for nearly every imaginable task nowadays, including the development of codes of conduct for your online public spaces. The free version of a tool from Waybook can help you develop good guidelines for the kind of online spaces you want to create for your community. You can enter information about why you need a code of conduct and in what situations. You can then refine it based on your own expertise and needs. (Source: Waybook, a UK-based private company selling AI solutions for use in the corporate context.)
Congratulations
Congratulations on completing the Public Spaces Online lesson! You’ve explored the foundations of digital public life. You have learned about civic discourse and digital communities, and have discovered some tools that can help shape more inclusive, transparent, and community-driven online spaces.
But this isn’t the end of your digital justice journey. Click Complete Lesson to continue to your next quest: Unequal Access, Unequal Futures.