Organized by: Dr. AJ Escoffery, Margaret Walker Professor of Communication Studies, Northwestern University & Visiting Scholar, Institute for Rebooting Social Media, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University
Where:
Cambridge, MA, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society (Harvard Law School campus) &
Boston, MA (Harvard Business School campus)
When: April 25-26, 2025
Sponsored by: Ford Foundation, Pop Culture Collaborative, Northwestern University
With support from: OTV | Open Television, Reparative Media Projects
The Social Media & Tech Solidarity Workshop asks leaders in academia, organizing, and storytelling (journalism, documentary & entertainment): can social media—or other communication technologies—power cultural solidarity?
This invite-only conference brings together individuals leading labs, organizations, networks, collectives, and funding/resourcing institutions to discuss the challenges of cultivating a solidarity-based social media system and brainstorm opportunities for developing reparative interventions.
This workshop convenes leaders in academia, technology, media, art, and community organizing on the Harvard Law & Business School campuses in April 2025 to discuss:
the changing nature of social media and other communication platforms;
how companies have leveraged social engagement and artistic production on these platforms to develop big data social platforms and AI;
the impact of social media & AI on cultural production and social engagement;
the value and limits of alternative platforms;
the possibilities, constraints, and resources needed to develop alternative platforms.
OUTPUTS
SOCIAL MEDIA SOLIDARITY PODCAST
All 20+ interviews are released on YouTube.
Here’s a selection of some of the interviews:
ETHICAL TECH SHOWCASE
In collaboration with James Riley’s blackboxlab at Harvard Business School we brought together tech developers who are working to correct the worst harms of corporate media. A write-up on the event is available on this post by blackbox Lab.
PUBLIC REPORT - DECEMBER 2025
This report offers guidance to developers, entrepreneurs, media corporations, artists, and regulators on the promise and pitfalls of corporate social media with a vision for healing its harms.