Eli Pariser

@eli.bsky.social

7552 Followers 958 Following

@newpublic.org cofounder / Filter Bubble author / dad, husband, human

Pariser said the moves are timely given the recent changes at tech giants spurred by Trump’s election. “Anytime you have singular centralized control, you’ll have [tech leaders] swinging around in the wind based on what they think is best for them at that moment,” he said. “Our social media systems shouldn’t be dependent on that.”
I know a lot of folks are doing a lot of amazing work now to help defeat Trump and save American democracy. If that's you, THANK YOU. This email is for everyone who has meant to do more but had life or work get in the way. As of today, Thursday Oct 31, it is not too late to play a really important role in the most important election in American history.  All the political insiders that I talk to say the same thing: This is a true jump ball. It could go either way. It could turn on the narrowest of margins. Every last vote is likely to matter.  That means that your time has never been more leveraged than this weekend in the final stretch to get out every last vote.  If you're near a swing state, go to one. Bring the kids. Bring some friends. Make it a thing. If you're not, you can phone bank. That really matters too, partly because it helps the on the ground people focus on where they are most useful. Mobilize.us is the best place to start for both. But also just email or call or DM me and I'll help you figure out the best way to get involved. I'd be happy to help.   None of us wants to wake up with a Trump victory and a feeling that we could have done more. But also, think of how utterly awesome it'll be to know that in a narrow Harris victory, you and me and a few hundred thousand others played a critical role in putting things over the top.  We'll remember that for the rest of our lives. It's a beautiful weekend coming up. It's the last chance to make a difference. Let's make the most of it.
America is in the midst of a decades-long crash in social trust. In the last fifty years, Americans’ trust in one another has declined from almost half to a quarter. The places where we built social trust, including unions, churches, and local clubs, are no longer as big a part of peoples’ lives. Luckily, most towns in America have some sort of general-purpose, locals-only digital forum: a Facebook group, a Google group, a Nextdoor neighborhood. They carry a lot of the weight these institutions used to take, and they’re way too fragile and unsupported. That’s why we’re going to make them a major focus of our work at New_ Public. By ensuring that every community has a reliable, adaptable, and vigorous local digital space, we can begin to rebuild social trust. See how we’re doing that at newpublic.org