Curated Resource ( ? )

Roundabout

Like ai , atprotocol , community , local , ocm , roundabout , social media , trust , new public

Curated: 30/04/2026 from joinroundabout.com/

my notes ( ? )

New_ Public "is creating Roundabout... help ... you start a healthy online space... in rural and suburban towns, and city neighborhoods — areas with about 10,000-50,000 people."

Features include:

event calendar
local guides
helps and recommendations
information and update
business openings
education
parenting
a newcomer's guide to town.

An alternative to "Nextdoor and Facebook amplify controversy and are full of spammers, scammers, bickering, and self-promotion... a local steward cares for and maintains the space... Each community has its own norms".

In a separate post, they point out that "most towns in America have some sort of general-purpose, locals-only digital forum" where "half of US adults ... get their local news", which is more than newspapers: "If they were strengthened into resilient, flourishing spaces, they could be crucial to reinforcing American democracy", because "arguably the meta-crisis is one of social trust... In the last fifty years, Americans’ trust in one another has declined from almost half to a quarter".

Locally-oriented digital spaces, when done well, can build trust in a community but when they're badly done they can contribute to a sense of grime and decay, undermining social trust. This is a problem that can be solved, particularly if moderators and administrators can access "reliable peer organizations where they can learn, sharpen skills, and find support."

In a followup update post, they concluded that they couldn't just tweak existing platforms. Something new needed to be built, and with support to moderators, as said out above, plus AI assistance.

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The above notes were curated from the full post joinroundabout.com/.

Roundabout

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