How can we build youth online communities outside of social media?

Last week our excellent Technology & Wellbeing Roundtable speakers shared their insights on building safe online communities with young people.  So much to tap into but four nuggets that hit home for me include:

1. We will always need to go where the young people are: young people have nuanced digital experiences and online/offline hybrid service delivery models will help to catch young people who either slip through bricks and mortar services or the digital ones. New technologies will keep coming and with that, more opportunities to create new safe spaces that connect with young people to unlock their potential.  The social media bans may push U16s to seek social spaces “in the shadows”, and while this creates risk, it is also an opportunity to leverage new online environments to form connections, build community and connect with mental health and wellbeing supports … but we have to meet them there and think beyond the BigTech social media tools as the gateway.
2. Safety by design, not engagement, must be the core tenet of an online community: when establishing an online community, places aren’t safe because you say their safe. Intentional governance is needed. And in digital spaces designed for and with young people (and adults) safety and play can intersect. Safe spaces have a clear purpose, have embedded social norms and have playbooks to guide what’s acceptable. Creative role-playing toolsets and in game characters can be effective ways to signal what good behaviour looks like – and reward/acknowledge it.   Community custodians and members armed with toolsets (a shift from moderators) will help improve safety.
3. Understand that scale can be the “breaking point” for online communities: we know what works – small “cosy communities” clear on their purpose – people in communities want to make decisions about tech, culture, social norms and they are looking for platforms where they can make those decisions themselves.  Community protocols work best when anchored in purpose and shared values. Communities are social structures that break at certain scalable points – the idea of lots of small communities in an ecosystem is the way forward.
4. AI is an additional tool we can use to minimise harm: AI can help filter and triage high-risk graphic content, automate the repetitive community moderation tasks and help with community insights – freeing up and empowering the humans in the loop.