PDN Pro-Social. Building a Prosocial Platform for Local Communities

​At PDN we mostly think about prosocial design as elements that can be integrated into an online space to foster healthy outcomes. But what if you created a digital space with prosocial design at its foundation, building together features all intended to support healthy local communities?  What would that space look like?

​That's a question New_ Public has been asking and investigating for years, learning from community stewards, looking at existing models, in particular Front Porch Forum, and asking people what they want from online local community spaces. They have now put all that knowledge into building Roundabout - "a community space, built from the ground up with community leaders and neighbors" - that is currently in Beta with several local communities from Wisconsin to Tennessee.

In this Pro-Social we'll get to talk to four members of the Roundabout team - Trei Brundrett, Blaine Cook and Adit Dhanushkodi and Sam Liebeskind - to learn about the prosocial building blocks that went into creating Roundabout and what they are learning so far. We hope you can join the conversation!

​About Pro-Socials: Pro-Socials are informal meet-ups, where technologists and researchers can learn from - and inspire - each other around understanding and integrating prosocial design. Each Pro-Social includes a motivating question, conversation with experts and break-out convos where you can meet like-minded technologists (designers, product managers, entrepreneurs and trust & safety professionals) and researchers to share insights and begin to co-create new knowledge together.

​In partnership with the Council on Technology and Social Cohesion.