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Interview with Xavier de La Porte, Sylvain Parasie and Renaud Chaput on the future of social networks

Watch the video of Xavier de la Porte, Sylvain Parasie and Renaud Chaput interviewed about the challenges and future of social networks.

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As part of the “Quel avenir pour les réseaux sociaux ?” conference organised by Sciences Po's medialab and the CNRS's Centre Internet et Société, three of the event's speakers were interviewed:

Iframe https://player.vimeo.com/video/1078596671?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479

What has fundamentally changed in the way we use social networks today?

Xavier de la Porte, Sylvain Parasie and Renaud Chaput began by sharing their views on how the use of social networks has evolved. They emphasised that the way in which social networks are used has changed profoundly, largely as a result of changes in the platforms themselves. Algorithms are redefining the user experience, and the profitability needs of platforms are turning them into increasingly commercial spaces. For Xavier de la Porte, today's social networks are a far cry from what we expected a few years ago:

"We have gone from the dream of a social network or a few social networks that would connect a large part of humanity (...) to fragmentation in many respects" (Xavier de la Porte).


Would it be interesting to create a new (European) social network? What would it ideally look like?

According to Sylvain Parasie, it is crucial to learn the lessons of the last fifteen years in order to create better social networks.

"We could imagine networks that are less focused on short-term profit, more decentralised and also more transparent" (Sylvain Parasie)

In this context, Mastodon, an alternative platform, may seem to be an interesting option. Its Technical Director, Renaud Chaput, highlights the advantages of this network.

"The Mastodon network is in the hands of its users, who can do what they want with it (...) [It's] a free, open, federated platform, which really allows everyone to regain a little control over their online expression" (Renaud Chaput)

For his part, Xavier de la Porte, despite the difficulties, raises the possibility of both the development of a new European social network and the end of the dominant idea of the social network as we know it.

Find the full recording of the event in our chronicle : https://medialab.sciencespo.fr/actu/retour-sur-la-conference-quel-avenir-pour-les-reseaux-sociaux/