We Need a PBS for Social Media

Maybe the answer to fixing social media isn’t trying to change companies with business models built around products that hijack our attention, and instead work to create a less toxic alternative. Nonprofit public media is part of the answer. More than 50 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act, committing federal funds to create public television and radio that would “be responsive to the interests of people.” Public media came out of a recognition that the broadcasting spectrum is a finite resource. Today, the limited resource isn’t the spectrum — it’s our attention. In this environment, the loudest, scariest voices win, because that’s what works best on a commercially driven platform that’s optimizing for engagement.

Instead of being run, as all these platforms are, are as profit-making entities, public social media would be grounded in its local community. An organization similar to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting could be formed, funded through a mix of government and foundation grants and member donations. And, as with other public media, its board and membership would hold it accountable not for meeting “engagement” metrics, but for how well it serves the public interest and members of its community.

[Mark Coatney is a former director of Tumblr.]