Decentralized Social Media

Social media – global-scale sociotechnical systems supporting interpersonal and community-based communication, collaboration, and information sharing (Ciriello et al. 2025b ) – have become a cornerstone of modern society, connecting billions worldwide and shaping public discourse (Kane et al. 2014 ; Leonardi and Vaast 2017 ; Weiler et al. 2022 ). However, their growth has been marred by controversies, including privacy breaches, disinformation, psychological harm, and societal polarization (Braghieri et al. 2022 ; Kim and Dennis 2019 ; Kitchens et al. 2020 ). Recent developments, like Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to scale down fact checking from Meta, and Elon Musk’s support for far-right extremists on X (formerly Twitter) highlight the risks of relying on corporations – often unilaterally controlled by a single CEO – that may priorities profit over public interest or abandon essential services when unprofitable (Ciriello et al. 2025a ). These challenges highlight the urgent need to critically examine social media’s governance models.