Hard Fork and Search Engine create a social network experiment

The New York Times podcast Hard Fork and the podcast Search Engine collaborated on an episode called "The Fediverse Experiment," in which the teams create their own social media platform intended to incentivize friendly interaction and good-faith discussion. The episode features PJ Vogt, host of Search Engine, and is presented by Kevin Roose, a Times technology columnist and host of Hard Fork.

According to the episode notes, the two podcasts spent the past year working together on a project that reimagines what the internet can be. They framed the experiment around a question of whether, instead of rewarding rage-baiting, a social platform could encourage more civil conversation and constructive debate.

Hard Fork says it is bringing this joint episode to its listeners as "The Fediverse Experiment," which documents the creation of the platform. The source does not provide further details about the platform’s design, participants or long-term results.

Key Topics

Tech, Fediverse Experiment, Hard Fork, Search Engine, Kevin Roose, Pj Vogt