Develop your internet dream place [starter activity]

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In this activity, participants consider elements of an online space where their community can thrive. Depending on the goals of the group and workshop, facilitators can prompt participants to consider possible activities and ways of being in online spaces.

This is a visioning exercise and can lead into a discussion about the online spaces where participants are most often and the possibilities and limitations of using these platforms in alignment with the ideal space they have envisioned.

Learning objective this activity responds to

Who is this activity for?

This activity is for people who participate in online spaces. It may be a good activity for a group to address redesigning a space that is not currently serving the group, or for a group who is establishing new online spaces together.

Time required

Total suggested time for a standard workshop with 12-15 participants: 2.5 hours

Resources needed for this activity

Mechanics

Discussion: Why are we online? Why is it important to us?

Because we will be looking at the many ways that the internet is not designed for our safety or privacy, ground this conversation in the reasons participants are online. If you are familiar with the group already, you may be able to give examples of the work they are doing online. If you are less familiar with the group, ask the participants for examples of things they are doing online that are significant to them.

Make space for discussion about different facets of people's lives.

Some guide questions for this discussion:

Facilitation Note: It is a good idea to stress the point that the internet dream space is for personal and political / activist work. So, depending on how the participants are responding to the guide questions, challenge them to think about their personal and their activist work and their use of the internet.

Write down the highlights of the discussion.

Small group activity

With the discussion in mind, form small groups (3–5 participants) to develop their internet dream place.

During the small group discussion, ask them to reflect upon and answer the following questions:

Have the groups draw out this space as creatively as possible, and get them to prepare a creative presentation for the rest of the group.

Shareback

To process the presentations, have the other participants ask clarification questions after the presentations, and list down more strategic/ethical/substantive questions, and hold those off until after all the groups have presented their ideas.

Debrief

To end this learning activity, discuss the following:

Notes for the facilitator
  1. Ask questions around other considerations in creating safe online spaces:
    1. Who are the ones that will threaten the safety of this space? Internally and externally? How can they protect the space?
    2. Where are the spaces hosted (i.e. national laws have an impact on whether or not these spaces can even exist, as well as redress if the space is abused)?
    3. Are there legal considerations in creating such a space for the target group?
    4. What are the responsibilities and liabilities of social media platforms when things go wrong? What are they in reality? And what should they be? You might want to read up on the Manila Principles on Intermediary Liability.
    5. What are the international and national human rights standards on privacy? What are the legal privacy considerations?
  2. This could directly lead to an input/lecture on the principles of online safety, or a lecture on the privacy issues in social media.

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Revision #5
Created 15 April 2023 23:15:30 by Kira
Updated 28 July 2023 14:51:35 by Kira