About
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Shaping platforms with purpose, tools with values, and a future GenZ can own. We call it Social Intelligence.
THE PROBLEM:
The digital world GenZ lives in wasn’t designed for them. It was built to maximize engagement, harvest data, and keep users hooked.
Today, social media feeds reward outrage. Algorithms amplify lies. AI is being trained to optimize those same incentives—faster, and with fewer guardrails.
The result? A system that profits from harm while young people carry the cost.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Tools with values. Platforms with purpose. A digital future GenZ gets to shape—not just survive.
We call it Social Intelligence—a new framework for designing technology that puts people first. It’s about building systems that understand context, protect autonomy, and earn trust.
Not because it sounds good—but because GenZ deserves better than the world they’ve inherited.
OUR MISSION:
Our mission is to act as a catalyst for change—partnering with GenZ to give them agency over the digital world they navigate, create, and influence every day.
From social platforms to generative AI, today’s digital environment shapes how we connect, communicate, and understand what’s true.
We believe young people deserve more than protection—they deserve power.
Through tools, funding, and cross-generational support, we help GenZ lead the way—guided by a framework we call Social Intelligence: technology built with values, purpose, and human insight.
Mission Statement
Our Mission Statement
Young people today want social media that connects and entertains without undermining their health and emotional well-being. We are growing an intergenerational community to explore, experiment, and deploy solutions that will give a new generation of media consumers and creators meaningful agency and ownership of their increasingly media-centric lives.
The Sustainable Media Center is a 501c3 organization formed by a diverse and inclusive board of over 200 leaders in media, technology and academia who want to foster and facilitate positive change to the current state of social media.
What Does Sustainable Media Mean?
Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability is not about the physical environment for media, it’s the social and economic resources we commit to the world of information and ideas that we live in.
The state of media today is not sustainable. It doesn’t sustain the health and well-being of our children, of our society, or our democracy. In its current incarnation, it profits from monetizing hate. We aim to build the future of sustainable media, to hold makers and distributors of media to be measured on a higher standard. A standard that doesn’t profit from knowingly doing harm.
Sustainable Media seeks a revenue stream that doesn’t put the media makers in conflict with their media’s ethical mission. So, for example, a news organization can’t be sustainable if the only way to remain solvent is to be paid by platform partners who facilitate and garner their revenue from amplification of misinformation, hate, or other anti-social community standards. If media companies’ underlying economic survival requires funds generated from platforms that make substantial revenue from amplification of misinformation, these media are not sustainable.
The State of Social Media Today
The state of social media today is not sustainable. It doesn’t sustain the health and well-being of our children, of our society, or our democracy. In its current incarnation, it profits from monetizing hate. We aim to build the future of sustainable media, to hold makers and distributors of media to be measured on a higher standard. A standard that doesn’t profit from knowingly doing harm.
Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability is not about the physical environment for media, it’s the social and economic resources we commit to the world of information and ideas that we live in.
Sustainable Media seeks a revenue stream that doesn’t put the media makers in conflict with their media’s ethical mission. So, for example, a news organization can’t be sustainable if the only way to remain solvent is to be paid by platform partners who facilitate and garner their revenue from amplification of misinformation, hate, or other anti-social community standards.
If media companies’ underlying economic survival requires funds generated from platforms that make substantial revenue from amplification of misinformation, these media are not sustainable.
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Contact
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Research
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The Future of Social Media: There is Hope
By Kendall Schrohe | In collaboration with the Sustainable Media Center and Accountable Tech | 2025
This research explores a fast-growing ecosystem of ethical, decentralized, and community-centered social media alternatives emerging beyond the reach of Big Tech.\
Research Context
Conventional wisdom suggests that Meta, Google, TikTok, X, and Snap have an unshakeable hold on the social media landscape. Yet a new ecosystem is emerging—one that values authenticity, privacy, and human connection over engagement metrics and data extraction.
Executive Summary
This report identifies over 135 alternative social platforms, analyzing 67 in depth. These projects span decentralized architectures, ethical monetization, and healthier design principles that challenge the dominance of mainstream platforms.
- Fediverse: Open, interoperable social networks like Mastodon, Pixelfed, and PeerTube.
- Decentralized & Ethical: User-sovereign systems such as Bluesky, Vero, MeWe, and Sparkable.
- Healthier-by-Design: Apps like Retro, Minus, and Cosmos that use design limits to encourage mindful engagement.
- Inclusive Platforms: Community-first networks like Lex, Diem, and Sunroom that prioritize safety and representation.
- Child-Safe Platforms: Spaces like Zigazoo and Coverstar that demonstrate safe digital creation for kids.
Methodology
Platforms were evaluated across six criteria:
- Technological architecture
- Business model
- Design and values
- Target demographic
- Stage of development
- Community size and impact
Data was collected from platform documentation, interviews, and first-hand testing of select apps.
Findings: Categories of Alternative Social Media
1. Fediverse Platforms
The Fediverse uses open standards (notably ActivityPub) to connect independent communities across platforms. Examples include Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube, and Mobilizon. Each allows local moderation while remaining globally interoperable.
2. Decentralized and Ethical Platforms
Projects like Bluesky, MeWe, Pools, and Vero emphasize user control, privacy, and sustainability. Many operate ad-free or rely on community funding instead of surveillance advertising.
3. Healthier-by-Design Platforms
Retro, Minus, Cosmos, Foto, and Joinable adopt features that discourage addiction: limited posting, delayed feedback, or prompts for offline connection.
4. Innovative and Conceptual Platforms
Slowly, Corner, TimeLeft, and Perfectly Imperfect reimagine social interaction itself—using slower communication, spatial storytelling, or serendipitous discovery instead of endless feeds.
5. Inclusive Social Platforms
Platforms like Diem, Lex, Spoony, and Communia were built for users who are often marginalized or unsafe in mainstream networks, emphasizing community care and identity visibility.
6. Platforms for Children
Zigazoo and Coverstar demonstrate that kid-friendly, moderated social experiences are possible without engagement-based algorithms or invasive data collection.
Analysis and Conclusions
Three major themes emerged from the research:
- Business Model Innovation: A growing shift toward subscriptions, grants, cooperatives, and revenue sharing that breaks from the ad-based economy.
- Technical Decentralization: Open protocols like ActivityPub and AT Protocol enable interoperability and data mobility.
- Value-Based Design: Mental health, inclusivity, and digital well-being are foundational—not afterthoughts.
While many platforms remain small, their collective innovation signals a cultural shift away from surveillance capitalism toward digital spaces rooted in trust and autonomy.
Recommendations for Further Research
- Long-term studies on user well-being and engagement in ethical platforms.
- Policy frameworks that promote platform diversity.
- Funding models for decentralized moderation and safety infrastructure.
- Interoperability standards across next-gen networks.
About the Team
Kendall Schrohe is a digital researcher, youth activist, and Gen Z technologist focused on ethical design and online well-being. She serves on the Gen Z Board of Advisors at the Sustainable Media Center.
Sustainable Media Center (SMC): A nonprofit think-and-do tank building a healthier, more sustainable information ecosystem. sustainablemedia.center
Accountable Tech: A nonprofit advocacy group working to curb the harms of Big Tech and promote a safer digital future. accountabletech.org
Appendix: Complete Platform List
The research identified 135+ alternative platforms across categories including Fediverse, decentralized social, healthier-by-design, inclusive communities, and children’s networks. A downloadable CSV or PDF of the complete dataset is available from the Sustainable Media Center.
