Social media has become a central infrastructure for contemporary activism, enabling rapid information diffusion, mobilization, and the amplification of marginalized voices. At the same time, activists face substantial challenges when engaging with these platforms, including exposure to hate speech, uneven algorithmic visibility, and platform governance structures that may undermine activist communication.
This talk presents research conducted within the project “We the Social Media – Social Media for and from Social Movements,” which aims to better understand activists’ needs in social media environments and to co-design interventions that support their goals. Drawing on 14 semi-structured interviews with members of Students for Future and Chalkback, the first phase of the project identifies key activist needs related to online and offline safety, enhanced content presentation, and optimized workflows. A particular focus emerged on the limitations of existing moderation systems and their impact on activists’ participation and visibility.
To explore possible solutions, a Delphi study with 40 politically active social media users was conducted to identify priorities for personal moderation tools. The results highlight the importance of screen-specific moderation settings, and reversibility of automated filtering decisions. Based on these findings, I present the first prototype of a browser-based personal moderation tool and discuss the upcoming user study aimed at evaluating its potential to support activists.