MIT researchers have built Social.Wiki, a platform where users can change social applications and decide which other people's edits they want to see. MIT News described the project on October 29. The approach applies to websites built within Social.Wiki's own system; it does not give users control over the software of every existing social network.
An edit button allows users to change application code themselves or ask an AI assistant to make changes. The platform handles underlying server and database work. Researchers describe possible applications ranging from discussion spaces and photo sharing to group tools designed around a small community's particular needs.
A central feature is what the team calls plural governance. Each user selects rules that determine which version of an application appears for them. Someone might accept changes only when trusted editors endorse them. This allows people to share a social space while making different choices about its interface or behaviour.
The researchers say user data is stored separately from the websites accessing it, and a data guard asks people to review access requests. They tested examples including adaptable messaging and collaborative ride sharing, and held a hackathon. Participants built projects such as a housing co-operative communication tool and a garden-themed microblogging site.
The project remains at an early stage. Researchers want feedback from a wider range of groups and plan technical improvements, including end-to-end encryption for private messages. That encryption is described as future work, so readers should not assume the announcement establishes that it is already protecting every private conversation on the platform.
The broader idea is to let a community adapt an application without automatically losing its social connections. Making that useful will require editing tools and permission choices that ordinary users can understand. The reported prototypes show possibilities; broader deployment will help reveal how people manage trust, conflicting changes and responsibility for their shared applications.