"What should public social media look like? I explore the governance design of non-profit, decentralized, open source social network alternatives."


Research focus: (good) governance in the digital environment, public alternatives for commercial social media platforms, content moderation and public values


Research interests:

·      Media organizations

·      Ownership and good governance

·      Public value creation

·      Open source software

·      Decentralized platforms

·      Transparency and sovereignty platform users


Mathilde Sanders is postdoctoral researcher at Utrecht University within the focus area Governing the Digital Society. She works on one of the projects for which Prof.dr. José van Dijck received the Spinoza Prize in 2021. 

Utrecht University and Radboud University Nijmegen are involved in PublicSpaces. This is a coalition of public organizations in media and culture that wants to use digital tools responsibly, based on public values such as privacy and transparency. Mathilde explores the governance design of these alternative (decentralized open source) tools.

Mathilde Sanders holds a PhD in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and a Master in Political Science (University of Amsterdam). Before moving to Utrecht University Mathilde was a researcher at Rathenau Instituut, the Erasmus University Rotterdam (RSM) and the Journalism school of Utrecht (HU).

 

Recent publications