Ethan Zuckerman
Visiting Research Scholar

Ethan Zuckerman is an Associate Professor of public policy, information and communication at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Director of the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure. His research focuses on the use of media as a tool for social change, the use of new media technologies by activists, and alternative business and governance models for the internet. He is the author of Mistrust: How Losing Trust in Institutions Provides Tools to Transform Them (W.W. Norton & Company, forthcoming) and Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection (W.W. Norton & Company, 2013). With Rebecca MacKinnon, Zuckerman co-founded the international blogging community Global Voices. Previously, Zuckerman directed the Center for Civic Media at the MIT Media Lab. In 2000, Zuckerman founded Geekcorps, a technology volunteer organization that sends IT specialists to work on projects in developing nations, with a focus on West Africa. Zuckerman is the Visiting Research Scholar at the Knight First Amendment Institute for the 2020-2021 academic year. He and his family live in Berkshire County in western Massachusetts.
Contact
Writings & Appearances
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Blog
Deplatforming Our Way to the Alt-Tech Ecosystem
What happens when you exile users and communities?
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Blog
Local Logic: It's Not Always a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
The advantages and disadvantages of local platforms and their potential to support healthy communities on- and offline
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Blog
Civic Logic: Social Media with Opinion and Purpose
It may be our best chance to build digital spaces that enhance our social and civic life
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Blog
Chat Logic: When You Want a Living Room, Not a Town Square
People want privacy and ephemerality, but can it scale?
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Blog
What if Social Media Worked More Like Email?
Hearkening back to the internet’s good ole days with decentralized networks