From #BlackTwitter to Blacksky: Rudy Fraser workshops & talk

What would happen if Black Twitter had control over its own algorithms? On April 22-23, technologist + community organizer Rudy Fraser joins AADHum with an answer to this and other questions.

See below for details on his 4/22 content moderation workshop, his 4/22 talk on black social media and digital infrastructures, and his 4/23 custom feed workshop.deration service. joins AADHum with an answer to this and other questions. With over a decade of experience building IT architecture and community organizing, Fraser has developed Blacksky, a custom feed and content mo

Tuesday, April 22

2:30PM @ MITH - Workshop: Running a Moderation Service on Bluesky

0301 Hornbake Library

A surge of harmful content and a decline in moderation on platforms like X/Twitter have left online communities wondering what comes next. As an alternative, community moderation allows people to set the rules of engagement for their social media spaces. This hands-on workshop will teach the nuts and bolts of community-led moderation tools.

Participants will learn the technical requirements for setting up a moderation service, how different actors—users, moderators, and platforms—interact, and how we can monitor social media content creatively (e.g. labeling yourself as a Virgo). If you’re interested in organizing a community, experimenting with moderating, or are just curious about how all of this works, this workshop is for you!

5:30PM @ MITH - Talk: Black Social Media, Moderation, and Digital Infrastructure

0301 Hornbake Library

Technologist and community organizer Rudy Fraser is the creator of Blacksky, a project which offers infrastructure and tooling for communities seeking safer, self-governable online spaces. His work advances research and development on technology that empowers marginalized communities, particularly Black users.

Operating with a community driven ethos, Fraser will share how he has fostered online spaces where communities can thrive without fear of harassment or data exploitation. He will discuss the development process of the Blacksky custom feed and the challenges he and his team of six experience running a large-scale moderation service.

Wednesday, April 23

5:30PM Workshop: Creating and Managing Bluesky Custom Feeds

1104 Taliaferro Hall

Many of us have experience tuning our social algorithm to our liking, budgeting likes, follows, searches, and other interactions to shape what our feeds show us. Bluesky enables a new, more transparent paradigm in social media—one where users can shape their own experience through custom feeds.

In this hands-on workshop, attendees will learn how to build a custom feed from scratch on Bluesky. No coding experience necessary!