"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:
路 Media organizations
路 Ownership and good governance
路 Public value creation
路 Open source software
路 Decentralized platforms
路 Transparency and sovereignty platform users
Mathilde Sanders is postdoctoral researcher at Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 within the focus area Governing the Digital Society. She works on one of the projects for which Prof.dr. Jos茅 van Dijck received the Spinoza Prize in 2021.
Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 and Radboud 木瓜福利影视 Nijmegen are involved in 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 木瓜福利影视 Rotterdam) and a Master in Political Science (木瓜福利影视 of Amsterdam). Before moving to Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 Mathilde was a researcher at Rathenau Instituut, the Erasmus 木瓜福利影视 Rotterdam (RSM) and the Journalism school of Utrecht (HU).
Recent publications
- Sanders, M., & van Dijck, J. (2025). Decentralized Online Social Networks: Technological and Organizational Choices and their Public Value Trade-offs. In Governing The Digital Society: Platforms, Artificial Intelligence and Public Values (pp. 27-44). Amsterdam 木瓜福利影视 Press.
- Sanders, M. & van de Vrande, V. (2025). Journal of Media Business Studies.
- Sanders, M., & van de Vrande, V. (2024). Journal of Media Business Studies, 1-29.
- van Huijstee, M., Nieuwenhuizen, W., Masson, E., Sanders, M., & van Boheemen, P. (2021). . Rathenau Instituut.
- Sanders, M. (2021). . Dissertation EUR.
- Sanders, M. (2018). Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, 46(2).