Years in the making, our local news organization has built a revolutionary social media platform designed to be safe, civil — and 100 per cent community-powered
SPACES — The newest social media network — is now public.
Built by Village Media, SPACES makes its debut today in Sault Ste. Marie, with expansion plans in the works for more communities in the near future.
The revolutionary concept that’s been five years in the making aims to change the way we connect online.
It’s engineered to be hyper-local, knowledge-based and safe — while setting up the foundation to reignite authentic community connections through small online forums, or spaces.
Each space is a pocket of connectivity, helping locals stay informed about what’s happening in their area and foster authentic relationships around shared interests.
Want to know what events are on the calendar this month? Check out the Places To Be space, a designated bulletin board for all ages in the Sault.
History? We’ve got a space for that, too. Stop by the Sault Memories space for a walk down memory lane and see Queen Street from the archives.
If you want to see the beauty of the Sault and Algoma region, local photographer Robert McGauley captures it all in the Photography space. Meet the man behind the lens, as he invites members to join him on his Friday hikes.
There’s also a space for newcomers looking to connect with others who recently moved to the Sault. It’s a resourceful feed that helps immigrants get to know their new home and the people in it. Meet the hosts, Mariyah Reaz, who recently moved here from Sri Lanka, and Shelly Bazil-Smith from Dominica.
VIDEO: A social network that’s actually social? Here it is
Nestled in a trusted news ecosystem, SPACES is jumping on the opportunity to bring news and audiences back together. Built adjacent to SooToday, it’s a social media haven to share knowledge and factual information, at a time when trust and facts are eroding from public discourse.
Over the last year, Meta’s news ban has left Canadians encountering far fewer sources of legitimate news. McGill University and the University of Toronto’s Media Ecosystem Observatory reported a total loss of 11 million fewer views per day on Facebook and Instagram combined.
In a report titled Old News, New Reality: A Year of Meta’s News Ban in Canada, they say “Canadians are now encountering political and current affairs content ‘through a more biased and less factual lens than before.’”
“As a society that cares about the truth and cares about having a population that’s informed to ensure better democratic outcomes and to hold politicians to account, this is extremely bad news,” the report reads.
Enter SPACES, a homebase to exchange ideas and real-time updates — all while reviving the lost art of community engagement. This platform enables residents to forge bonds that are rooted in trust and respect.
Hear from an Indigenous elder who guides members through teachings of local Anishnabek history and culture in the Indigenous space.
Live in or plan to visit St. Joseph Island? Tap into the local scene, connect with residents and visitors by watching the St. Joseph Island space for the latest events, business updates and community information.
And, see the latest happenings at Searchmont from the people who live and work there.
There are 30 spaces unique to the Sault. Whether you’re into arts and entertainment, music, crafting, woodworking, gardening, archery or climbing, there’s likely a space for you.
And this is just Day 1. If there’s a hobby or topic that you think would make a great space, let the SPACES team know by suggesting it in the feedback form.
These spaces are headed by local experts — they are the people within your circle whom you go to for advice, inspiration and insights.
Hosts also act as moderators, and help keep spaces safe. They are stewards of SPACES Community Guidelines — the rulebook that all members agree to abide by that keeps dialogue welcoming, respectful and courteous.
Want to take a leading role in SPACES? Express your interest in hosting by filling out the So you want to be a SPACES host form.
SEE: SooToday wants you — to host one of our new SPACES
There are six other features put in place in SPACES that function to ensure the forums are safe, not harmful to our individual or collective health and not toxic.
After polling Sault residents on what matters most, we found that one of the top priorities was ensuring users are verified. Audiences said there needed to be a way to prevent scammers, impersonators and general distrust. And that’s exactly what the team implemented.
Members of SPACES will need to be verified through an onboarding process, by providing an email address and phone number. What’s more: In order to post, comment, react or share anything in SPACES, users will have to go through this authentication process first. Meaning, all users will be registered with an account, complete with their real name and photo or chosen avatar.
We’re using artificial intelligence and a list of blacklisted words as two additional technical guardrails that work to automatically detect and remove hate speech, harassment and offensive language.
Additionally, there isn’t an algorithm on the platform; it’s just a real-time snapshot of the latest conversations about what’s happening in your area. This means there’s no algorithmic bias, no chance for users to game the system and no chance of unfair prominence of any posts in the newsfeed.
Plus, users can opt into or out of notifications as they choose, under the manage notifications tab. So users will only get pinged based on their chosen parameters — no irritating alerts.
Lastly, members can choose which spaces suit their interests, and therefore will only see posts from spaces they’ve joined. This means no irrelevant content will fill up their feeds.
Now, it’s over to you — take a peek, tell us what you think, say hello to a host and join some spaces.
Today is the day we’re reclaiming social media, and taking SPACES public.
Lacy Atalick is the Community Manager of SPACES at Village Media.
