Welcome to Circuito. Here the current begins to flow

After a long journey, Circuito finally sees the light. This idea began to take shape two years ago around a main concern: how to strengthen the place of content creators in the digital ecosystem? How to help them navigate the community standards of social media to defend their voice? 

While anyone using the internet is subject to the rules of each space, for the content creator the stakes are high: the deletion of a post or the suspension of an account can mean the abrupt loss of their soapbox, disconnection from their community or the end of a financially sustainable project.

It is in this tension that Circuito is ignited. The problems and challenges of the attention economy are often discussed from the perspective of the platforms, leaving aside the role of the creators. However, these actors generate content that tens, hundreds and millions of people interact with; build an audience; attract the advertising market; and increase the value of the platforms.

During the long months of the 2020 lock-in, we took on the task of talking to content creators: journalists, cartoonists, youtubers, gamers. What are their concerns? What are the recurring problems they face? 

The answer is on this site. Circuito is a space for dialogue and support for content creators in social media. We want these voices to understand the community norms that impact their platform and their relationship with their audience. 

Circuito is organized into three thematic areas: content moderation in general, copyright and monetization. On the other hand, it offers three levels of depth to consult all these topics: Understand, Solve and Deepen. Additionally, it has a self-diagnosis to evaluate problems associated with copyright, a section of cases and this blog that will integrate and put in context all the content.

The initial focus of Circuito is on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. However, the user will find that many of the rules and mechanisms of these social media are applicable to other platforms. And while there is clarity on many of these issues, it is important to understand that community standards and their implementation is an area full of contradictions, grey areas and unresolved questions. 

Underlying all this are fundamental debates about the right to freedom of expression in the digital age. Debates that only become more complex as time goes by. To put it bluntly, in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic and the U.S. presidential elections, the idea that platforms could play a less leading role in arbitrating the behavior of their users was discarded. Now the question seems to be, rather, how far they should go.

Circuito is a tool for content creators, but it does not lose sight of that panorama. On the contrary, it feeds on the technical discussions and work of different digital rights organizations. For now, we hope that this space connects theory with practice; makes the rules and their application more accessible; and results in an empowered and informed community of influencers.

Circuito is a Green Lantern project. Learn more about us.