Search Results for: "social media"

The ‘Digital Magna Carta’: Section 230, The Law That Made Social Media And E-Commerce Possible

“Much of the modern internet exists thanks to a short section of a 1996 US law dedicated to moderating online porn.” That’s Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996: it protects websites with user-generated content — and that’s everything from Twitter and YouTube to Amazon and Wikipedia — from legal liability for that … Continue reading “The ‘Digital Magna Carta’: Section 230, The Law That Made Social Media And E-Commerce Possible”

Depressed? Here’s Why You Should Cut Back On Social Media

The curated images of other people’s lives we see on the screen can leave us feeling like we’re comparatively inadequate. The often spoken of “fear-of-missing-out” is a real thing. When you have dozens of people doing something once, with continual updating it can appear like everybody is doing something all the time. The political aspects … Continue reading “Depressed? Here’s Why You Should Cut Back On Social Media”

Social Media’s Promise Was All About Connection

Instead, it’s turned us into separate – and sometimes extremely hostile – factions. “Particularly when we’re scared, we regress further into tribalism and tend to trust the information relayed to us by our tribe and not by others. Normally, that’s an evolutionary advantage. Trust leads to group cohesion, and it helps us survive.” Not so on … Continue reading “Social Media’s Promise Was All About Connection”

A Social Media Horror Story: “Our Social Dilemma”

In horror, “the narrative is driven by the question of whether the creature can be destroyed.” In The Social Dilemma, the creature is you and me, or at least the tech-addicted, algorithmically-modeled version of ourselves disclosed by big-tech behaviorism. So the film’s horrifying question is this: are you willing to destroy a part of yourself, … Continue reading “A Social Media Horror Story: “Our Social Dilemma””

Are We Doomed To Social Media?

One of the most intriguing debates surrounding social media is how much agency we should expect of ourselves. Can’t we just choose to put down our phones once in a while? Or has this technology hooked us so deeply that our only chance of salvation is government regulation? – Nautilus

Why Do We Let Social Media Control Us?

Jill Lepore: “Things are briefly upended by new technologies before finding a new equilibrium. With social media, that equilibrium has not happened. The question is how do you repair the fabric of democracy when the technology is itself built to polarise us? It is like we have built a perfect trap for ourselves. That is … Continue reading “Why Do We Let Social Media Control Us?”

How Social Media Became The Tool Of Despots

“We live in a single global village with numerous shared problems crying out for collective action, from emergencies like COVID-19 to longer-term existential challenges, such as global climate change and nuclear weapons. What harbinger is it for the future when one of the principal means we have to communicate with one another is so heavily … Continue reading “How Social Media Became The Tool Of Despots”

Social Media Has Become Toxic. So Why Do We Stay On?

Liberal and left-wing tech critics like to suggest that we post, even against our own self-interest, thanks to nefarious software design that has been built in service of a multibillion-dollar advertising industry. The right wing has a tendency to blame the incentives encouraged by a hardwired social hierarchy, in which “blue checks” “virtue-signal” to improve … Continue reading “Social Media Has Become Toxic. So Why Do We Stay On?”