Title: Social (Net)Work: How does social media influence democracy? | Digital Trends
Headings: Social (Net)Work: How does social media influence democracy?
Social (Net)Work: How does social media influence democracy?
The Information Cocoon
Fake news
https://twitter.com/IlvesToomas/status/966096207595614209
Bots
Dark ads
User Data
“Inherently, however, I believe social media is a net ‘good’ for civic engagement”
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Content: As social media companies launch new policies in the aftermath, several questions still remain, and among them, a wide-reaching topic for debate: How does social media influence a democratic society? When someone is exposed to only information that supports their own beliefs, those beliefs tend to push more towards the extremes. The question is one that Facebook has asked itself, reaching out to three different outside experts from three different continents. Many agree on several positives that social media brings to the table, including affordable access to information, voicing voter concerns, and adding another communication channel between voters and politicians. But social media has just as many pitfalls — some that are already being addressed, others that both social media companies and governments continue to examine. For users of social platforms, it is becoming increasingly important to be aware of these pitfalls. The Information Cocoon
Algorithmic news feeds are designed to bring you information that you’re more likely to tap the “like” button on. The basic idea was simply to understand what type of content you liked and show you more of it, which sounds innocent enough. The problem, as Harvard Law School Professor Cass R. Sunstein says, is that those same algorithms create what’s called polarization, or an information cocoon.