How Facebook and Google fund global misinformation
The tech giants are paying millions of dollars to the operators of clickbait pages, bankrolling the deterioration of information ecosystems around the world.
«Scammers used to make their $$ from naive people. Now they get their payments straight from some of the world's biggest tech companies.»
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Social media is polluting society. Moderation alone won’t fix the problem
Companies already have the systems in place that are needed to evaluate their deeper impacts on the social fabric.
«Facebook’s 2012 “emotional contagion” experiment, which showed that users’ affect (their mood as measured by their behavior on the platform) shifted measurably depending on which version of the product they were exposed to»
Trends are dead
Everything and anything can be a trend on the internet. Why are we so determined to name them?
«Trend brain, as I call it, encourages us to simplify everything online into something either buyable, understandable, or moral (and therefore worthy of consumption).»
Influencer culture is everywhere — even in academia
Though academics may wring our hands about influencer culture, social media promotion is now a necessary evil
Instead of Pulling Out Your Phone, Let Your Mind Wander
When we're waiting, we often have the urge to distract ourselves—but a new study finds we’d enjoy doing nothing but think.
«there were no significant differences between those who waited with or without a computer; both groups liked the experience equally.»
We Know Less About Social Media Than We Think
There’s a general sense that social media is harmful—and that may be right. But studies offer surprisingly few easy answers.
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