social media reform

Banning social media for kids is the right thing to do

Australia leads the effort banning social media for kids Imagine the following scenario. A company markets, promotes, and sells a highly addictive and unhealthy product to kids, without clear consent from parents. Then, when children and teens get addicted to that product—and suffer serious health consequences as a result—the company claims that it’s not to … Read more

Four highly recommended programs on how social media changed communication

The media ecology of how social media changed communication One of the key insights of media ecology is that when we add a new technology to our culture, we don’t just have the same culture plus the new technology. Rather, the technology changes the culture. In other words, technological innovation can change our whole way … Read more

Manipulative algorithms and addictive design: summing up what’s wrong with social media

Social media’s twofold problem: manipulative algorithms and addictive design After posting a five-part article on social media reform, as well as publishing a couple of editorials on this topic (one highlighting the problem with social media, the other looking at solutions to this problem), I thought it would be helpful to sum up these thoughts. … Read more

Reform social media, part V: Ethical design in social media

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Addictive design vs. ethical design in social media Summary: When applying professional ethics to technology design (including ethical design in social media), there’s no such thing as a ‘neutral’ design. Designers have to make design choices. And those design choices will influence people’s decisions, including how they use the technology. Therefore, designers might want to … Read more

Reform social media, part IV: Personal privacy and data protection regulations

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Personal privacy and data protection regulations for social media Summary: An ongoing problem with several social media platforms is that they’re designed to monitor and manipulate what people can see or experience online. That’s because the goal is to keep users on these sites for as long as possible—namely, by commodifying their attention, collecting their … Read more

Reform social media, part III: Problems with hate speech and online censorship

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Why indefinite online censorship won’t save social media from hate speech Summary: Is online censorship inevitable on social media? Going forward, social media companies will probably need to moderate some content online to prevent dangerous speech. However, trying to moderate other kinds of online speech, such as hate speech, will likely remain an endless game … Read more

Reform social media, part II: Content moderation vs. dangerous speech online

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Moderating content to prevent dangerous speech online Summary: Inevitably, social media reform will have to include some content moderation, or screening and removing harmful material online. At the same time, figuring out what content social media companies should moderate is a complex question. Still, there’s at least one clear answer: dangerous speech. Dangerous speech refers … Read more

Reform social media, part I: Instrumentarianism and the danger of engineering behavior

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Instrumentarianism and social media Summary: Instrumentarianism refers to Big Tech’s power to monitor and manipulate what you can and can’t see online. For instance, social media sites may use this power to commodify people’s attention and private data. The goal is to keep users on their sites for as long as possible, often through click-bait … Read more