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https://theconversation.com/the-world-wide-web-was-meant-to-unite-us-but-is-tearing-us-apart-instead-is-there-another-way-266253>
"The hope of the world wide web, according to its creator Tim Berners-Lee, was
that it would make communication easier, bring knowledge to all, and strengthen
democracy and connection. Instead, it seems to be driving us apart into
increasingly small and angry splinter groups. Why?
We have commonly blamed online echo chambers, digital spaces filled with people
who largely share the same beliefs – or filter bubbles, the idea that
algorithms tend to show us content we are likely to agree with.
However, these concepts have both been challenged by a number of studies. A
2022 study led by one of us (Dana), which tracked the social media behaviours
of ten respondents, found people often engage with content they disagree with –
even going so far as to seek it out.
When an individual engages with a disagreeable post on social media – whether
it’s “rage bait” or something else that offends you – it drives income for the
platform. But on a societal scale, it drives antisocial outcomes.
One of the worst of these outcomes is “affective polarisation”, where we like
people who think similarly to us, and dislike or resent people who hold
different views. Research and global surveys both show this form of
polarisation is growing across the world.
Changing the economics of social media platforms would likely reduce online
polarisation. But this won’t be possible without intervention from governments,
and each of us."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
