Monday, April 7

SOCIAL MEDIA

Experts In Online Communications Weigh In – Does ‘Deplatforming’ Work To Curb Hate Speech And Calls For Violence?
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SOCIAL MEDIA

Experts In Online Communications Weigh In – Does ‘Deplatforming’ Work To Curb Hate Speech And Calls For Violence?

In the wake of the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Twitter permanently suspended Donald Trump’s personal account, and Google, Apple and Amazon shunned Parler, which at least temporarily shut down the social media platform favored by the far right. Dubbed “deplatforming,” these actions restrict the ability of individuals and communities to communicate with each other and the public. Deplatforming raises ethical and legal questions, but foremost is the question of whether it’s an effective strategy to reduce hate speech and calls for violence on social media. The Conversation U.S. asked three experts in online communications whether deplatforming works and what happens when technology companies attempt it. Sort of, but it’s not a long-term solution Jeremy Blackburn, assistant profes...
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Favored By Trump Supporters – And Used By Participants In The US Capitol Insurrection, Big Tech’s Rejection Of Parler Shuts Down A Site
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SOCIAL MEDIA

Favored By Trump Supporters – And Used By Participants In The US Capitol Insurrection, Big Tech’s Rejection Of Parler Shuts Down A Site

Early in the morning of Jan. 11, the social media platform Parler went offline after Amazon withdrew the platform’s web hosting services. Parler sued Amazon in response. Amazon’s move followed Google and Apple’s banning the Parler app from their app stores. The tech companies cited the platform’s inability or unwillingness to block calls for and threats of violence. Amazon’s move shut the platform down, at least until the company can find an alternative web hosting service. Parler had a surge in new users following Twitter’s ban of President Donald Trump on Jan. 8. Since the November election, when it saw a spike in usage, Parler has contributed to the widening gap between the different perceptions of reality held by the polarized public. Competitor Gab was similarly forced offline afte...
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Here’s How Instagram’s Redesign Shifts Toward Shopping Can Be Harmful
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BUSINESS, SOCIAL MEDIA

Here’s How Instagram’s Redesign Shifts Toward Shopping Can Be Harmful

Recently, when I opened Instagram, I noticed that the usual spot for checking notifications is now a Shop tab. The Instagram blog post announcing the redesign said that the change will support small businesses and connect people with their favorite brands and creators. This made me pause. As a researcher who studies social media, people and society, I’m concerned about the effects of surveillance capitalism. This includes social media companies profiting from collecting user data, making algorithmic inferences about people’s preferences and using this information to target people with advertising. Features like Instagram’s Shop tab facilitate surveillance capitalism, so it’s important to look at their consequences. Many people use Instagram to share their lives with other people, but the...
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Giving Us Rebel Nurses And Dancing Cops – TikTok Is Upending Workplace Social Media Policies
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SOCIAL MEDIA, VIDEO REELS, WORK

Giving Us Rebel Nurses And Dancing Cops – TikTok Is Upending Workplace Social Media Policies

As the Thanksgiving holiday was winding down, a medical center in Salem, Oregon, found itself in the middle of a frothing social media mess. A nurse named Ashley Grames posted a video on TikTok that went viral in which she mock-confessed to ignoring coronavirus health guidelines. The video – which Grames has since taken down, though it remains available on other feeds – is less than 15 seconds long. And if you’re not familiar with TikTok tropes, the video will seem very weird. The nurse is wearing scrubs and seemingly at a medical facility. She lip-syncs to a short audio clip from “The Grinch” and mocks her co-workers’ outrage at her decision to flout the state mask mandate outside of work. The nurse’s antics drew some unflattering attention to her employer, Salem Health, which suspended...
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Parler The Social Media Platform Attracts Millions Of Trump Supporters, Bringing Together Mainstream Conservatives, Anti-Semites And White Supremacists
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SOCIAL MEDIA

Parler The Social Media Platform Attracts Millions Of Trump Supporters, Bringing Together Mainstream Conservatives, Anti-Semites And White Supremacists

Since the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Parler has caught on among right-wing politicians and “influencers” – people with large online followings – as a social media platform where they can share and promote ideas without worrying about the company blocking or flagging their posts for being dangerous or misleading. However, the website has become a haven for far-right extremists and conspiracy theorists who are now interacting with the mainstream conservatives flocking to the platform. As the three highest-profile social media companies – YouTube, Facebook and Twitter – continue to take action to mitigate the spread of extremism and disinformation, Parler has welcomed the ensuing exodus of right-wing users. It has exploded in popularity, doubling its members to 10 million during the mo...
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Twitter’s Trending Function Goes Haywire With Rumors Of Chris Pratt’s Being A ‘MAGA Bro’
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SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter’s Trending Function Goes Haywire With Rumors Of Chris Pratt’s Being A ‘MAGA Bro’

When actor Chris Pratt found himself trending on Twitter on Oct. 17, it wasn’t because of his new film or the birth of his first child. Instead, Twitter users were clamoring for Pratt to be canceled because of his support of President Donald Trump. There was one problem: Pratt had never said such a thing. As a scholar of communication, I was drawn to the way this saga played out. But whereas a lot of attention has been given to how bots and bad actors fan false information, I see the issue as something more structural, with certain flaws baked into the way Twitter is built – particularly its trending function. Together, they cause what rhetoricians call “logical fallacies” to thrive. The most problematic Chris of them all The controversy began when television writer and producer Amy B...
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Bots Spread Conspiracy Theories And QAnon Talking Points On Twitter
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SOCIAL MEDIA

Bots Spread Conspiracy Theories And QAnon Talking Points On Twitter

Americans who seek political insight and information on Twitter should know how much of what they are seeing is the result of automated propaganda campaigns. Nearly four years after my collaborators and I revealed how automated Twitter accounts were distorting online election discussions in 2016, the situation appears to be no better. That’s despite the efforts of policymakers, technology companies and even the public to root out disinformation campaigns on social media. In our latest study, we collected 240 million election-related tweets mentioning presidential candidates and election-related keywords, posted between June 20 and Sept. 9, 2020. We looked for activity from automated (or bot) accounts, and the spread of distorted or conspiracy theory narratives. We learned that on Twitte...
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Banning apps like TikTok and WeChat is a good way to ensure a country will trail in tech leadership and profits
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BUSINESS, SOCIAL MEDIA

Banning apps like TikTok and WeChat is a good way to ensure a country will trail in tech leadership and profits

The Trump administration’s decision to force the sale of TikTok to a U.S. buyer is, to many, the latest sign the global internet is splintering into national and regional blocs. This has been a concern for several years now, as authoritarian countries such as Russia, China and Iran erect walls around their cyberspace, and democracies like the U.S., India and the European Union cite national security when blocking specific foreign companies like ByteDance’s TikTok and Tencent’s WeChat. The reality, however, is a lot more complicated – at least when it comes to social media companies. I study global media design and the localization of technology. My research suggests that while social media users are indeed splintering regionally and nationally, the companies themselves are becoming more...
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Make the most of virtual events
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SOCIAL MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY

Make the most of virtual events

Debra Saxon, founder of 10-year-old Celebration Senior Magazine based in Dallas, Texas, has been working overtime since early March to bring virtual events and activities to seniors nationwide. She believes that while virtual opportunities have exploded in recent months due to COVID-19, the medium will continue as an ongoing trend, especially for seniors and house- or facilities-bound individuals. “We’ve had well over 11,000 people join us for online events,” said Saxon in mid-August. “Seniors who never thought they could do technology have been enjoying virtual tours of places like the Dallas Museum of Art or the LBJ Presidential Library, music concerts, learning programs and more, that we can offer free because of our advertising partners.” Saxon said that while virtual may not replac...
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The US has lots to lose and little to gain by banning TikTok and WeChat
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SOCIAL MEDIA

The US has lots to lose and little to gain by banning TikTok and WeChat

The Trump administration’s recently announced bans on Chinese-owned social media platforms TikTok and WeChat could have unintended consequences. The orders bar the apps from doing business in the U.S. or with U.S. persons or businesses after Sept. 20 and require divestiture of TikTok by Nov. 12. The executive orders are based on national security grounds, though the threats cited are to citizens rather than the government. Foreign policy analysts see the move as part of the administration’s ongoing wrestling match with the Chinese government for leverage in the global economy. Whatever the motivation, as someone who researches both cybersecurity and technology policy, I am not convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs. The bans threaten Americans’ freedom of speech, and may harm for...
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