social – Page 2

Robots Can Be Companions, Caregivers, Collaborators — And Social Influencers

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Robots Can Be Companions, Caregivers, Collaborators — And Social Influencers

In the mid-1990s, there was research going on at Stanford University that would change the way we think about computers. The Media Equation experiments were simple: participants were asked to interact with a computer that acted socially for a few minutes after which, they were asked to give feedback about the interaction. Participants would provide this feedback either on the same computer (No. 1) they had just been working on or on another computer (No. 2) across the room. The study found that participants responding on computer No. 2 were far more critical of computer No. 1 than those responding on the same machine they’d worked on. People responding on the first computer seemed to not want to hurt the computer’s feelings to its face, but had no problem talking about it behind its back...

19Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS, SOCIAL MEDIA

Social Media Influencing: The Dark Side

Do you follow influencers on social media? Do you always check their posts? Do you find you’re spending too much time or becoming obsessed with checking influencers’ accounts? And when you can’t check in, do you feel disconnected or lost? If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have whats known as “problematic engagement” with social media influencers. But don’t blame yourself too much. You are among the many who have been swept away by dazzling social media influencing. And this can be attributed to many features and tactics social media influencers employ that help keep them influential — like livestreams and polls on Instagram. As experts in social media and user behaviour, we recently published a paper that looks at followers’ problematic engagement with inf...

AI And Social Media – Automate To Liberate

26Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

AI, CONTENT MARKETING, SOCIAL MEDIA

AI And Social Media – Automate To Liberate

These days everyone is on social media, for good or for bad. Sometimes we wish we were not - the din of the internet is even more acute on social media - but brands need to be where people gather to be successful. Beside the trolling and endless unpleasantness of Twitter exchanges, it's undeniable one can connect with a lot of people at once on social media. Here's the rub: social media is noisy, and getting noisier. How can one be effective on social media when every second more than 8000 tweets are shared? Welcome to the new Alice's rabbit hole. If there must be a respite, for both the sake of sanity as well as strategy, we need new tools. Enter automation. Specifically AI-driven automation. Why AI? Classic automation is a Mechanical Turk. Not the Amazon type, but the 19th-cen...

Technology Inspires Radical Change Thanks To Visionary Social Entrepreneurs

12May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

RECOMMENDATIONS

Technology Inspires Radical Change Thanks To Visionary Social Entrepreneurs

(BPT) - Wireless is at the heart of modern life, and 5G — the fifth generation of wireless — has the potential to transform how people connect and inspire change in their communities. Social entrepreneurs are recognizing the opportunity to influence the greater good through these new 5G networks, tapping into mobile technologies to help address some of the country’s biggest challenges. Consider mRelief, which uses text messages, voice and web to create access to nutritious food for American families through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides around 40 million people with access to nutritious food each year. During the pandemic, that number increased dramatically — some states received between 100-400% more SNAP applications than usual. mRelief is helping ...

3 Ways To Protect Against Social Engineering Attacks

12May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

THE LATEST NEWS

3 Ways To Protect Against Social Engineering Attacks

(BPT) - The foundation of all human relationships is trust. But our tendency to trust is exploited every day by hackers who engage in social engineering to gain unauthorized access to computer networks with the intent to steal data and cause financial harm. Social engineering attacks occur when fraudsters combine publicly accessible information and manipulative tactics to fool an unsuspecting victim into providing personal information and other sensitive identification data. Bad actors often begin the attacks by collecting personal information about their targets on social media accounts. Next, they contact the potential victim directly and pose as a trusted connection, such as an employer. These tactics can quickly lead to compromised credentials and the potential for account takeovers ...

Comments About Twitter By Elon Musk Don’t Square With The Social Media’s Platform Reality

4May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS, SOCIAL MEDIA

Comments About Twitter By Elon Musk Don’t Square With The Social Media’s Platform Reality

On April 25, 2022, Twitter’s board of directors accepted Elon Musk’s US$44 billion hostile takeover bid. Twitter’s statement announcing the deal included comments from the Tesla and SpaceX CEO: “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.” The problem with Musk’s statement is that it fundamentally misunderstands speech, algorithms and bots and human authentication. As a researcher who studies social media, I believe that if anything is cause for concern about this transaction, it is this ...

The Occult On Social Media – WitchTok: The Rise Of The Occult Has Eerie Parallels With The 16th Century

27Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS, SOCIAL MEDIA

The Occult On Social Media – WitchTok: The Rise Of The Occult Has Eerie Parallels With The 16th Century

It’s 1.30am in the morning, and I’m about to watch a duel between magicians. One is a “demonolater”, a word I have never heard before, someone who claims they worship demons and can petition them in return for knowledge or power. The other describes themselves as a “Solomonic magician”, and claims to be able to command demons to do his bidding, as some Jewish and Islamic traditions have believed of King Solomon, who ruled Israel in the 10th century BC. I first discovered this debate because, in the course of studying 16th century books of magic attributed to Solomon, I had found, to my astonishment, that “Solomonic magic” is still alive and well today, and growing in popularity. Twitter had suggested to me that I might be interested in an account called “Solomonic magic”, and a few clicks...

US$3 billion Twitter deal – What It Means For Elon Musk And For Social Media

18Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS

US$3 billion Twitter deal – What It Means For Elon Musk And For Social Media

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is now Twitter’s largest shareholder after acquiring a 9.2% stake in the social media platform for just under US$3 billion (£2.3 billion). The announcement drove Twitter’s share price up 27%, and it continued to grow in after-hours trading. You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, here. This investor enthusiasm is not surprising. Social media platforms have been suffering lately thanks to newly developed pressures in their ecosystems. For example, Twitter, and also Meta, have been on the receiving end of Apple’s anti user-tracking system. This is costing them billions of dollars in lost revenues, causing both companies’ stock to languish for the past few months. Musk’s arrival as Twitter’s largest shareholder will ...

The Rise Of Digital Handouts On Venmo And Cash App – What It Says About Our Fraying Social Safety Net

12Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CULTURE

The Rise Of Digital Handouts On Venmo And Cash App – What It Says About Our Fraying Social Safety Net

A college student pleading for grocery money. A driver in need of an unexpected car repair. A worker out of a job because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A single mom who needs to pay the internet bill to support her kids’ distance learning. In all of these cases, people turned to Twitter to ask for financial support during the pandemic. Not thousands of dollars. Just a few bucks. Whatever online followers could spare. As a consumer sociologist, I study digital culture and social media. I’ve noticed an uptick in these requests on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram, which are made possible by the growing popularity of peer-to-peer payment platforms like PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and Zelle. This diverges from traditional crowdfunding in which official online campaigns are set up for lofty fundraising ...

An Ideology Of Social Change Is Behind The Crypto Hype

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CRYPTOMARKET

An Ideology Of Social Change Is Behind The Crypto Hype

Ads for blockchain, NFTs and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin seem to be everywhere. Crypto technologies are being promoted as a replacement for banks; a new way to buy art; the next big investment opportunity, and an essential part of the metaverse. To many, these technologies are confusing or risky. But enthusiasts ardently promote them. As a cybersecurity and social media researcher, I’ve found that behind the hype is an ideology about social change: Hardcore enthusiasts argue that crypto will get people to trust in technology rather than government, which they see as inherently untrustworthy. This ideology leads people to encourage its use while downplaying its risks. The true believers My colleagues and I studied almost three months of discussions on Reddit forums about cryptocurrenc...