Three Painful Truths About Social Media

Deibert, Ronald J.

doi:10.1353/jod.2019.0002

Cited by 105 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…We focus on boosts for several reasons. First, we hold that the philosophy of the Internet is one of empowerment (e.g., Deibert, 2019; Diamond, 2010; Khazaeli & Stockemer, 2013). This is reflected in the EU’s approach, which highlights citizen empowerment as a goal of European digital policy (European Commission, 2020).…”

Section: The Role and Responsibility Of Psychological Science In The mentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizens Versus the Internet: Confronting Digital Challenges With Cognitive Tools

Kozyreva

Lewandowsky

Hertwig

2020

Psychol Sci Public Interest

220

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Internet has evolved into a ubiquitous and indispensable digital environment in which people communicate, seek information, and make decisions. Despite offering various benefits, online environments are also replete with smart, highly adaptive choice architectures designed primarily to maximize commercial interests, capture and sustain users’ attention, monetize user data, and predict and influence future behavior. This online landscape holds multiple negative consequences for society, such as a decline in human autonomy, rising incivility in online conversation, the facilitation of political extremism, and the spread of disinformation. Benevolent choice architects working with regulators may curb the worst excesses of manipulative choice architectures, yet the strategic advantages, resources, and data remain with commercial players. One way to address some of this imbalance is with interventions that empower Internet users to gain some control over their digital environments, in part by boosting their information literacy and their cognitive resistance to manipulation. Our goal is to present a conceptual map of interventions that are based on insights from psychological science. We begin by systematically outlining how online and offline environments differ despite being increasingly inextricable. We then identify four major types of challenges that users encounter in online environments: persuasive and manipulative choice architectures, AI-assisted information architectures, false and misleading information, and distracting environments. Next, we turn to how psychological science can inform interventions to counteract these challenges of the digital world. After distinguishing among three types of behavioral and cognitive interventions—nudges, technocognition, and boosts—we focus on boosts, of which we identify two main groups: (a) those aimed at enhancing people’s agency in their digital environments (e.g., self-nudging, deliberate ignorance) and (b) those aimed at boosting competencies of reasoning and resilience to manipulation (e.g., simple decision aids, inoculation). These cognitive tools are designed to foster the civility of online discourse and protect reason and human autonomy against manipulative choice architectures, attention-grabbing techniques, and the spread of false information.

show abstract

Section: The Role and Responsibility Of Psychological Science In The mentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizens Versus the Internet: Confronting Digital Challenges With Cognitive Tools

Kozyreva

Lewandowsky

Hertwig

2020

Psychol Sci Public Interest

220

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is not the case. As documented extensively by scholars and other observers (for instance Deibert et al, 2012;Deibert, 2015Deibert, , 2019Gunitsky, 2015;Morozov, 2011), cyberspace is a highly contested sphere where various actors, public and private, fight for influence. In the realm of authoritarian politics, it is the state in particularwith actions ranging from censorship to polluting social mediathat attempts to constrain or minimise the impact of information that could increase citizens' anti-regime sentiment (Gunitsky, 2015).…”

Section: Internet Use and Anti-regime Sentimentmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Social media platforms' algorithms make it furthermore questionable whether alternative political information will travel to all sections of society and not merely circulate among those who already dislike the government (Deibert, 2019). And even if news about a government wrongdoing reaches beyond the opposition-minded 'echo chambers', while the theory assumes that the internet user would automatically think less about those in power, such a conclusion cannot be so easily drawn.…”

Section: Internet Use and Anti-regime Sentimentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Illusion of control: how internet use generates anti-regime sentiment in authoritarian regimes

Ruijgrok

2020

Contemporary Politics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…In one of the articles, Deibert [5] presents "three painful truths about social media" in which he points out:…”

Section: :2 • D Schulermentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Technology Support Democracy?

Schuler

2020

Digit. Gov.: Res. Pract.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The utopian optimism about democracy and the internet has given way to disillusionment. At the same time, given the complexity of today's wicked problems, the need for democracy is critical. Unfortunately democracy is under attack around the world, and there are ominous signs of its retreat. How does democracy fare when digital technology is added to the picture? Weaving technology and democracy together is risky, and technologists who begin any digital project with the conviction that technology can and will solve "problems" of democracy are likely to be disappointed. Technology can be a boon to democracy if it is informed technology. The goal in writing this essay was to encourage people to help develop and cultivate a rich democratic sphere. Democracy has great potential that it rarely achieves. It is radical, critical, complex, and fragile. It takes different forms in different contexts. These forms are complex and the solutionism promoted by the computer industry and others is not appropriate in the case of democracies. The primary aim of technology in the service of democracy is not merely to make it easier or more convenient but to improve society's civic intelligence, its ability to address the problems it faces effectively and equitably. CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Collaborative and social computing; • Applied computing → Egovernment; Voting / election technologies;

show abstract

Three Painful Truths About Social Media

Cited by 105 publications

References 11 publications

Citizens Versus the Internet: Confronting Digital Challenges With Cognitive Tools

Citizens Versus the Internet: Confronting Digital Challenges With Cognitive Tools

Illusion of control: how internet use generates anti-regime sentiment in authoritarian regimes

Can Technology Support Democracy?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About