Social Networks (41)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2019
Monster Match, a game funded by Mozilla, shows how dating app algorithms are reinforcing bias through combining personal and mass aggregated data to systematically hide a vast number of profiles from user sight, effectively caging users into narrow preferences.
- Wired
- 2019
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2019
This dating app exposes the monstrous bias of algorithms
Monster Match, a game funded by Mozilla, shows how dating app algorithms are reinforcing bias through combining personal and mass aggregated data to systematically hide a vast number of profiles from user sight, effectively caging users into narrow preferences.
What are some inexplicit ways in which algorithms reinforce biases? Are machine learning algorithms equipped to handle the multiple confounding variables at play in things like dating preferences? Does online dating unquestionably give people more agency in finding a partner?
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- 15 min
- Hidden Switch
- 2018
A hands-on learning experience about the algorithms used in dating apps through the perspective of a created monster avatar.
- Hidden Switch
- 2018
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- 15 min
- Hidden Switch
- 2018
Monster Match
A hands-on learning experience about the algorithms used in dating apps through the perspective of a created monster avatar.
How do algorithms in dating apps work? What gaps seemed most prominent to you? What upset you most about the way this algorithm defined you and the choices it offered to you?
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- 7 min
- Vice
- 2019
Snapchat stores some user data for legitimate purposes but is vague about doing so, and abuses (such as spying) of this data have occurred within the company.
- Vice
- 2019
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- 7 min
- Vice
- 2019
Snapchat Employees Abused Data Access to Spy on Users
Snapchat stores some user data for legitimate purposes but is vague about doing so, and abuses (such as spying) of this data have occurred within the company.
How does this story contrast the view of Snapchat as a platform where all posts are ephemeral?
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- 2 min
- The Verge
- 2019
In this very short narrative, the Social Media Addiction Reduction technology Act is presented in the context of social networks and concerns around digital addiction.
- The Verge
- 2019
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- 2 min
- The Verge
- 2019
New bill would ban autoplay videos and endless scrolling
In this very short narrative, the Social Media Addiction Reduction technology Act is presented in the context of social networks and concerns around digital addiction.
How do they work and what are the risks of digital addiction mechanisms? How to regulate digital content that can generate addictions?
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- 17 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. Anything constructed in the virtual world, from possessions to relationships, is valued and taken as real by users. When a large corporation headed by Nolan Sorrento attempts to gain sole ownership of the virtual reality network, Wade’s avatar Parzival inspires a revolution among the citizens in the digital world, ultimately winning for himself and his friends the ownership of, and the power to regulate, the OASIS.
- Kinolab
- 2018
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- 17 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Digital Escapism and Online Connections
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. Anything constructed in the virtual world, from possessions to relationships, is valued and taken as real by users. When a large corporation headed by Nolan Sorrento attempts to gain sole ownership of the virtual reality network, Wade’s avatar Parzival inspires a revolution among the citizens in the digital world, ultimately winning for himself and his friends the ownership of, and the power to regulate, the OASIS.
What are the pros and cons of developing exciting, immersive communities in virtual reality platforms? Do social networks change the nature of human interaction for better, for worse, or both at once? Can any one social network outpace reality as a means of connection? What is the risk of one corporate entity having centralized control over large social digital spaces? What is “the real world” if VR is convincing enough? Should the digital be heavily regulated if it serves as a legitimate coping mechanism for some?
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- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 2011
In this episode, a princess is kidnapped, and the condition of her release is that the prime minister, Michael Callow, is forced to have sexual intercourse with a pig on live television. While the news media originally wants to keep this incident quiet, digital reporting from other news companies in the US eventually forces the UKN to start a conversation about this event. After an attempt at using deep fake to make the deed appear done, the prime minister is quickly slandered on social media, and public opinion on him and if he should carry out the act shifts rapidly online. With this quick change in mood, the prime minister ultimately fulfills the request in full view of the entire world over the news.
- Kinolab
- 2011
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- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 2011
Digital News Media and the Pressures of Public Demand
In this episode, a princess is kidnapped, and the condition of her release is that the prime minister, Michael Callow, is forced to have sexual intercourse with a pig on live television. While the news media originally wants to keep this incident quiet, digital reporting from other news companies in the US eventually forces the UKN to start a conversation about this event. After an attempt at using deep fake to make the deed appear done, the prime minister is quickly slandered on social media, and public opinion on him and if he should carry out the act shifts rapidly online. With this quick change in mood, the prime minister ultimately fulfills the request in full view of the entire world over the news.
Is “hive mind mentality” something unique to digital media? How might these platforms exacerbate this tendency? Is this an inevitable consequence of digital social networks, or could they be designed differently? How can digital media channels disrupt and shape the course of power figures, for better and for worse?
Black Mirror: UKN