I tried my cut on these issues in Project Syndicate a lit...

I tried my cut on these issues in Project Syndicate a little while ago: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trolls-win-control-of-the-public-square-by-j-bradford-delong-2019-12. I think Annalee Newitz is doing a better job: Annalee Newitz: A Better Internet Is Waiting for Us https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/30/opinion/social-media-future.html: 'Social media is broken. It has poisoned the way we communicate with each other and undermined the democratic process.... Erika Hall���s design firm Mule.... ���I absolutely believe that you can design interfaces that create more safe spaces to interact, in the same way we know how to design streets that are safer,��� she said. But today, she told me, the issue isn���t technical. It has to do with the way business is being done in Silicon Valley.... Companies like Facebook and Twitter lack an incentive to promote better relationships and a better understanding of the news ���because they make money through outrage and deception,��� Ms. Hall said. Outrage and deception capture our attention, and attention sells ads. ���At a business model level, they are ad networks parasitic on human connection.���.... Scalzi... digital media companies that will serve the generations of people who have grown up online (soon, that will be most people) and already know that digital information can���t be trusted. They will care about who is giving them the news, where it comes from, and why it���s believable.... After the social media age is over, we���ll have the opportunity to rebuild our damaged public sphere by creating digital public places that imitate actual town halls, concert venues and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.... As we���ve already learned from social media, anonymous communication can degenerate quickly. What���s to stop future public spaces from becoming unregulated free-for-alls, with abuse and misinformation that are far worse than anything today?... We need to stop handing off responsibility for maintaining public space to corporations and algorithms���and give it back to human beings. We may need to slow down, but we���ve created democracies out of chaos before. We can do it again...

#noted #2020-02-11