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Myths about Social Media

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Re: Myths about Social Media

#11

Post by mandmandam »

pphysch wrote: post #7
royalroad wrote: post #5

Maybe it would be worth repeating the 'myths' he lists in the tweets: Myth 1: A lot of misinfo on social media No, research suggests there is little, shared by few & having small effects. Those sharing misinfo are not dumb. But they have intense political animus, which motivates to share what fits their worldview, true or false. Myth 2: Social media makes people hateful No, research suggests that online hate reflects…

Yeah, these are general features of mass media that predate the internet. Much of the hysteria about social media is signal boosted by the traditional media establishment that it disrupted

Yes, 100%.

A very recent extreme example from Ireland: Just last week, there was a horrific murder of a woman out running. Ashling Murphy, a teacher.

The next morning, print and radio media ran the leaked news that a Romanian national with many priors had been picked up by local Irish Gardai (cops).

For a day or two, racism and xenophobia ran rampant - then sure enough, he was found not suspicious and released. The man's life is ruined now.

IMMEDIATELY afterward, print and radio media blamed social media for jumping to conclusions, doxxing the man and ruining his life (social media were actually very good at removing his name). Old media are now calling for regulation of social media and blaming them for the whole thing, projecting and deflecting with impunity.

...

There are countless other examples - Joan Burton in Jobstown, Irish Water protests, Maurice McCabe - every time the government or Gardai or media are caught in a major lie thanks to social media, there are a couple weeks of stories about online bullying and the need to regulate social media.

It's so charmingly obvious, and the lie is blatant, but it works on enough people that they get away with it. The cost to society is extreme, from enabling corruption to slowing progress to dulling and poisoning the minds of the gullible.

Re: Myths about Social Media

#12

Post by mstade »

royalroad wrote: post #5

Maybe it would be worth repeating the 'myths' he lists in the tweets: Myth 1: A lot of misinfo on social media No, research suggests there is little, shared by few & having small effects. Those sharing misinfo are not dumb. But they have intense political animus, which motivates to share what fits their worldview, true or false. Myth 2: Social media makes people hateful No, research suggests that online hate reflects…

I would love to read the research he's referring to, but I couldn't find any links or citations. I intuitively believe that there's truth to all of these so called myths, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Anyone know where I can read more about this?

Re: Myths about Social Media

#13

Post by version_five »

I think the echo chamber one misses the point (or maybe the analogy of an echo chamber is bad).

It's true that people are exposed to other views, but there is still the echo effect of what their bubble thinks of those other views. Two people discussing their differences is not the same as two (or N) bubbles hurling outrage at one another, which I think is closer to most of twitter - the echo chamber still applies within your bubble and its criticism of others

Re: Myths about Social Media

#14

Post by teucris »

mstade wrote: post #12
royalroad wrote: post #5

Maybe it would be worth repeating the 'myths' he lists in the tweets: Myth 1: A lot of misinfo on social media No, research suggests there is little, shared by few & having small effects. Those sharing misinfo are not dumb. But they have intense political animus, which motivates to share what fits their worldview, true or false. Myth 2: Social media makes people hateful No, research suggests that online hate reflects…

I would love to read the research he's referring to, but I couldn't find any links or citations. I intuitively believe that there's truth to all of these so called myths, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Anyone know where I can read more about this?

Did some digging, here is the paper he references on echo chambers/bubbles:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/21582440198327...

Re: Myths about Social Media

#15

Post by teucris »

teucris wrote: post #14
mstade wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to read the research he's referring to, but I couldn't find any links or citations. I intuitively believe that there's truth to all of these so called myths, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Anyone know where I can read more about this?

Did some digging, here is the paper he references on echo chambers/bubbles: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/21582440198327...

My initial concern, based on reading the abstract, is that since this study only looks at Twitter and not Facebook, it isn’t enough evidence to make any conclusions about echo chambers in a general way as so many people get their news from Facebook.

Re: Myths about Social Media

#16

Post by krapp »

mstade wrote: post #12
royalroad wrote: post #5

Maybe it would be worth repeating the 'myths' he lists in the tweets: Myth 1: A lot of misinfo on social media No, research suggests there is little, shared by few & having small effects. Those sharing misinfo are not dumb. But they have intense political animus, which motivates to share what fits their worldview, true or false. Myth 2: Social media makes people hateful No, research suggests that online hate reflects…

I would love to read the research he's referring to, but I couldn't find any links or citations. I intuitively believe that there's truth to all of these so called myths, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Anyone know where I can read more about this?

I think the myth is the misinterpretation of scale. People tend to believe social media is primarily hate and misinformation, that most users are simply addicted to it like dope fiends, and that it's nothing but echo chambers, etc. All of these things are true, but likely to a lesser degree than assumed.

Re: Myths about Social Media

#17

Post by teucris »

mstade wrote: post #12
royalroad wrote: post #5

Maybe it would be worth repeating the 'myths' he lists in the tweets: Myth 1: A lot of misinfo on social media No, research suggests there is little, shared by few & having small effects. Those sharing misinfo are not dumb. But they have intense political animus, which motivates to share what fits their worldview, true or false. Myth 2: Social media makes people hateful No, research suggests that online hate reflects…

I would love to read the research he's referring to, but I couldn't find any links or citations. I intuitively believe that there's truth to all of these so called myths, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Anyone know where I can read more about this?

He tweeted a Dropbox link to the presentation at the end, and it has a list of papers referenced.

Re: Myths about Social Media

#18

Post by timoth3y »

This drives me nuts. The irony here is that one of the things social media does is force us to simplify our discourse to the point of infantilization. Subtly does not get traction.

We need binary truths! Myths and myth-busters.

None of the author's "myths" are myths. They are all true in a general sense. What the author is correctly pointing out is that there is more subtly. That to understand the real situation requires a deeper look.

Of course, that would never get traction on social media, so it must be framed as "No! They are wrong!"

Re: Myths about Social Media

#19

Post by Barrin92 »

version_five wrote: post #13

I think the echo chamber one misses the point (or maybe the analogy of an echo chamber is bad). It's true that people are exposed to other views, but there is still the echo effect of what their bubble thinks of those other views. Two people discussing their differences is not the same as two (or N) bubbles hurling outrage at one another, which I think is closer to most of twitter - the echo chamber still applies wit…

I think that stretches the definition of 'echo chamber'. That's simply what a community is, a group of like-minded people with shared views.

There's nothing automatically wrong with this. People can have shared criticisms of others if there is some meaningful difference between the groups that justifies that disagreement. I think people mistake 'hurling outrage' with simply two (or more) groups being fundamentally in disagreement.

The answer to this is actually the opposite of what people commonly suggest. Just let people with irreconcilable differences go their own way which is why I like the researchers suggestion to improve tools to shield oneself from hate.

Instead of demonizing so called 'echo chambers' I think we should just call it what it is, freedom of association.

Re: Myths about Social Media

#20

Post by throwawaynor88 »

Seems he should have been given more time. These myths seem lukewarm. What about the facebook files from just a few months ago [1][2]. It's hard to get a sane feed these days, they force their feed algorithm down our throats.

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Facebook_leak

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