ThoughtGallery.org > Facebook Made Me Do It: Social Media and Democracy | The Alliance Series

Facebook Made Me Do It: Social Media and Democracy | The Alliance Series

Social media platforms recently came under scrutiny after they failed to prevent the creation of fake accounts aimed at manipulating the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The impact of social media on democracy and public debate is felt in many other ways: today’s algorithms, for instance, tend to encourage the spread of emotionally charged opinions, and create rabbit holes of converging viewpoints rather that exposing us to conflicting perspectives; the most extreme views or those that express moral outrage also tend to gain more traction than moderate and balanced opinions. At the same time, social media have provided new platforms for democratic debate, encouraging a broader range of individuals to engage in political dialogue, and have made a diversity of channels available to users on which they can express themselves.

This conversation on social media and democracy between Joan Donovan, Director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Harvard Kennedy School and Célia Zolynski and Judith Rochfeld, Law Professors from Paris I Sorbonne, is presented as part of the Alliance Series at Albertine. The conversation will be moderated by Kris-Stella Trump, director of the Anxieties of Democracy program at the Social Science Research Council.











When: Wed., May. 15, 2019 at 6:30 pm
Where: Albertine
972 Fifth Ave.
332-228-2238
Price: Free
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Social media platforms recently came under scrutiny after they failed to prevent the creation of fake accounts aimed at manipulating the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The impact of social media on democracy and public debate is felt in many other ways: today’s algorithms, for instance, tend to encourage the spread of emotionally charged opinions, and create rabbit holes of converging viewpoints rather that exposing us to conflicting perspectives; the most extreme views or those that express moral outrage also tend to gain more traction than moderate and balanced opinions. At the same time, social media have provided new platforms for democratic debate, encouraging a broader range of individuals to engage in political dialogue, and have made a diversity of channels available to users on which they can express themselves.

This conversation on social media and democracy between Joan Donovan, Director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Harvard Kennedy School and Célia Zolynski and Judith Rochfeld, Law Professors from Paris I Sorbonne, is presented as part of the Alliance Series at Albertine. The conversation will be moderated by Kris-Stella Trump, director of the Anxieties of Democracy program at the Social Science Research Council.

Buy tickets/get more info now