15 votes

Why some biologists and ecologists think social media is a risk to humanity

3 comments

  1. [3]
    Amarok
    Link
    The paper is right here. The article linked above also contains an interview with the authors. Abstract:

    The paper is right here. The article linked above also contains an interview with the authors.

    Abstract:

    Collective behavior provides a framework for understanding how the actions and properties of groups emerge from the way individuals generate and share information. In humans, information flows were initially shaped by natural selection yet are increasingly structured by emerging communication technologies. Our larger, more complex social networks now transfer high-fidelity information over vast distances at low cost. The digital age and the rise of social media have accelerated changes to our social systems, with poorly understood functional consequences. This gap in our knowledge represents a principal challenge to scientific progress, democracy, and actions to address global crises. We argue that the study of collective behavior must rise to a “crisis discipline” just as medicine, conservation, and climate science have, with a focus on providing actionable insight to policymakers and regulators for the stewardship of social systems.

    6 votes
    1. [3]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. vord
        Link Parent
        I was still in middle school when the major shift happened, and for the most part, the net was still a mostly-nice place for a good long while. Online socialization was still largely amongst...

        I was still in middle school when the major shift happened, and for the most part, the net was still a mostly-nice place for a good long while. Online socialization was still largely amongst peers. Online games were largely done via user-run servers, so you'd have small communities forming, keeping them easier to moderate.

        The biggest transition I saw in toxicity is when game companies replaced player-run servers with universal matchmaking. It replaced the possibility of forming a community with a giant blob of human NPCs to play against.

        I think a return to a BBS-style model would do well for the internet, at the very least as a stepping stone into the wider net. Especially for kids. Limit their access to the social circles they form offline, at least until their foundations of interacting online are better formed. Nowadays, from the day they can read (and hell, maybe not even then), kids can get sucked into some of the worst aspects of humanity in ways that are virtually unmanageable.

        9 votes
      2. patience_limited
        Link Parent
        Likewise - met my (eventual) spouse via a BBS in '91, lived through Eternal September, watched IRC crumble under the weight of noise and bots, survived the death of Google+, etc. And I adhere to...

        Likewise - met my (eventual) spouse via a BBS in '91, lived through Eternal September, watched IRC crumble under the weight of noise and bots, survived the death of Google+, etc.

        And I adhere to the Monkeysphere hypothesis - that most people are cognitively limited to social trust relationships with no more than ~150 people or so, lifelong. Beyond that, it's difficult to build or maintain empathy, to share egolessly and "think of the human" in conversations, and to practice good information hygiene.

        I've abandoned social media, including Tildes to a large extent, because I caught myself engaging in recursive exercises in ego-gratification (see me be right!) instead of discussion or learning. Every post is a presentation to strangers regardless of length of presence on any given platform. While I've had some training in maintaining the semblance of empathy in text conversation, it's not an evolved talent like in-person speech and bonding. The results of physical isolation during COVID-19, with only computer-mediated interaction for most, have been devastating depression, alienation, anxiety, rage, and disassociation for enormous numbers of people.

        I believe the paper's authors have correctly identified a crisis which could upend civilization.

        8 votes