It all feels like a precursor to a bad joke: What do foreign agents, white supremacists, conspiracists, snake oil salesmen, political operatives, white academics, and a disgruntled bunch of zoomers have in common? The groups have collided in a centrifuge of chaos online, where the tactics they use to hide their identities and manipulate audiences are more prevalent than ever. Social media companies are trying to patch the holes in a failing sociotechnical systems, where the problems their products have created are now shouldered by journalists, universities, and health professionals, just to name a few. What can be done to restore moral and technical order in a time of pandemonium?
Recommended resources:
- MediaManipulation.Org
- Donovan, J. 2020. “Thank You for Posting: Smoking’s Lessons for Regulating Social Media. MIT Technology Review.
- Donovan, J. 2020. “Covid Hoaxes Are Using a Loophole to Stay Alive—Even after Content Is Deleted.” MIT Technology Review. 2020.
- Donovan, J. 2020. “Trump’s Viral Flu Tweet Proves America Is Losing the Battle against Covid Misinfo.” NBC News.
- Donovan, J., and boyd, d. 2019. “Stop the Presses? Moving From Strategic Silence to Strategic Amplification in a Networked Media Ecosystem” American Behavioral Scientist, September.
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