November 15, 2023

COMMENTARY: Social Media is the New Trade Route; Cherokee Artists in the 21st Century (Cherokee One Feather)

Cherokee One Feather: COMMENTARY: Social Media is the New Trade Route; Cherokee Artists in the 21st Century. “In a world where social media has done so much wrong, there is a glimmer of social media usage that is doing something right. Beadworkers on social media share with each other, learn from each other and support themselves, their families, and their communities, all the while continuing their culture. Indigenous culture is not stagnant. Cultures are dynamic. They are meant to stand the test of time and develop along with the development of communities and nations.”

Research & Opinion 0
November 14, 2023

Mother Jones: When You’re Young, Lonely, and Chronically Ill, Online Communities Offer a Lifeline

Mother Jones: When You’re Young, Lonely, and Chronically Ill, Online Communities Offer a Lifeline. “After becoming chronically ill, some young people turn to the internet to build community and learn more about their condition and symptoms. Others socialize with informal groups based on a common interest—gaming on Twitch, joining a virtual language practice group, talking about a favorite show on Discord—which can accommodate their varying abilities, which can change day to day and even hour to hour.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
November 11, 2023

Queen Mary University of London: New report reveals autistic adults’ social media experiences and provides toolkits to better support the needs of neurodivergent users

Queen Mary University of London: New report reveals autistic adults’ social media experiences and provides toolkits to better support the needs of neurodivergent users. “To support efforts from designers and third and public sector professionals, Professor Nelya Koteyko and her research team in collaboration with the UK’s leading autism research and campaigning charity Autistica have created a policy brief ‘Making online platforms autism-friendly’ as well as toolkits that can help in adapting digital platforms and social media to better support the needs of neurodiverse users.” I really hope #1 is “no autoplaying video with audio.”

New Resources 0
November 7, 2023

New York Times: On Social Media, People Face Pressure to Speak Out About the War

New York Times: On Social Media, People Face Pressure to Speak Out About the War. “People who work across industries — from famous online influencers to those with far less prominent online profiles, including a yoga teacher, an interior designer, and tech and real estate workers — said in interviews that they faced an expectation to share their opinions about the war. The pressure is conveyed either explicitly or subtly from friends and followers. Silence is viewed by many as its own statement.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
November 2, 2023

ABC News (Australia): A year after Elon Musk bought Twitter, X is now a ‘worthless’ platform some say is no longer safe for activists

ABC News (Australia): A year after Elon Musk bought Twitter, X is now a ‘worthless’ platform some say is no longer safe for activists. “Over the past 12 months, Mr Musk has gutted content moderation, restored accounts of previously banned extremists, and allowed users to purchase account verification. The blue bird logo has since disappeared, and so too have many advertisers and users who could no longer make sense of — or feel safe on — the platform now known as X.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
October 31, 2023

The Conversation: How to redesign social media algorithms to bridge divides

The Conversation: How to redesign social media algorithms to bridge divides. “Current engagement-based algorithms make predictions about which posts are most likely to generate clicks, likes, shares or views – and use these predictions to rank the most engaging content at the top of your feed. This tends to amplify the most polarising voices, because divisive perspectives are very engaging. Bridging-based ranking uses a different set of signals to determine which content gets ranked highly. One approach is to increase the rank of content that receives positive feedback from people who normally disagree.”

Research & Opinion 0
October 28, 2023

The Verge: The poster’s guide to the internet of the future

The Verge: The poster’s guide to the internet of the future. “The idea is that you, the poster, should post on a website that you own. Not an app that can go away and take all your posts with it, not a platform with ever-shifting rules and algorithms. Your website. But people who want to read or watch or listen to or look at your posts can do that almost anywhere because your content is syndicated to all those platforms.” If you’ve been on the Internet since the early 1990s, this is going to seem very familiar…

Research & Opinion 0
October 22, 2023

KPBS: Scientists say ‘X’ marks the spot where they lose faith in Twitter

KPBS: Scientists say ‘X’ marks the spot where they lose faith in Twitter. “There have been a lot of changes at Twitter. In fact, you’re not even supposed to call it that. It’s been renamed and rebranded as X, the name favored by the platform’s billionaire owner Elon Musk. Despite the changes it’s still widely used and valued by San Diego scientists. But they are seeing less of what they used to like.”

Research & Opinion 0
October 12, 2023

The Verge: Discogs’ vibrant vinyl community is shattering

The Verge: Discogs’ vibrant vinyl community is shattering. “The site has become a central part of the music internet, surviving through physical music media’s replacement by MP3s and then streaming — and rebounding as interest in vinyl, CDs, and tapes did throughout the 2010s. But sellers who use the platform say the site’s old tech has started to wear on them, and new fees and restrictions have made it harder to do business. Changes within the company are threatening to turn a bastion for vinyl fans, record stores, and anyone who cares about music into just another dysfunctional website — and dismantle a singular record of music history, even if just by pushing the sellers and users who have created that record away.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
September 1, 2023

TechCrunch: In Threads’ dwindling engagement, social media’s flawed hypothesis is laid bare

TechCrunch: In Threads’ dwindling engagement, social media’s flawed hypothesis is laid bare. “The hard truth behind the phenomenon? For too long, social media platforms have been operating as if connectivity provides the same fulfillment as human connection. The result is, two decades later, social media’s driven our culture and communal well-being to an unprecedented loneliness epidemic that no platform seems capable of fixing, let alone addressing. It’s time for a hard reset.”

Research & Opinion 0
August 27, 2023

CBR: Comics Twitter Has Created A Fandom That Doesn’t Understand Comics

CBR: Comics Twitter Has Created A Fandom That Doesn’t Understand Comics . “Twitter, or X as it’s now called, has become the most important advertising tool for the comic industry. Companies like DC Comics and Image use the site to get the news about new books out. A whole ecosystem of fan accounts and podcasts has sprung up around Twitter, where indie creators peddle their wares, and fans and creators interact like never before. However, Comics Twitter is often a cesspool of toxicity and bad takes. In fact, the very nature of Comic Twitter has often been its downfall, and the fans Comic Twitter created have run into some huge problems.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
August 27, 2023

Tuning the tension: Negative feedback could moderate extreme views on social media, per U-M research (University of Michigan)

University of Michigan: Tuning the tension: Negative feedback could moderate extreme views on social media, per U-M research. “‘Downvotes’ and ‘dislikes’ from peers could moderate extreme rhetoric and mitigate echo chambers among social media users, according to new research from the University of Michigan. The study finds such ‘feedback can serve as the whip that regulates the polarization of opinions by encouraging users to moderate their tone.’ Conversely, the research doesn’t find evidence of equivalent moderation effects from positive feedback.”

Research & Opinion 0
August 23, 2023

How to Watch YouTube Videos Together With Friends: 7 Ways (MakeUseOf)

MakeUseOf: How to Watch YouTube Videos Together With Friends: 7 Ways . “It’s a great joy to share a YouTube video with friends. It’s even better to watch it with them. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible, especially if you live apart. So, we have compiled a list of ways to watch YouTube together with your friends. As well as helping you watch YouTube together, these services help you sync playback so that you and your friends are watching the same thing at the same time.”

Useful Stuff 0
August 21, 2023

Duke University: How to Depolarize Political Toxicity on Social Media

Duke University: How to Depolarize Political Toxicity on Social Media. “While social media is often blamed for exacerbating incivility and partisan polarization, research led by Duke University scholars found that anonymous online conversations using a mobile chat platform they developed can reduce political polarization. The research also showed how varying levels of anonymity can shape conversations about politics.”

Research & Opinion 0

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