A decade ago it was fashionable to talk about the social media platform Facebook as if it were a country. Commentators measured its active user base against the giant and growing populations of China and India to convey some sense of its scale, reach and power. Back then Facebook had around 850 million users, now it is nearer 3 billion people. Both China and India, by comparison, are home to around 1.4bn people each today.
With such vast and sudden “population” explosions on social media, we worried about what these platforms were doing with all the data they were harvesting. Despite those serious concerns, social media was also viewed as a positive agent of change. The role that Facebook, Twitter and others played in the 2011 Arab uprisings in gathering young people together was regularly cited as an example of the powerful catalyst these platforms could be.
In those days, Facebook’s log-in page featured the “it’s free and always will be” strapline. The phrase was key to explaining the platform’s popularity. The quid pro quo, such as it was, lay somewhere between being able to use a dazzling application without cost and surrendering some personal data to big tech.
Active users across all social media platforms in 2022 number closer to 5bn people, now equivalent to the entire population of Asia, and the intervening years have turned the so-called digital town square into a challenging space. The quid pro quo seems more inequitable than ever.
Part of that is because the combination of social media and smartphones has made us into discreet, addictive and private beings. It is possible to spend hours on these platforms with an algorithm serving you an inexhaustible feed of machine-generated content.
Online giant Amazon’s recommendation algorithm famously started outperforming human editor’s picks a long time ago because it used a filtering system that was based on links between products rather than customers. It learnt that if you were searching for a copy of, say, F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, there was a good chance you’d also be interested in works by Ernest Hemingway. It didn’t have to understand why customers might be interested in both authors, it just had to know that there was a correlation between products by those authors.
It has become too easy to be caught in an echo chamber that reinforces our own biases and disappearing down dangerous trap doors
Similarly, social media doesn’t have to interrogate why I may be searching for and interested in content about a particular subject, they just have to feed that need regardless of whether it is good for me or not.
Some people used to think social media would allow all of us to be exposed to a diverse range of opinions, but it has become far too easy to be caught in an echo chamber, consuming, liking and commenting on the posts that reinforce our own biases and disappearing down dangerous trap doors with no easy way out. The separation between our digital personalities and our real one seems to widen every year.
While user bases continue to grow across social media platforms – and TikTok now captures vast tracts of the attention economy – the inner workings of the technology need rethinking and rebuilding.
A year ago, Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager turned whistleblower, told a US Congressional hearing that the platform’s algorithms promote posts with high levels of engagement, often pushing harmful content towards users. Facebook vigorously denied the accusation. Founder Mark Zuckerberg said the allegations of preferencing profiteering over well-being were “just not true”. Ms Haugen has since joined the new group, Council for Responsible Social Media, which launched this week and is pressing for urgent change.
Last month, an inquest in the UK ruled that the death for teenager Molly Russell in November 2017 happened after exposure to the negative effects of online content. The inquest heard how Molly, who was 14 years old when she died, saved, shared or liked 16,300 posts on Instagram in the six-month period before her death. Of those, 2,100 were depression, self-harm or suicide-related. Her case is likely to provide the springboard for action in the UK.
Any proposed legislation will need careful calculation and application. Too strict and it becomes unworkable, too lenient and it is toothless.
So how do you realistically govern a digital territory now inhabited by almost five billion people?
Beyond broad actions that prefer steady hands and good faith, a prescription for change requires the following.
The platforms themselves need to further develop their internal audit and oversight procedures. Self-regulation may sound like a terrible oxymoron, but it may also be the best way forward as long as it champions prevention and solutions.
The platforms need to be more transparent and accountable with users about why content is being served and swift to address inappropriate or harmful posts.
The algorithms need rebuilding and the machine-learning needs to understand why as well as what its users are interested in.
And finally, safeguarding legislation must be drafted with purpose rather than symbolism.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
RESULTS
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
AGUERO'S PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD
Apps: 186
Goals: 127
Assists: 31
Wins: 117
Losses: 33
match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
More on animal trafficking
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EGrowdash%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJuly%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESean%20Trevaskis%20and%20Enver%20Sorkun%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERestaurant%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24750%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Plus%20VC%2C%20Judah%20VC%2C%20TPN%20Investments%20and%20angel%20investors%2C%20including%20former%20Talabat%20chief%20executive%20Abdulhamid%20Alomar%2C%20and%20entrepreneur%20Zeid%20Husban%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
RESULTS
Bantamweight title:
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) bt Xavier Alaoui (MAR)
(KO round 2)
Catchweight 68kg:
Sean Soriano (USA) bt Noad Lahat (ISR)
(TKO round 1)
Middleweight:
Denis Tiuliulin (RUS) bt Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
(TKO round 1)
Lightweight:
Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) bt Joachim Tollefsen (DEN)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 68kg:
Austin Arnett (USA) bt Daniel Vega (MEX)
(TKO round 3)
Lightweight:
Carrington Banks (USA) bt Marcio Andrade (BRA)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 58kg:
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) bt Malin Hermansson (SWE)
(Submission round 2)
Bantamweight:
Jalal Al Daaja (CAN) bt Juares Dea (CMR)
(Split decision)
Middleweight:
Mohamad Osseili (LEB) bt Ivan Slynko (UKR)
(TKO round 1)
Featherweight:
Tarun Grigoryan (ARM) bt Islam Makhamadjanov (UZB)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 54kg:
Mariagiovanna Vai (ITA) bt Daniella Shutov (ISR)
(Submission round 1)
Middleweight:
Joan Arastey (ESP) bt Omran Chaaban (LEB)
(Unanimous decision)
Welterweight:
Bruno Carvalho (POR) bt Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
(TKO)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
