An archive of data science, data analytics, data engineering, machine learning, and artificial intelligence writing from the former Towards Data Science Medium publication.
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The Politics of Social Media
Internet • Policy • Fake News • Tech • Algorithmic Harm • Society
What was the world like before social media? How did society look before Six Degrees, Friendster, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook?
In 2004, MySpace became the first social media site to reach 1 million monthly active users. Today, Facebook has over billion DAILY active users. While companies like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger have helped this number grow, there is no denying that social media has become deeply embedded in society.
Rapid technological change doesn’t come without a cost. Users have slowly evolved social media platforms to fit their UX needs, but it is often forgotten how social media equally influences society.
“Technology are not merely aids to human activity, but also powerful forces acting to reshape that activity and its meaning.” — Langdon Winner
Ever heard the old fable about boiling a frog?
To cook a live frog, it won’t work to place it in a pot of boiling water — it will simply jump out of the pot. Instead, it must be placed into a pot of room-temperature water, with the heat slowly being raised over time. The frog won’t realize that its…
Published in TDS Archive
An archive of data science, data analytics, data engineering, machine learning, and artificial intelligence writing from the former Towards Data Science Medium publication.
Written by Jessie J. Smith
PhD Student, Researching and Creating Technical Solutions to Ethical Problems in Society. Talking about AI Ethics at