The next time someone tells you their pet theories of online social interaction are "research based" send this important paper back to them. "We lack the scientific framework we would need to answer even the most basic questions that technology companies and their regulators face," argue the authors. "We lack the ability to predict how the technologies we adopt today will impact global patterns of beliefs and behavior tomorrow." Our understanding of collective behaviour has been impacted by four key changes: the increased scale of human networks, changes in network structure, increased information fidelity and correlation, and algorithmic feedback and amplification. At the same time, "humanity faces global and existential threats including climate change, ecosystem degradation, and the prospect of nuclear war. We likewise face a number of other challenges that impact our wellbeing, including racism, disease, famine, and economic inequality." We can't address these unless we can understand and manage human collective behaviour, they argue. "There is no viable hands-off approach." Image: Petra Kuenkel, Collective Stewardship.
Today: 3 Total: 109 [Direct link] [Share]
