Social Structure 3.6 Social Media Review and Evaluation 3

Resources from the movie:

Articles/Publications by Documentary People:

Stanford Laboratory for Persuasive Technologies

Here’s a video of Stanford University’s Behavioral Design Lab.

The Stanford U. Persuasion Through Mobile Design Lab is led by BJ Fogg, a Stanford behavioral scientist, https://www.bjfogg.com/

in 2006 we created a video to alert the FTC (and others) to the problem areas surrounding persuasive technology. Watch the video here: https://vimeo.com/117427520

(Quick note from BJ: This video above is in slow motion, and it’s not my best look, shaved head and all. But listen to what I predicted and warned people about. At least go to minute 10 and see what I say about the political use of persuasion profiles. We recorded this video in 2006 to alert policy makers to the impact of persuasive technology. (Remember, this message was recorded in 2006, not 2016, and the message is getting louder every day.)

Wired’s Simone Stolzoff (2018) explains The formula for phone addiction can double as treatment,

Ten years ago, a Stanford lab developed a formula to make technology addictive. Now Silicon Valley is grappling with the consequences.

“IN SEPTEMBER 2007, 75 students walked into a class at Stanford. Ten weeks later, they had collectively amassed 16 million users, $1 million in ad revenue, and a formula that would impress a generation. Class – colloquially known as Facebook class— and his instructor, BJ Fogg, became Silicon Valley legends.

Fake news travels faster than real stories on Twitter

in 2018 A study by MIT

Research project finds that humans, not bots, are primarily responsible for spreading misleading information.

“We found that lies spread significantly farther, faster, deeper and wider than the truth, across all categories of information, and in most cases to some degree,” says Sinan Aral, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. and co-author of a new paper detailing the findings.

Touch screen

Brief questions and ideas for your assessment:

What are your general thoughts on the film?

What’s your biggest takeaway? What do you think the film’s claim/thesis was?

What actions can you take?

Here’s a summary of individual actions you can take today:

Remove apps from My Phone that waste your time, such as social media apps and news apps.
Turn off notifications. Turns off all notifications. I no longer use Google, I use Qwant which does not store your search history.
Never accept a video recommended to you by YouTube. Always choose. There are a number of Chrome extensions that remove recommendations.
Before you share, check the facts, consider the source, and do an extra Google. If it seems like something designed to really push your emotional buttons, it probably is. Basically, you vote with your clicks. If you click on clickbait, you create a financial incentive that keeps this system in place.
Make sure you get a lot of different information in your life. I follow people I disagree with on Twitter because I want to be exposed to different points of view.

Which of the above steps might work best for you?

How much do you use social networks? Is Social Media Using You?

If you have a cell phone that tracks usage, check your usage – how many hours do you spend on it on average? What apps do you use the most? Have you ever tried a digital break or digital detox? Below are some resources with tips and ideas:

Try taking a digital break and pay attention to how it affects you. What do you experience during your break?

Open this link and think about what works for you. Below are some conclusion charts, some things to write about are your thoughts on the conclusions and how they work or differ for you:

Anti-social media

Social media is used for “news”
in 2021 PEW study showing social media use and news.

More Americans get their news from social media than from print newspapers. in 2018 one in five adults said they often get updates on social media. And Facebook continues to dominate as the most common social media site Americans use for news: About four in ten Americans (43%) get their news from this site.

Which of the platforms in the chart above is right for you? often get news from

The growing trend of getting news online is particularly worrying because in 2020 the research conducted showed that:

Americans who get their news mostly from social media are less engaged, less knowledgeable

Those who rely on social media for news are less likely to understand the facts about the coronavirus and politics, and more likely to hear unverified claims.

Social media users were the second most likely group to have little political knowledge.

Social media users were more likely to hear

conspiracy theories about the pandemic.

Social media and you

Have you ever wondered what social media knows about you? Think about the last time you bought something in a store. If the seller were a stranger, would you tell them everything your social media knows about you? Look at this post from Tech News and the diagram they included from clario (below):

Social media bingo

Other resources:

Research and impact of digital devices on students

In addition to its benefits to society, democracy and living in a shared reality world, there are more personal and practical reasons to consider social media.