As I am moving into my new “normal,” I have found my music choices all over the spectrum. This is not anything new though, I’m always all over the radar, but I thought it would […]
As I am moving into my new “normal,” I have found my music choices all over the spectrum. I cannot switch the vinyl quick enough. This is not anything new though, I’m always all over […]
America is losing its social cohesion. We this as the combined result of (i) the loss of a shared reality or basis for discussion; (ii) confirmation bias that supports fringe views; (iii) frictionless publication that grants equal time to propaganda and misinformation, and (iv) a political under-commitment of the American population. We propose a cross-platform (web, android, iOS) system app called "Enlightened" that addresses this by adding a second dimension beyond popularity to rate information distributed through social networks. We call this measure “credibility.” Ideally, people will use this to pass along articles and statements that are both significant and come from sources who are “credible.” Its measure is a function of how knowledgeable and reliable the information transmitter is, I.e, an author gains credibility points by demonstrably exposing themselves to alternate views, engagement in active discussion, and validation of their post by fact-checking. To the extent that people use this measure, they may virally become encouraged to re-distribute more honest information and allow society to gradually reach some convergence and compromise on issues.
Social scientists have long analyzed and decried deep divisions in American (and global) societies. Boorstin considers this in 1962 (The Image) and attributes it to the demands of continuous media and the concomitant news cycle. Putnam (Bowling Alone, 2000) attributes much of this to lack of active participation in public affairs and events such as bowling night. More recently, Cramer and Hochschild have studied the divisions between urban and rural America, and between Southern Tea Party members and the more liberal North. In the latter two author’s work one message screams loudly: a large segment of the population feels powerless, disrespected, and marginalized. We summarize this as humiliation, and we suspect that humiliation is a strong political motivator. While this is not a new phenomenon, it is certainly one that we all sense is more exaggerated now.
Some attribute this to a general polarization that has been progressing for many years as a result of many media-irrelevant technologies. For example, veteran politicians attribute it to the airplane — members of congress return home rather than fraternize. This reduces their familiarity with other views and other people. In the 1990’s Massachusetts Congressman Joe Moakley reinforced this view in a private conversation with the author: he mourned the lack of comity among politicians simply because after a day of vigorous argument they no longer went out to play golf together. The Internet and in particular social media are also blamed by dint of the frictionless way that fringe views can get wide circulation and thereby become self-reinforcing (refs…). Whereas once we have limited news media that was both popular and centrist, we now have cacophony and no critical mass around which we can rally. When there are few outlets, they all become similar, as noted by Hoteling in 1929.
Another consideration is more mainstream media such as talk radio and broadcast TV networks such as Fox and MSNBC. Their profusion has obsolesced Hoteling and allowed minority and bizarre views to remain vibrant. In 35 years of research into the invention of open media at the Media Lab at MIT, we can observe that media in general is non-rivalrous. More media does not detract from existing media; even when it competes with it, they both can easily survive. Fox, for example, was founded in 1986 but its growth accelerated in the mid-90’s coincident with the consumerization of the Internet and the transformation of chat rooms to Internet fora. (Ref)
The short summarization of this is that there is a general sentiment that we are retreating into local bubbles that include only those who share our a priori views. While this is a general truism it appears that the walls of that bubble have gotten notably firmer and they risk transforming us from a society into an archipelago of local (whether physical or virtual) views and actions. We call this a lack of social cohesion and we think this potentially is more significant than “false news”. In other words, it is not the veracity of what we hear that is the problem. Rather is the receptiveness we show to it that is dangerous.
The importance of this phenomenon has long been recognized. Lippmann considered it in 1922 in “Public Opinion,” with reference to news, propaganda and a public open to manipulation. Hoffer address “The Nature of Mass Movements” in the 1950’s in the context of World War II. He offers counterintuitive reasons and observations on who is susceptible to such movements. In particular, even in the era when Christ was alive, his religious movement was more effective in cities where people had lost social cohesion and felt alienated. It was far less impactful in the countryside among paisans, now pagans, because they had social structures that served them well enough to inoculate against a new radicalism.
The question we address is whether Internet media can be built to combat the divisiveness that distorts public discussion and reduces social cohesion. In particular, we attempt to turn the frictionless nature of modern publication into a feature that can elevate discussion rather than debase it. Further, we attempt to do this in a way that we call “viral.” That simply means it can propagate incrementally rather than require advance commitment by a majority. It is successful at any scale.
We address the loss of social cohesion by using a “divide and conquer” approach. First, we look for individual solutions to the problem sources to define requirements for our system. Then, we design an application that meets these requirements and incorporates both viral and gamification elements. Lastly, we consider deployment issues and motivate the need for a new platform.
The lack of social cohesion is partly caused by the loss of shared reality. People in their bubbles generally surround themselves with people with similar opinions and consume biased media that resonates with their prior views. However, they often do not inform themselves through other sources and usually do not expose themselves to different views or debates. Furthermore, media bias exacerbates this problem. Hence, each bubble has its own reality and over time, the shared reality between these bubbles might be marginalized.
What can we do to restore shared reality? Figure [lenses & bridges] illustrates two approaches to this problem. The first approach is to broaden people’s views by exposing them to a diversity of views. The second approach is to create channels that allow information flow between the bubbles – allowing people with different takes on reality to share their view. While both approaches are steps in the right direction, they both raise a couple of concerns in terms of practicality.
The first approach raises following questions: Why would a liberal person be interested to hear a conservative view and vice-versa? Why would I take time to read a story from multiple perspectives? Why would I switch my current platforms for news? We can reformulate these questions as requirements.
Given a “credible” person that shares your political views, this person can be abused for excuses etc.
Alright Aries, 2017 has been a year of setting yourself up for the future. Socially, financially, career wise. Now, 2018 is right around the corner and while success is right there with it, your biggest obstacle will be Don’t fuck this up. Don’t be the reason you fail. Be smart in your decisions, follow the right impulses, and trust that everything will unfold how it is appropriate to. It can be hard to trust the way of the world but this will be a detrimental component to your success.
Don’t fall into a pattern. This year, break free from the working day to day system you cling so desperately to. Dreading change will only restriction your potential. Go out and experience the world in a new way and discover something new within yourself along the way. Don’t let your stubbornness hold you back. You have so much flame so let it burn bright.
You need to slow the fuck down and take a moment to realize what’s really important to you. Enough of putting your energy into the incorrect places. Stop spreading yourself so thin and start to consistently think about you and the people that matter most. I know it’s easy for you to get caught up in the social aspects of things but trust me , not everyone needs to like you.
You are fucking astonishing! Stop with all these self-deprecating thoughts. It’s bullshit and you need to start realizing that. Your constant doubt in who you are will merely ever hold you back, and in 2018 its even more essential that you are sure of yourself. Once you start to realize this, 2018 is likely to be the year you change the world.
2018 will be just as exciting as you are but for the love of God, stop being so cocky. Confident, yes! Your confidence shines and you naturally give off an aurora of positivity but you often become full of yourself and this will be your downfall. Regardless of the year, you have the ability to take any futile situation and dictate the outcome but you need to understand the extent of your abilities. If you overrate yourself, you are able build matters worse. Don’t be the fuck up, be the natural born leader that you are. You’ve got this but I’m sure you already knew that.
This year, let the world know who the fuck you are and stop dedicating a shit what other people are doing. You can be so critical of yourself and in turn you begin to criticize the world around you and everyone in it but you need to focus. This year you must let go of the things you have no control over. It makes you feel powerless when that isn’t so. You are powerful and your presence alone in this world is far more impactful than you realize.
Ask yourself this. Do you know yourself as well as you’d like to think? Being in the presence of other is comforting for you, but knowing precisely who you are as a person will be your most apparent strength. So don’t be a bitch, learn to be alone. I’m not saying entirely unplug from your social circle, I’m saying find checks and balances between you and them. You will benefit from this. Start defining aims for yourself. You’ll be surprised by how far your independence will carry you.
I know you hate hearing this, but I’m going to say it anyway. You need to calm down. Your intensity can make it harder for you to get what you want and it turns people away from you. So take it down a notch this year. Your passion can be overwhelming and it frustrates you to no end when people fail to see eye to eye with you. So know how to control this aspect of yourself. You’re incredibly resourceful, bring this aspect of yourself into 2018. Otherwise the New Year will dictate your path.
Stop dicking around and forge a path for yourself. 2017 has been…well, it’s been all over the place so you need to get it together because in 2018, pieces will begin to fall into place. You only have to make sure you have the right pieces. Stop being so fickle with everything in life, stop squander your time and begin to realize you control your destiny. Don’t think that playing the bystander will lead you in the right direction.
You’re always backing yourself into this imaginary corner, always believing that it’s you against the world. Stop, it’s complete bullshit. Stop putting the weight of the world on your shoulders when you don’t “re going to have to”. You have allies and people who love you. Stop telling yourself that you’re the only one who can do something, you’re not a fucking superhero. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. 2018 is eventually the year you become recognized for your work but don’t forget the people who pushed you forward and encouraged you to get to where you are.
Stop being a little bitch, start facing your issues, and work to absolve them. You’ve merely burdened yourself by sweeping these apparently small issues under the carpet. Now 2018 is soon to come and these “small” issues have slowly been chipping away at you, piece by piece. Distinguish this, access your unfinished business, and work your style towards a clean slate. You have so much power, so muster the inner strength you’ve been concealing within yourself and elude all odds.
Every year you tell yourself the same lie, “Things are going to be different .” It’s a lie because you expect change to simply occur while you sit there watching. Things will never be different and you know it, until you do something about it. You need to let go of the negativity. Not everything that is broken can be fixed, and that’s okay. That’s life, sometimes things can never go back to the way they used to but once you learn to let go, you open yourself up to the happiness and the positivity you forgot still existed in the world.