Description:

Professor Laura Martin will lead our discussion.

Social media is an unprecedented experiment in human history, as millions of people make their lives and opinions public and communicate with others around the world. This may once have seemed a utopian dream that could bring people together and lead to greater knowledge, tolerance, and community. Yet the ill effects of this experiment have become ever more apparent. Social media companies have been charged with using algorithms to promote ‘engagement’ over all other values: with the most extreme, divisivecontent shown to users, political extremism, polarization, false conspiracy theories, and eating disorders among teenage girls have all increased. And on a personal level, critics argue that social media encourages narcissism, envy, and shallowness, and leads toanxiety and unhappiness.

At this week’s tea, we will discuss the personal and political issues social media, as a novel social phenomenon, raises. In way does social media change people’s relationship to themselves and others? Does it make people more self-absorbed, or more open andaccepting? Is it possible to present an authentic version of yourself online, or is social media always in tension with authenticity? What value is there in having a private life as opposed to one seen by others? Do authenticity and privacy even matter in today’s world? Have political movements in which social media has played a big role, such as BLM and #MeToo, been successful overall? In what ways do you see political activism as either helped or hindered by social media? Was the election of Donald Trump the result of socialmedia?

Why or why not? Do you think problems like political extremism and fake news are a result of the algorithms social media companies use? Or would they arise no matter how the platforms are organized? What, in your view, are the best solutions to the problems social media raises?