#1396 The Platforms of Our Discontent (Social Media, Social Destruction)

Air Date: 2–5-2021

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Transcript

Today we take a look at the role that social media plays in the radicalization of discontented communities and engage in the debate over content moderation and de-platforming of individuals.

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Why everyone hates Big Tech, with The Verge's Nilay Patel - The Weeds - Air Date 7-19-19

Verge editor-in-chief and Vergecast host Nilay Patel joins Matt in this special crossover episode to explain what Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which allows platforms to circumnavigate liability for user content, really means.

Ch. 2: Let’s Break Up Facebook, Google, Amazon - Newsbroke - Air Date 1-30-21

Trump has been removed from the nation’s capital and the nation’s social media feeds. And while it was fun to watch him and other far-right accounts “getting owned” by Twitter, Facebook, Google and other platforms, it does pose an important question

Ch. 3: Solving the Facebook Problem at Home and Abroad - On The Media - Air Date 5-22-19

When former Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes penned a New York Times op-ed calling for the breakup of the platform, he was lauded by anti-corporate politicians and the press. Then came a series of hard questions

Ch. 4: Zephyr Teachout on "Break 'Em Up" - Off-Kilter - Air Date 8-4-20

Rebecca talks to Zephyr Teachout about her new book "Break 'Em Up: Recovering our Freedom from Big Tech, Big Ag, and Big Money" and why we need an antitrust movement for our time.

Ch. 5: ADL International Leadership Award Presented to Sacha Baron Cohen - Anti-Defamation League - Air Date 11-21-19

Sacha Baron Cohen is the well-deserved recipient of ADL’s International Leadership Award, which goes to exceptional individuals who combine professional success with a profound personal commitment to community involvement and to crossing borders

Ch. 6: Joan Donovan on how platforms enabled the capital hill riot Part 1 - Big Tech - Air Date 1-21-21

Joan Donovan studies social movements and their use of media and technology to spread their message.

Ch. 7: Peter Kafka and Kevin Roose on big tech's power and responsibility - Vox Conversations - Air Date 1-18-21

Recode’s Peter Kafka speaks with New York Times’s Tech columnist Kevin Roose about big tech’s power and responsibility - and whether it is going to have accountability.

Ch. 8: Insurrection on Capitol Hill Heightens Focus on Social Media Radicalization - The Mehdi Hasan Show - Air Date 1-13-21

Former Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos joins Mehdi Hasan to explain how Facebook is tackling radicalization on its platform, and where the company is still falling short.

Ch. 9: Joan Donovan on how platforms enabled the capital hill riot Part 2 - Big Tech - Air Date 1-21-21

Joan Donovan studies social movements and their use of media and technology to spread their message.


MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)

Ch. 10: Your Nation's Attention for the Price of a Used Car - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 10-6-20

Today’s extremists don’t need highly produced videos like ISIS. They don’t need deep pockets like Russia. With the right message, a fringe organization can reach the majority of a nation’s Facebook users for the price of a used car.


FINAL COMMENTS

Ch. 11: Final comments on Social Media Externalities


MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):

  • Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr 
  • Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
  • Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard
  • Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent

 

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Showing 3 reactions

  • Jay Tomlinson
    commented 2021-02-10 19:32:08 -0500
    Thanks John, we’re big fans of Zuboff around here! She’s been featured in previous episodes about adjacent topics and I’m sure she’ll be featured again in the future!
  • John Ibbitson
    commented 2021-02-09 15:59:03 -0500
    Yet another brilliant episode, thanks Jay. We all need to know about the awesome power and abuse of power weilded by social media. There is also another, possibly worse still, aspect that you didn’t cover but which is the subject of Shoshana Zuboff’s new book “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism” in which she argues that the next step for social media is not only to profit from understanding human nature but to control and manipulate that nature in every way to further enhance their profits. Check it out.
  • Jay Tomlinson
    published this page in Episodes 2021-02-05 19:35:08 -0500
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