***See the Intertwingled tab (above) for comments on the themes of this blog***
(This list of selected items is still being compiled -- 12/30/19)
Internet Platform Services -- Augmenting the Wisdom of Crowds
General issues -- Our platforms should serve us, but have take a wrong turn. (See Supportive references below.)
- Don’t Swim Against the Tide of “Nuance Destruction”
There are clear paths to creating quality-seeking algorithms. Computers can deal with nuance and mitigate conflict when programmers want them to. Published in Techonomy. - Regulating our Platforms -- A Deeper Vision (Working Draft)
A recent review of some of the best think tank proposals, plus visionary suggestions of my own. - The Augmented Wisdom of Crowds: Rate the Raters and Weight the Ratings
A broad architecture for where we should be going in social media (and digital democracy more broadly), more comprehensive and powerful than any I have seen. - Architecting Our Platforms to Better Serve Us -- Augmenting and Modularizing the Algorithm
Broad solutions to technical issues of openness, transparency, regulation, antitrust, and market forces in platform architecture. - The Tao of Fake News / The Tao of Truth
The inherent limits of experts, moderators, and rating agencies – and the need for augmenting the wisdom of the crowd (as essential to maintaining the intellectual openness of our democratic/enlightenment values). - A Cognitive Immune System for Social Media -- Developing Systemic Resistance to Fake News
Why we need a systemic solution to limit the spread of cognitive pathogens. - In the War on Fake News, All of Us are Soldiers, Already!
A simpler view of the massive problem of separating the real from the fake -- and why we must exploit the feedback already available from the crowd. - Filtering for Serendipity -- Extremism, 'Filter Bubbles' and 'Surprising Validators'
How this architecture addresses these specific concerns. - A Regulatory Framework for the Internet (with Thanks to Ben Thompson)
Additional perspectives on the issues of free speech versus free reach and advertising. - Free Speech, Not Free Targeting! (Using Our Own Data to Manipulate Us)
Much of the disagreement over controlling false political ads stems from confusion over how social media work. - 2020: A Goldilocks Solution for False Political Ads on Social Media is Emerging
A consensus on a stopgap solution. - The Dis-information Choke Point: Dis-tribution (Not Supply or Demand) [Stub]
If disinformation falls in a forest… but appears in no one’s feed, does it disinform? - Full Frontal Reality: how to combat the growing lunatic fringe
My 2009 comment on the emerging problem
Business model issues -- Specific to user-centered business models for platforms
(See more on my FairPayZone blog)
(See more on my FairPayZone blog)
- To Regulate Facebook and Google, Turn Users Into Customers
A surprisingly simple, proven, market-driven regulatory strategy, published in Techonomy. - An Open Letter to Influencers Concerned About Facebook and Other Platforms
A call to action (with links) on business model incentives and regulation. - Who Should Pay the Piper for Facebook? (& the rest)
A business model solution to the social media business model problem - Privacy AND Innovation ...NOT Oligopoly -- A Market Solution to a Market Problem
A regulatory approach that incentivizes the business model solution for customer-based revenue - Reverse the Biz Model! -- Undo the Faustian Bargain for Ads and Data
Crediting users for their attention and data to re-align incentives while still enjoying ad revenue - Yes, You are the Product …It Matters …and Can Be Remedied
Why this is important, even if a bit of an oversimplification
Other issues in User-Centered Media (to be added)
(These address my perspectives as an inventor in the media space and related commentary)
Broader issues in in our intertwingled world (to be added)
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Supportive References for Augmenting the Wisdom of Crowds and The Tao of Truth
- Scaling Up Fact-Checking Using the Wisdom of Crowds, Jennifer Allen, Antonio Arechar, Gordon Pennycook, David Rand, Psyarxiv Preprint, 10/26/20.
"Our results indicate that crowdsourcing is a promising approach for helping to identify misinformation at scale." - Why you don’t really know what you know, Matthew Hutson, MIT Technology Review, 10/21/20
On the importance of understanding the social nature of truth ("epistemic dependence" -- our reliance on others' knowledge -- "knowing vicariously"), and the interplay of evidence, trust, and authority. It refers to a much-cited fundamental paper on epistemic dependence from 1985. - Leveraging volunteer fact checking to identify misinformation about COVID-19 in social media, Hyunuk Kim, Dylan Walker, The Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, 5/18/20.
Provides empirical support for the value of crowdsourced data for determining the quality of social media information.