In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg was named TIME magazine’s person of the year. The 26-year-old had won the accolade for “connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them; for creating a new system of exchanging information; and for changing how we all live our lives.” That same year, audiences flocked to theatres to see David Fincher’s Zuckerberg biopic The Social Network, demonstrating our cultural fascination with the ascendant social media platforms of the day, and the people who created them.
Just over a decade later, Zuckerberg has graced the cover of TIME once again—but the circumstances could not be more different. Last month, after years of repeated scandals at Facebook, things came to a head when a whistleblower leaked internal documents to the Wall Street Journal (and to the SEC), purporting to reveal that the company has consistently prioritized profit margins over user well-being.
Sadly, these revelations are unsurprising to many—and the challenges go beyond Facebook. The frothy excitement and adulation that surrounded social media in the late aughts and early 2010s is long gone; for many of us, our relationship with such platforms has come to be characterized by weariness at best and outright antipathy at worst. Too often, we find ourselves emerging from an hour of mindless scrolling wondering where the time went, or catch ourselves fixated on racking up likes and followers. And with social media so woven into the fabric of our personal and professional lives, it can be difficult to figure out how to engage with these platforms in a healthy way.
So in this newsletter, we’re sharing some evidence-based strategies for interacting with social media more productively, plus some perspectives on how platforms can design for better user experiences. And if you find it helpful, make sure to follow us on LinkedIn! (Just kidding. Unless…?)
One of the major stories to emerge from the WSJ’s exposé is that Facebook has disregarded its own internal research on its platforms’ mental health impacts. Specifically, reports have alleged that Facebook and Instagram are demonstrably harmful to young women’s mental health. But as Derek Thompson writes in this piece for The Atlantic, the research actually paints a more complex picture. Source: The Atlantic
The spread of misinformation on social media is one of the great crises of our time. A few months back, MIT professor David Rand sat down with us on The Decision Corner podcast to discuss the role that bots, algorithms, and humans each play in the widespread dissemination of fake news. Source: TDL
Even before the pandemic, Slack and other workplace social networks were on the rise; in the age of remote work, they’ve become indispensable for many companies. Tools like these are sold with the promise that they’ll make us more productive—but the numbers tell a different story. Source: Vox
At this point, it’s well documented that social media algorithms tend to orient us towards upsetting or controversial content, because that’s what tends to get clicks. But why do we focus so much on the bad, instead of the good? In part, it’s because of the negativity bias. Source: TDL
The term “Deep Work” was coined by computer science professor Cal Newport to describe work that is performed in a deliberate, directed, distraction-free way. In a hyperconnected world, Newport argues we need to be mindful and intentional about the way we work, creating the right conditions for us to truly focus on the task at hand. This guide will help you learn how to practice Deep Work yourself. Source: Doist blog
A former Facebook data analyst pitches a solution to the company’s current legal (and moral) drama: platforms should be responsible for personalized algorithmic content. Or alternatively, personalized feeds should be disallowed entirely. Source: NYT
Have you heard of “long-haul” COVID? You might even know those who experience symptoms for months after diagnosis. The term (and the now-recognized condition) started in patient-run Facebook groups, as a cutting-edge case study on the power and influence of online medical communities. Source: The Conversation
Is a phone addiction more like cigarettes or carbohydrates? Should we quit outright, or find a healthy balance? Arthur Brooks, columnist of How to Build a Life, provides three evidence-based strategies we can use to find healthy moderation in the addiction we all share. Source: The Atlantic
If you can’t beat them, join them. Disability advocates face a bombardment of hateful comments online, but many use their platforms to share information on their conditions, spread positivity, and lift up others in the disabled community. Source: Youth Today
We are currently looking for bright, capable, and curious candidates to fill a number of roles on our team, both remote and Montreal-based. Check out our open positions and see how you can help us democratize behavioral science.
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