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cover of episode Nick Couldry, "The Space of the World: Can Human Solidarity Survive Social Media and What If It Can't?" (Polity, 2024)

Nick Couldry, "The Space of the World: Can Human Solidarity Survive Social Media and What If It Can't?" (Polity, 2024)

2024/12/23
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Nick Couldry: 本书探讨了社交媒体对社会造成的负面影响，特别是其加剧社会两极分化和破坏人类团结的现象。作者认为，这种困境源于我们过去30年里在社交媒体发展过程中做出的错误决策，以及商业模式对平台设计的扭曲。书中总结了大量证据，证明社交媒体的设计选择和商业模式必然导致当前的困境。为了解决这个问题，作者提出了多项措施，包括支持由社区主导的联邦社交媒体平台，加强监管，对平台进行更严格的税收，以及改变社交媒体的商业模式。最终，作者认为，为了应对气候变化等重大挑战，我们需要一个能够促进团结而非加剧分裂的社交媒体环境。 本书并非仅仅关注社交媒体，也涉及商业搜索引擎等其他数字平台。作者认为，社交媒体平台的设计存在根本性缺陷，它创造了一个错误的‘世界空间’，在这个空间中，有害信息更容易传播，而有益信息则被边缘化。这种设计缺陷与平台的商业模式密切相关，平台为了追求用户参与度和广告收入，往往会放大那些能够引发争议和情绪反应的内容，从而加剧社会两极分化。 作者认为，解决这个问题的关键在于改变社交媒体平台的规模和治理方式。他建议发展更小规模、更贴近社区的联邦社交媒体平台，并通过政府监管来确保这些平台的健康发展。此外，他还呼吁改变社交媒体的商业模式，使其不再以用户参与度为主要盈利指标，而是转向更可持续、更注重社会效益的模式。 Joanne Kwai: 作为访谈主持人，Joanne Kwai主要负责引导话题，提出问题，并对Nick Couldry的观点进行总结和补充。她的问题涵盖了人类团结的可行性、社交媒体平台的商业模式、人工智能技术的影响以及未来发展方向等多个方面。她的提问促进了对Nick Couldry观点的深入探讨，并为听众提供了更全面的理解。

Deep Dive

Key Insights

What is the core problem with social media platforms according to Nick Couldry?

The core problem is that social media platforms have been designed in a way that incentivizes polarization and the circulation of harmful content, leading to mental health issues and societal fragmentation.

Why does Nick Couldry argue that social media platforms are a 'polarization machine'?

Social media platforms are designed to maximize engagement, which often means promoting content that polarizes users, such as lies, false information, and offensive images, leading to increased division rather than unity.

What does Nick Couldry propose as a solution to the problems caused by social media?

Couldry suggests supporting federated social media platforms that operate on a smaller, community-based scale, allowing for better moderation and interaction. He also calls for regulatory changes to enable users to transfer their data and contacts freely between platforms.

How does Nick Couldry define the 'space of the world'?

The 'space of the world' refers to the artificial environment created by social media platforms, which has been designed in a way that allows for the global circulation of content, both good and bad, often leading to harmful consequences.

What role does AI play in the current social media landscape according to Nick Couldry?

AI is both a problem and a potential solution. While it can help moderate content, it also exacerbates issues by enabling the proliferation of bots and deepfakes, and it reinforces the profit-driven business models of social media companies.

Why does Nick Couldry believe that human solidarity is crucial in the context of social media?

Human solidarity is essential because it is a prerequisite for addressing global challenges like climate change. Without solidarity, societies cannot effectively collaborate to solve these pressing issues, which are exacerbated by the divisive nature of current social media platforms.

What is the main argument against using AI to moderate social media content?

The main argument is that AI cannot effectively determine what is offensive or harmful to humans without exposing people to vast amounts of harmful content, which is both unethical and impractical.

How does Nick Couldry view the relationship between capitalism and the problems of social media?

Couldry acknowledges that capitalism drives the profit-focused business models of social media, which prioritize engagement over user well-being. However, he does not propose an alternative to capitalism but suggests that addressing the toxic ecology of social media could lead to broader societal changes.

What is the focus of Nick Couldry's second book in the 'Humanizing the Future' trilogy?

The second book, 'Corporatizing the Mind,' will focus on the risk of corporations redefining human knowledge and expertise through AI, potentially undermining human rationality and collective problem-solving abilities.

What does Nick Couldry hope to achieve with his 'Humanizing the Future' trilogy?

Couldry aims to address the fundamental challenges facing humanity, particularly climate change, by exploring how social media, AI, and the role of art can contribute to fostering solidarity and a better future.

Chapters
This chapter explores the current state of social media, highlighting issues like polarization and mental health problems. It introduces the book's central argument: that the design and business models of commercial social media platforms are inherently flawed and contribute to these negative outcomes. The author uses a fable-like narrative to explain how we arrived at this point.
  • Social media's design and business models contribute to polarization and mental health issues.
  • The author uses a fable to illustrate the problematic evolution of social media.
  • Current social media platforms are described as 'polarization machines'

Shownotes Transcript

Is human solidarity achievable in a world dominated by continuous digital connectivity and commercially managed platforms? And what if it’s not? Professor Nick Couldry) explores these urgent questions in his latest book, The Space of the World: Can Human Solidarity Survive Social Media and What If It Can’t?) (Polity, 2024), as discussed in a recent interview with the New Books Network.

In a conversation with Joanne Kuai), Couldry reflects on how society has ceded critical decisions to Big Tech, enabling these companies to construct what he calls our "space of the world"—the artificial environment of social media platforms that now shapes much of our social existence. He argues this delegation of power was reckless, with far-reaching and damaging social consequences.

While the harmful effects on social life, youth mental health, and political solidarity are widely recognized, Couldry emphasizes a deeper issue that has been overlooked: humanity’s decision to allow businesses to define and exploit this shared digital space for profit. In doing so, we disregarded centuries of political thought on the conditions required for healthy and non-violent politics. This oversight has jeopardized a vital resource in the era of the climate crisis: solidarity.

In The Space of the World, the first book in his trilogy Humanising the Future, Couldry proposes a transformative vision for redesigning digital spaces to foster, rather than erode, solidarity and community. He stresses that caring for our shared digital space is no longer optional—it is an urgent task that must be tackled collectively.

Nick Couldry) is Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. As a sociologist of media and culture, he approaches media and communications from the perspective of the symbolic power that has been historically concentrated in media institutions. He is interested in how media and communications institutions and infrastructures contribute to various types of order (social, political, cultural, economic, ethical). His work has drawn on, and contributed to, social, spatial, democratic and cultural theory, anthropology, and media and communications ethics.

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