1. Social Implications of a Computerized Society
Ch.7
Life in a digital society
Instructor: Oliver Schulte
Simon Fraser University

2. The Impact of the Internet on Thinking and Relationships
Information, Knowledge, and Judgment
Computers and Community

3. Concerns about technology

4. The Luddites Industrial Revolution England
Machines displaced workers who produced at home in small machines (cottage industry)
In , the Luddites burned factories to save their jobs

5. Neo-Luddites
Negative view of computer technology in general, hold that computers:
cause unemployment and de-skilling
social disintegration and isolation
harm the environment
benefit big business and government most
hurt intellectual development and thinking
we address some of these next and in the course

6. How Relevant is IT?
“We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal
“Information technology changes everything except for what is important. That is still up to us.”
“if families break up, children are mistreated, crime terrorizes a city, education is impotent, it does not happen because of inadequate information” Neil Postman

7. Evaluating information on the web
See also Democracy Divided
Canadian Content
Evaluating information on the web

8. Information, Knowledge, and Judgment
Evaluating Information on the Web:
“google has replaced my brain”
Expert information or ‘wisdom of the crowd’?
Daunting amount of information on the web, much of this information is not correct
Search engines are replacing librarians, but Web sites are ranked by popularity, not by expert evaluation
Wisdom of the crowd - ratings by public of website
If millions participate, the results will be useful

9. Wikipedia
Written by volunteers, some posts are biased and not accurate
Although anyone can write, most people do not
Those that do typically are educated and experts (thousands)
Can be manipulated – see Colbert’s Wikiality

10. New Issues Wisdom of the crowd
Problems of unreliable information are not new
The Web magnifies the problems
Rating systems are easy to manipulate
Vulnerable viewers
Less educated individuals
Children
Responsibilities of site operators
Should identify user-supplied content
Make clear which information has been verified (e.g. verified purchase on Amazon)
see new regulations for bots

11. News 60% of U.S. adults get news from social media (Pew Research)
Is the information stream getting narrower or broader?
More access to different news and viewpoints than ever
People select news that agrees with their viewpoints
recommendation systems select similar news items also (filter bubbles, echo chambers)

12. Fake News 2016 presidential U.S. election:
Macedonian Teenagers create 100+ fake websites with click bait
St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency produced content that reached 150M users (Facebook estimates)
2018 U.S. midterm elections
Facebook takes down 500 pages
Trump administration accuses China of influencing elections
on the IRa
on taking down fake accounts
trump administration accuses china

13. Toxic Comments and Replies
Comments on Newspaper articles engage readers and enhance the article
comment section is abused:
ad hominem attacks
flaming
trolling
especially for women and minority writers

14. Possible Solutions Moderating comments works but is expensive
SFU research in computer assisted moderation
shows that majority of comments are constructive

15. Discussion Questions
What’s the most reliable source of information on the Web in your opinion?
How do you evaluate the reliability of information you find on the Web? How do your evaluation methods compare to the way you evaluate information from other sources?

16. computers and thinking

17. Discussion Question
Has the internet changed the way you think? The way you read?

18. Writing, Thinking, Deciding
Are people more intellectually lazy?
New tools have displaced skills that were once important
Abdicating responsibility
People willing to let computers do their thinking
Reliance on computer systems over human judgment may become institutionalized
Fear of having to defend your own judgment if something goes wrong

19. Internet and Cognition: Concerns
Reading is cultural practice, not genetic like speech.
Are we evolving towards “pancake minds” - thin and widespread?
Can we still read longer articles with concentration?
British study: internet users read 2-3 pages out of a scientific article.
Those distracted by s and phone calls saw a 10-point fall in their IQ
2018 study: people check their smartphones on average every 12 minutes during their waking hours
Is monitor reading more exhausting than paper?
SFU chancellor is worried about “losing the flow”

20. computers and feeling

21. Discussion Question
Has the internet, instant messaging, text messaging etc. improved your social relationships or made them worse?
For example, do you have more friends? Better friends? What about dating or family?
see survey

22. Computers and Community
Some feared early technologies, such as telephones, would de-humanize communication
Computers and the Internet were blamed for the decline in community involvement and memberships in clubs and organizations
The Internet provides communities focused on specialized interests or problems
Some evidence that it helps make contact for local people.

23. Computers and Community: Making Connections
The Internet brings people together from all over the world
and the Internet provide convenient and cheap ways for families and friends to stay in contact
New trends include social-networking sites and virtual environments such as Second Life
Small worlds, “six degrees of separation”, but with weak ties
Competition for friends, followers = status

24. Computers and Community: Criticisms (Rosen)
IT promotes efficient communication, not intimate personal communication. A tool for rushed people.
Two trends:
Transparency
Oversharing
Easy to make superficial connections; hard to develop trust.
Focus on bits and pieces of a person (where from, interests), not the whole person.

25. How social are social media?
Facebook: like a magic mirror that tells us we are not the fairest of our friends?
Large study in American Journal of Epidemiology
The use of Facebook was negatively associated with well-being
Do social media make you happier?
look at New Yorker reference
but also some positive findings
discuss opportunity costs
Sean Parker: conscientious objector

26. Conclusion Neo-luddite concerns that computers are harmful
or largely irrelevant to our main problems
Is the digital public information sphere polluted by misinformation and personal attacks (toxicity)?
Does the internet change our minds for the worse?
lack of own judgement
distraction, loss of concentration
Does the internet make our relationships worse?
Less time relating off-line -> less trust
more quantity, less quality, less well-being
competition for status and attention -> more depression
see Ariana Grande