Day archives: July 18th, 2021

It’s not just bad behavior – why social media design makes it hard to have constructive disagreements online

Good-faith disagreements are a normal part of society and building strong relationships. Yet it’s difficult to engage in good-faith disagreements on the internet, and people reach less common ground online compared with face-to-face disagreements. There’s no shortage of research about the psychology of arguing online, from text versus voice to how anyone can become a troll and advice about how to argue well. But there’s another factor that’s often overlooked: the design of social media itself. Amanda Baughan and her colleagues investigated how the design of social media affects online disagreements and how to design for constructive arguments.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 18, 2021

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: YouTube Algorithm Recommends Videos that Violate the Platform’s Very Own Policies; State Data Privacy Bills Growing More Widespread; NIST Outlines Security Measures for Software Use and Testing Under Executive Order; and State Data Privacy Bills Growing More Widespread.

Subjects: Blockchain, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cyberlaw, Cybersecurity, Legal Research, Legislative, Privacy, Technology Trends