Firstairedin2015,thisisanepisodeaboutsocialmedia,andhow,whenwetalkonline,thingscanquicklygosouth.Butdotheyhaveto?IntheearlierdaysofFacebook,wemetwithagroupofsocialengineerswhowereconvincedthattinychangesinwordingcanmaketheonlineworldakinder,gentlerplace. 

Wejusthaveto agreetobetheirlabrats.

BecauseFacebook,orsomethinglikeit,iswhereweshareandlikeandgossipandgripe.Andbeforewewereasawareofitsimpact,Facebookhadalaboratoryofhumanbehaviorthelikesofwhichwe’dneverseen.WegottopeekintotheworkofArturoBejarandateamofresearcherswhoweretweakingouronlineexperience,totrytomaketheworldabetterplace.Andevennow,justunderadecadelater,we’restillleftwonderingifthat’spossible,orevenagoodidea.

EPISODECREDITS 

Reportedby-AndrewZolliOriginalmusicandsounddesigncontributedby-Mooninites

REFERENCES:

ArticlesAndrewZolli’sblogpostaboutDarwin’sStickers(https://zpr.io/ZpMeUnRmVMgP)whichhighlightsanotheroneoftheseFacebookexperimentsthatdidn’tmakeitintotheepisode.

BooksAndrewZolli’sResilience:WhyThingsBounceBack (https://zpr.io/7fYQ9iDYAQBu)KateCrawford'sAtlasofAI:Power,Politics,andthePlanetaryCostsofArtificialIntelligence (https://zpr.io/9rU5CGSit3W4)

 

OurnewslettercomesouteveryWednesday.Itincludesshortessays,recommendations,anddetailsaboutotherwaystointeractwiththeshow.Signup(https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolabissupportedbylistenerslikeyou.SupportRadiolabbybecomingamemberofTheLab(https://members.radiolab.org/)today.FollowourshowonInstagram,TwitterandFacebook@radiolab,andshareyourthoughtswithusbyemailingradiolab@wnyc.org

LeadershipsupportforRadiolab’sscienceprogrammingisprovidedbytheGordonandBettyMooreFoundation,ScienceSandbox,aSimonsFoundationInitiative,andtheJohnTempletonFoundation.FoundationalsupportforRadiolabwasprovidedbytheAlfredP.SloanFoundation.