Social media and political polarization in America | 60 Minutes

The co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology tells Bill Whitaker social media companies are profiting off Americans’ online anger.

#60Minutes #News #SocialMedia

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[scarpfish]

I sure wish we could see an alternate timeline in which social media was never a thing just so we could see by comparison how much damage it's done to society on our timeline.

[RoundingThird]

‘The business model is to ruin Thanksgiving dinner.’ So true.

[jackmedlock]

I am so glad that 60 minutes covered this topic.

[ArjunaJackson]

The only social media I use now is Youtube, and even then i'm really mindful of what I click on.

[thewakakeboarder]

Dear YouTube algorithm please promote this video more even though it's against your self interest.... it is in the best interest of humanity. And we should all care about humanity.

[skittlekearse]

I deleted TikTok 1 year ago and I have been off Instagram for some months now (never had twitter). I quite literally was feeling myself get dumber and my attention span shortening. This is all true.

[bravosierra]

“The extremes have been handed the power to dominate, even though they’re fewer in numbers” This is a very important comment/insight from the analysis that’s been conducted.

[excalibur]

And this is why so many people miss the 1980s and 1990s.

[babybirdhome]

Social media was actually not very toxic at all back when you could thumbs down a comment and it would be hidden (but still viewable if you wanted to see it), and back when the only “algorithm” that determined what you saw was “what your friends that you explicitly follow posted most recently in chronological order with no favoring of anything ever”. These algorithms designed to maximize “shareholder value” are the literal death of us all.

[Iquey]

I heard this segment on the way back home on NPR in a friend's car radio. Glad I could find the rest of it on YouTube!

[Me]

I think social media might be the worst thing to ever happen to human society.

[mesropmadzharyan]

Social media is the worst thing to happen to us .

[Jeff-fvmp]

This is 60 minutes best piece in the last 20 years and after a month on YouTube it only has 300k views and 6k likes. Our society is heading down an irreversible path that will destroy itself.

I never thought “idiocracy” would come to fruition this quickly.

[phonix-]

Thank you 60 minutes for giving some attention to centrism and rationalism as a philosophy. We need it today more than ever.

[ev.c]

I am a Software engineer, and looking from a technical perspective in what is happening in social medias, it is very easy to conclude our societies are in a very big problem. Automated tools using AI/ML are very far away from being able to tackle these conspiracy theories posts. Furthermore, it is obvious the manual work FB and Twitter do in moderation is NOT working. They developed algorithms to highlight sensationalist posts, because that is what gives audience. The problem is, politicians have adapted to use the same tactics to get into power. Fueled by these algorithms, they are a threat to our democracies. Big tech will need to be regulated. This cannot continue.

[anonimuse]

Hate and anger are drugs. Many people are easily pulled into hate like it's ice cream to a starved child.
Emotional discipline or resistance to the allure of the Hate high should be part of the educational system.

[AquaeAtrae]

Why isn't there a senate committee dedicated solely to social media and it's engagement-based algorithm?! Why doesn't this dominate news coverage? Our economy, public health, climate, democracy, and frankly even civilization itself are all threatened and debilitated by how social media amplifies our worst human natures. None of these would be such a serious crisis if not for our echo chambers and divided response to these fundamentally common causes.

[CenterforHumaneTechnology]

Thank you all for caring about this critical issue. Learn more about Tristan Harris and @centerforhumanetechnology 's work at www.humanetech.com.
11:43 Everyone is welcome to take our free course, Foundations of Humane Technology www.humanetech.com/course

[centbuck]

"Bothsidesism" is why people are sick of mainstream media. MeidasTouch is about truth & democracy. Democracy is not a right or left issue. At least till now.

[cellardoor]

Perfect guys to interview for this - Tristen and Jonathan. Watch their Joe Rogan interviews and their TED Talk. Absolutely brilliant.