Social media platforms have become an everyday feature of modern life. One feature common to these platforms is the creation of a user profile. These profiles are vital for social media companies to make money from data analytics and targeted advertising. In this post, Lukasz Szulc explores how social media platforms translate this data-driven business model into the design and […]
Category: LSE Data and Society
What does Facebook’s #tenyearchallenge tell us about public awareness of data and algorithms?
Helen Kennedy reflects on the recent #tenyearchallenge trend. Looking at responses to the challenge, she considers what they tell us about the public understanding of data and the companies that utilise it. Drawing on qualitative and survey data on the levels of public awareness, she finds that what the public knows about data continues to be unclear. Facebook, Instagram and […]
What does Facebook’s #tenyearchallenge tell us about public awareness of data and algorithms?
Helen Kennedy reflects on the recent #tenyearchallenge trend. Looking at responses to the challenge, she considers what they tell us about the public understanding of data and the companies that utilise it. Drawing on qualitative and survey data on the levels of public awareness, she finds that what the public knows about data continues to be unclear. Facebook, Instagram and […]
Engaging with citizens online: civic apps must offer dynamic interactions in order to be truly effective
In this era of fake news and misinformation, it is good to be reminded of how the internet is being used to improve the ways in which the ideals of democracy are translated into action. One such example is the use of digital technologies to enable people to engage with urban challenges in their neighbourhoods via civic apps. Sarah Giest […]
Algorithmic accountability in scholarship: what we can learn from #DeleteAcademiaEdu
The controversy surrounding Academia.edu highlights the flaws and limitations of existing scholarly infrastructures. Jean-Christophe Plantin explores the intersection of algorithms, academic research and platforms for scholarly publications. He argues that there is a need to develop a values-centred approach in the development of article-sharing platforms, with suitably designed algorithms. The networking and article-sharing platform academia.edu has been at the centre of a controversy in […]