Online Talk: Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing

Project number:

22-031

Speaker:

Prof. Chris Bail, Duke University

Date:

Thursday, March 24, 2022, 6 p.m.

Location:

Online via ClickMeeting

Registration:

You can register for this event here. 

Language:

English

In cooperation with:

Our network of German-American Institutes and Centers as part of the series "Die Zukunft des transatlantischen (T)Raumes":
Amerikahaus NRW, Amerikazentrum Hamburg, Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg, DAI Nürnberg, DAI Saarland, DAI Sachsen, DAI Tübingen, 
DAZ Stuttgart

Partner:

This event is supported by the U.S. Embassy Berlin. 

In an era of increasing social isolation, platforms like Facebook and Twitter are among the most important tools we have to understand each other. We use social media as a mirror to decipher our place in society but, as Chris Bail explains, it functions more like a prism that distorts our identities, empowers status-seeking extremists, and renders moderates all but invisible. His research, laid out in Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing challenges common myths about echo chambers, foreign misinformation campaigns, and radicalizing algorithms, revealing that the solution to political tribalism lies deep inside ourselves.

The series Die Zukunft des transatlantischen (T)Raumes aims to highlight common transatlantic challenges and to discuss ideas for future transatlantic narratives and shared policy objectives. It is held in cooperation with our network of German-American Institutes and Centers.