Avoiding Digital Filter Bubbles: The Rise of Platform Cooperativism

Posted on by Abbigail Ziobro

Facebook is slowly transitioning from a platform used to connect with friends, to a database of unprotected personal information and political controversy. Users now question the platform itself and its creators; concerned about the information they share. Within the 2016 election Facebook was noted as a form to spread extremist views and political propaganda. CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, following statements by Facebook executives, has made it his mission to make the platform a true democracy in the coming year. Dianne Feinstein, United States Senator, and Adam Schiff, a Member of Congress urge platforms to enforce in-depth examinations of its activity. To fix the platform, Zuckerberg must conform to platform cooperativism; allowing for platforms to be owned and governed by those who depend on them, creating the idea of self-regulation and proper accountability. This change to Mark Zuckerberg’s social media platform would allow for a true democracy. The counter of this new method, algorithms, limit and regulate negative content with the potential use of artificial intelligence to properly monitor and censor the platform. As a result, disinformation propagators can create digital filter bubbles, pushing specific content to the top of a user’s feed or search results, starting viral online hoaxes as well as the spread of hate speech. By creating platform cooperativism, users will be able to self-regulate, rather than rely on artificial intelligence in which creators can skew, as there is no defined base line to negative content. Facebook is an online social media platform created as an open forum in order for all users to have an equal voice; censoring or regulating content diminishes the idea of a proper democracy. For democracy to remain intact, users must learn to protect themselves and their own personal data, regulating the content they choose share and post.

Leave a Reply