Despite their many benefits, many of us intrinsically know that social media platforms are not entirely a force for good for human beings and our interactions. Use of social media is often linked with poor mental health, particularly in young people, and the kind of comparison it encourages between peoples’ lives can easily make one feel inferior, and exacerbate existing divides in society. And yet the advantages to these services are such that we continue to engage, perhaps trying to limit our own usage or engage with social media in ways that we deem to be the least damaging. “These platforms have been designed to extract value from our interactions”, says Dr Niall Docherty, Lecturer in Data, AI and Society at the University of Sheffield Information School. “They’re capitalist platforms with an economic incentive at their heart, yet somehow the users have to navigate the pressures and extremes put upon them just by using their own wits.” Dr Docherty’s forthcoming book, ‘ Healthy...
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