<
https://theconversation.com/is-the-global-decline-in-democracy-linked-to-social-media-we-combed-through-the-evidence-to-find-out-193841>
"Here are two common ways of thinking about democracy in the online era. First,
the internet is a liberation technology and will usher in an era of global
democracy. Second, you can have social media or democracy, but not both.
Which is more correct? There is no doubt democracy is in retreat around the
globe. Even supposedly stable democracies have recently seen events
incompatible with democracy and the rule of law, such as the violent assault on
the US Capitol in 2021.
To understand the role of social media in this process, we carried out a
systematic review of the evidence linking social media to ten indicators of
democratic wellbeing: political participation, knowledge, trust, news exposure,
political expression, hate, polarisation, populism, network structure, and
misinformation.
We reviewed almost 500 studies across different platforms in countries around
the globe, and saw some broad patterns emerge. Social media use is linked to an
increase in political engagement, but also increases in polarisation, populism,
and distrust in institutions."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
