Debate Primer: Social Media

This week, Political Union will be debating whether social media is corrosive to democracy.

First an introduction from Pew Research Center’s canvassing of experts on the issue. [5 minutes] 

• A rundown on social media and the influence it has on media’s traditional role in democracy from Forbes contributor Kalev Leetaru. [4 minutes]

  • A think piece on the psychology of social media from the Atlantic written by Jonathan Haidt and Tobias Rose-Stockwell, prominent voices on ethics in tech. [7 minutes]

• Facebook’s opinion on themselves in relation to democracy. [3 minutes]

  • Further analysis on that statement from the Guardian. [4 minutes]

• A rundown on the social media’s influence in Southeast Asia’s democratic experiment. [4 minutes]

  • Including notes on Facebook’s role in the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar (formerly Burma). [3 minutes]

• Some hope for social media from Cass R. Sunstein a Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard University. And Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from 2009-2012. [4 minutes]

• An alarmist’s take towards social media from The Washington Post.

• A former chairman of the Federal Communication Commission’s take on whether the two can coexist. [7 minutes]

  • A connection between technology and political polarization. [5 minutes]

Photo credit to CNBC.