LA Practice D2: Assess authors’ intent, motive, and impact of computational tools or platforms
< Back to Building BlockWhat does a healthy relationship with digital media platforms (like TikTok or Facebook) look and sound like?
This question becomes pressing in light of a survey published by Common Sense Media in 2022, that shows how digital media platforms are becoming more prevalent in the lives of tweens over the past two years. This includes increased usage of social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook, even though they require users to be at least 13 years old. This also includes the number of time tweens spend watching videos on platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.
Reflection
When thinking about a healthy relationship with these digital media platforms it can be incredibly valuable to ask questions such as:
Who are the ‘hidden authors’ behind these platforms?
What are the (often business) motivations and goals of these authors?
What design features (such as the Like Button, the infinite scroll, autoplay, notifications, etc.) are used to carry forward the agendas of the hidden authors?
And ultimately, how do the effects of these design features impact the well-being of the platform’s users?
You will watch a 17-minute video in the Crash Course series on Digital Literacy. The video clip examines a wide range of design features on different digital media platforms and how these impact users in concerning ways. You will be introduced to topics including targeted advertising, filter bubbles, and radical rabbit holes.
Next, read this article by Dr. Simone Bunse that briefly overviews the particular ways in which social media has been used to contribute to peace as well as how it has been a driver of conflict. Bunse covers different policy responses to issues such as disinformation, polarization, and hate speech.
As you read the above article, keep in mind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed at the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Think about the relationship between digital media platforms and our universally declared human rights.
Next, play the Bad News Game designed by The Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab. This web browser game is designed as a media literacy tool that ‘inoculates’ players against disinformation by putting players in the position of the people who create disinformation within a simulated media platform.
You will play through the first 3 levels titled Impersonation, Emotion, and Polarization. By the end of this experience, you will have a deeper sense of the manipulation tactics authors of disinformation use. This experience will also bring to life the previous article’s examples of how social media can drive conflict.
As you play the game ask yourself how the simple design features of the simulated digital media platform impact the choices you make (such as the ability to track how many ‘likes’ your posts get).
View two examples of proposed redesigns for digital media platforms that create opportunities to increase the well-being of users. The first example comes from Johann Hari’s 2022 book, Stolen Focus which focuses on Facebook.
“Facebook could ask you at regular intervals: What changes do you want to make to your life? Maybe you want to exercise more, take up gardening, become vegetarian, or start a heavy-metal band. It could then match you up with other people nearby--friends, or friends of friends, or interested strangers in your neighborhood--who say they also want to make that change and have indicated they are looking for the equivalent of gym buddies.” (161)
The second example comes from an MIT Media Lab activity and curriculum in which Middle School students propose redesigns for YouTube. Click through the photo gallery to view students' design artifacts and learning process.
Now that you have been introduced to various digital platforms and explored more deeply the relationship between the design features of these platforms, the intentions and motivations of those who create these design features, and the impact on user experience, you can start to reflect on your own experience using digital media platforms.
In this step you will answer a series of guided questions about your own relationship with digital media platforms.
To begin this reflective exercise, first, bring to mind all the different digital media platforms that you regularly use to consume or share media. Now focus on one platform in particular. Next, use your imagination to personify your chosen digital media platform. Imagine that it is a person that has their own wants, desires, and needs. Now, answer for yourself the following reflective prompts for the digital media platform you brought to mind.
Reflection
What does this platform ‘want’ from its users? (what does it ‘not’ want from its users?)
What are some design features built into the platform that helps it get what it wants? (name all that you can)
Who do you become when you use this digital platform? (in what ways are you a different person when you consume/share information on this platform vs. other platforms or situations? If it helps, imagine how you might wish someone Happy Birthday in a face-to-face communication, vs. through a phone call vs. through a text vs. through a Facebook message, and so on)
As a user, what are some things that would improve your experience and well-being when using this platform?
What are some design feature changes you could propose that would reshape the digital platform so that you can better get out of it what you want?
Draw a rough sketch of the user interface of the digital media platform you focused on in your reflective exercise. Next, draw another sketch of the user interface but with the specific design feature change that you would like to make.
Reflection
In what specific ways do you think your proposed change will affect your own and other users’ well-being?