Events

The Social Dilemma: Shaping the Future of Social Media Hosted by: Data, Media & Society Center at The Data Science Institute, Columbia University Co-sponsored by: Barnard College Computer Science Barnard College Science and Public Policy Tow Center for Digital Journalism The 2020 film The Social Dilemma paints a bleak portrait of the effect that social media is having on people around the world: increasing polarization, disinformation, election interference and even depression. Drawing on interviews with a range of experts, the film suggests that at worst, social media platforms are designed to exploit users for profit, and at best, their designers - some of them former platform employees who are featured in the film - were naive in their understanding of how these tools would affect the world. On October 21, from 5pm - 6pm, we invite you to join a critical discussion about the future of social media inspired by the film, featuring its director, Jeff Orlowski; Yaël Eisenstadt, former Global Head of Elections Integrity Operations for political advertising at Facebook; Desmond Upton Patton, Associate Professor and Dean of Curriculum Innovation and Academic Affairs, Columbia School of Social Work; and others in a conversation moderated by Emily Bell, Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. Through a frank discussion of the current state and possible futures of social media technology, this event will offer audiences a unique window into the kinds of social, political, and scientific innovations needed to reimagine and reconstruct how these platforms could meet more of the world's needs.