Ted Talk Five W13 P1

What Obligation do Social Media Platforms Have to the Greater Good? - Eli Pariser

-Space shapes behavior. When classrooms are given soft furniture, class participation rises by 42 percent. In neighborhoods with parks, there is far more social trust than those without.

-So what happens is the internet is looked at like a space? 

-Part of how space effects behavior is how certain spaces have certain rules, like how one is expected to keep quiet in a library, but not outdoors. Similarly, certain websites have a particular set of norms on how they’re used - LinkedIn, for example, is usually taken pretty seriously because it has rules set for it’s usage.

-However, most social media platforms don’t have these same regulations, and this is a problem because those are the ones with more users and more potential for misbehavior.

-When spaces lack structure, it creates a sort of anxiety that craves order - since many social media sites are quite messy and unstructured, there are increased numbers of people getting angry or upset online, be it with other people or the way the site works. 

-Spaces focused on human interaction rather than efficiency or marketing tend to be more successful- the same applies to online spaces.

-When people in physical spaces misbehave in one way or another, they simply get small social cues that tell them to stop. Online, systems like blocking or banning only make the perpetrator the victim.

-So many people are living in online environments that are hostile, and unlike physical environments that build trust over time, and have specific rules for specific places. If online platforms were perhaps built in ways that promoted social interaction and had a sense of ownership for each individual, maybe the internet would be a better place for people to work together and make change happen. 

-Change occurs when people find new ways to interact, connect, and rely on each other. With online platforms, a new way of doing this has risen, but people are doing it wrong.