Join a critical discussion about the future of social media inspired by the film The Social Dilemma.
Speakers
Jeff Orlowski, Director, The Social Dilemma
Yaël Eisenstat, former Global Head of Elections Integrity Operations for Political Advertising, Facebook
Desmond Upton Patton, Associate Professor and Dean of Curriculum Innovation and Academic Affairs, Columbia School of Social Work
Emily Bell (moderator), Director, Tow Center for Digital Journalism
Details
October 21, 2020 (5:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET) – Online Event
REGISTER HERE
Sponsors
Barnard College Computer Science
Barnard College Science and Public Policy
Tow Center for Digital Journalism
Hosted By
Data, Media, and Society Center, Columbia Data Science Institute
The Social Dilemma: Shaping the Future of Social Media
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 Eisenstat, 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.
