^CategorySocial Media

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
August 12, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology, Politics, Social Media

Tagged
Dish Network, Elon Musk, Featured, Satellite collision risk, SpaceX, SpaceX and Starlink, Starlink}

Musk’s Starlink Tied to Traffic Chaos in Orbit and on Earth

_{If nothing else, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has brought public attention to the future of space, who it belongs to, and how it is paid for} _{Jonathan Bartlett

August 12, 2022

3

Business and Finance, Global Technology, Politics, Social Media}

This week has seen quite a struggle for Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its satellite-based internet service Starlink. SpaceX had recently pocketed some interesting wins for Starlink. Its offer to keep Ukrainians online in the midst of the recent crisis earned Starlink favor in the eyes of both the military and Eastern European nations. It has also started launching operations in Latin America. Just days ago SpaceX performed its 35th launch of the year, adding 52 more Starlink satellites. However, Starlink has also faced a number recent headwinds which could spell trouble for the service. While its public beta test performed well for many users, as the service has expanded, the capabilities of the network appear to be stretched. Despite promises…

Todays News Headlines Hot Breaking Stories Updates 3d Illustration

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
August 3, 2022

Categorized
Media, Social Media

Tagged
Chris Fitzgerald, Flipboard (aggregator), MetaCritic (aggregator), News aggregators, News aggregators' effect on news media, News Now (aggregator), Pocket (aggregator), Search engines vs. news aggregators, StartupTalky (aggregator list), Stefanie Fogel}

Beyond the Search Engine: Shape Your Own News Feed

_{A news aggregator keeps you current with news YOU care about or need to know} _{News

August 3, 2022

5

Media, Social Media}

Recently, we discussed the world beyond Google, in which a variety of easily accessible search engines offers you a choice of different advantages. But now let’s look at something even more focused… A news aggregator collects news stories and other information, sorted by categories and preferences, from across the internet. News Now is one example. Let’s say you want to know more about the asteroid Bennu. You could type “Bennu” into a search engine. But you already know the basic stuff about the asteroid; right now you want to know if there has been any recent news about it. You could go to News Now, choose Science, then Astronomy, then Asteroids, Comets, and Meteoroids, then Asteroid Bennu. You will find…

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 27, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Abortion rate decline in U.S., Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Google Maps, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (court case), Elizabeth Warren and crisis pregnancy centers, Erin Matson, FACE Act (1994), Google Maps and CPCs, Gretchen Whitmer, Ken Paxton, Reproaction, Social media and crisis pregnancy centers, YouTube and abortion information}

Lawmakers to Google Maps: Leave Crisis Pregnancy Centers Alone!

_{Seventeen state attorneys’ general have warned Google not to alter map search results in response to abortion activists’ demands} _{News

July 27, 2022

4

Censorship, Social Media}

Recently, abortion activists were demanding that Google Maps crack down on crisis pregnancy centers that offer help other than abortion. In response, a group of 17 state attorneys general led by Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton sent a letter dated July 21, asking Google to “advise the co-signing Attorneys General whether it has adjusted its search results and advertisements to discriminate against crisis pregnancy centers, and if so, how.” It reads in part, Unfortunately, several national politicians now seek to wield Google’s immense market power by pressuring the company to discriminate against pro-life crisis pregnancy centers in Google search results, in online advertising, and in its other products, such as Google Maps. As the chief legal officers of our respective States,…

Hand holding mobile smart phone, with notification icons and city background

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 26, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Medicine and Health, Social Media

Tagged
Casey Newton on COVID censorship, COVID-19 censorship, Facebook and COVID censorship, Meta and COVID censorship, Nick Clegg on COVID censorship}

Facebook Blinks: No Longer Wants to Censor COVID “Misinformation”

_{Global Affairs President Nick Clegg has revealed that Facebook is seeking the guidance of its Oversight Board about removing “false claims”} _{News

July 26, 2022

4

Censorship, Medicine and Health, Social Media}

Citing the view that the COVID-19 pandemic has “evolved,” Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is deciding whether to continue removing “misinformation” about the pandemic from the platform: Meta has asked the company’s Oversight Board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, to decide whether removing “false claims about masks, social distancing and vaccines” on Facebook is still appropriate as “countries around the world seek to return to more normal life,” Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said Tuesday in a blog post. Sherri Walsh, “Facebook parent Meta to reconsider removing COVID-19 misinformation” at UPI (July 26, 2022) The U.S. government had put a lot of pressure on Meta, as UPI notes, and Facebook removed 25 million items of information.…

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 26, 2022

Categorized
Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance

Tagged
Baidu search engine, Bing, Brave search engine, Dogpile search engine, DuckDuckGo Search, DuckDuckGo tracking users, Gabriel Weinberg, Google Scholar, Google Search, Internet Archive, LifeWire, Paul Gil, RapidAPI, Reliablesoft, Russ White, Search engines ranked, Wayback Machine, Yahoo Search, Yandex search engine, Zack Edwards}

Life Beyond Google Search: Try the Other Search Engines

_{Recently, DuckDuckGo was found to be tracking users sometimes, due to a deal with Microsoft. No matter, there are many search engines now…} _{News

July 26, 2022

4

Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance}

Search engine DuckDuckGo — famous for not tracking users — lost some favor recently, after its CEO had to admit that it does sometimes track users: Security researcher Zack Edwards this week revealed that DuckDuckGo’s mobile browsers allow some Microsoft sites to bypass its block on trackers. While the browser blocks Facebook and Google trackers, DuckDuckGo makes an exception for some of Microsoft’s. Edwards found that the browsers allow allows data to be sent to Microsoft’s LinkedIn and Bing domains DuckDuckGo said the exemption was due to a search agreement with Microsoft. Thomas Macaulay, “DuckDuckGo faces widespread backlash over tracking deal with Microsoft” at The NextWebMay 26, 2022 DuckDuckGo’s CEO Gabriel Weinberg pointed out to disappointed users that the company…

cyber bullying concept. people using notebook computer laptop for social media interactions with notification icons of hate speech and mean comment in social network

^{Type
post

Author
Andrew McDiarmid
Date
July 25, 2022

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Psychology, Social Media

Tagged
Cheslie Kryst, Constance Wu, Cyberbullying, Featured, Jean Twenge, Social media and mental health, Social media and suicide, Social media ban for teens, Social media limiting use, Teens and social media}

Social Media Can Literally Kill. It Killed Cheslie Chryst

_{Chryst’s suicide — and Constant Wu’s thwarted attempt — spotlight the toxic cyberbullying that is intrinsic to Big Tech’s formula for success} _{Andrew McDiarmid

July 25, 2022

5

Medicine and Health, Psychology, Social Media}

[This article is republished with permission from the New York Post (July 23, 2022) where it appeared under the title “Constance Wu’s suicide tweet proves social media can mean life or death.”] “Looking back, it’s surreal that a few DMs convinced me to end my own life, but that’s what happened.” Last week, actress Constance Wu confessed on Twitter that she had tried to take her own life after she made “careless tweets” about the renewal of her TV show, ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” in May 2019. “So upset right now that I’m literally crying,” she had posted about the show’s renewal, which had forced her to give up another project she was passionate about. As would be expected on a public…

Social media concept. Social networking service. Video hosting website. Streaming video.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 22, 2022

Categorized
Law, Social Media

Tagged
COVID-19 and social media, Eric Schmitt, Jeff Landry, Social media and disparate government demands, Social media and sovereign governments, Social media as lawsuit targets}

Big Social Media Must Appear in A-Gs’ COVID Censorship Lawsuit

_{Two states’ Attorneys General are suing officeholders and public officials over COVID-19 and have sent subpoenas to Meta, YouTube, Twitter, etc.} _{News

July 22, 2022

4

Law, Social Media}

Missouri’s and Louisiana’s Attorneys General are suing federal government figures over suppression and censorship of COVID-19 information. Meta (Facebook’s parent company), YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn have been issued third party subpoenas (they are ordered to appear in court). The lawsuit begun by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry …requests all communications with Mark Zuckerberg from Jan. 1, 2020, to the present. Also requested were any communications to any social media platform relating to the “Great Barrington Declaration,” a letter published in October 2020. The letter was published in response to COVID-19 policies that recommended “focused protection,” an approach to reaching herd immunity by allowing those at minimal risk of death to live normal lives…

Double exposure of business woman and Big Data concept. Digital neural network.Introduction of artificial intelligence. Cyberspace of future.Science and innovation of technology.city background.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 21, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Data Privacy, Politics, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
Big Tech and neo-feudalism, Big Tech decline in popularity, Brave search engine, Coming of Neo-Feudalism (book 2020), DuckDuckGo sidelined by Google, Google and don't be evil slogan, Google attempts to shape thinking, Google censorship, Google's global dominance, Joel Kotkin, Neo-feudalism, Silicon Valley disparities}

Google’s Most Ambitious Project to Date: Reshaping Your Thinking

_{Controlling so much communication — and fired up by ideology — it’s in a better position for that than many suppose} _{News

July 21, 2022

7

Censorship, Data Privacy, Politics, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy}

In a column yesterday at Spiked, urban studies specialist Joel Kotkin, author of The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class (2020), provided depressing evidence that the power of Big Tech is beginning to genuinely resemble the power medieval lords had over their serfs. It’s not just an office joke any more. Google, he recounts, was part of an anti-authoritarian high tech culture when it went public in 2004. Its search engine technology, and others, were seen as empowering the little guy. In 2018, for unclear reasons, Google dropped the famous “Don’t be evil” slogan. Since then, in Kotkin’s view, it is “increasingly becoming a force not for good, but for, well, evil.” He musters an impressive…

Confident mature man in elegant shirt and tie telling something while making social media video

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 19, 2022

Categorized
Politics, Social Media

Tagged
Alberto Alemanno, Benjamin Wofford, Citizen lobbyists, Citizen lobbyists and social media, Lobbying for Change (book), Urban Legend (company)}

How Social Media Are Changing Politics From the Ground Up

_{Campaigns are much and easier to organize online so lawmakers may be hearing from people they didn’t used to} _{News

July 19, 2022

3

Politics, Social Media}

The internet has been a boon for citizen lobbyists. Everyone from societies for animal protection through environment activists and legal pot activists is offering tips, primers, and courses to those who want to influence government without quitting their day job and moving to the capital. . European law prof Alberto Alemanno spotted the trend and wrote a book about it, Lobbying for Change: Find Your Voice to Create a Better Society (2017): Participation now happens with little cost or effort. And it means that a greater number of citizens – who have traditionally not participated – are becoming more politically active, or at least more open to persuasion by those that are. People have also become politically more promiscuous. Today’s…

Young amateur football fan supporters cheering with confetti watching local soccer cup match at stadium - Friends people group on green t shirts having excited fun on sport world championship final

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 18, 2022

Categorized
Media, Medicine and Health, Psychology, Science, Social Media

Tagged
COVID-19 and science distrust, Media choices and political values, Tribal loyalty among researchers, Tribal loyalty as source of science distrust}

Researchers: Distrust of Science Is Due to Tribal Loyalty

_{In Part 2 of 4, we look at a claim arising from a recent study: We blindly believe those we identify with, ignoring the wisdom of science} _{News

July 18, 2022

5

Media, Medicine and Health, Psychology, Science, Social Media}

Recently, a paper lamenting the decline of trust in science was discussed at ScienceAlert, a science news site. In representing the paper—doubtless accurately — for a lay audience, the write-up embodies the causes of legitimate public distrust. That is worth dissecting in more detail. Yesterday, we looked at the write-up in light of the government responses to COVID, which were all too often panicked reactions rather than trustworthy guidance. Then, in the wake of the debacle, the White House chose to set up a Disinformation Board to target non-government sources of alleged disinformation — which could only deepen existing distrust. We press on. The second point of four raised at ScienceAlert is that tribal loyalty is thought to create distrust…

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 18, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Big Tech stocks, Elon Musk (and Twitter), Elon Musk vs. the Twitterbots, Twitter (and Elon Musk), Twitterbots and Twitter's influence}

Twitter vs. Musk: The Many Different Ways the Story Could End

_{Twitter, which didn’t really want Musk, is now suing to make him its boss. They all hate each other. Can this work?} _{Denyse O'Leary

July 18, 2022

5

Business and Finance, Censorship, Social Media}

In the most recent episode of the Musk and Twitter show, Twitter was suing driverless car entrepreneur Elon Musk to compel him to buy the company at the original posted price — despite the fact that earlier, many employees didn’t want him to buy it at all. Also despite the fact that he says he no longer wants to. Readers, this is happening only because Big Tech stock values are way down. A useful article by technology reporter Alex Sherman at CNBC (July 11, 2022) identifies eight ways the saga could end, namely 1 and 4: Musk just ends up paying the $1B breakup fee or some other settlement and Twitter continues with its meltdowns and bot problems, as long…

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 15, 2022

Categorized
Addiction, Social Media, Spirituality

Tagged
Andrew McDiarmid, Authentic technology concept, Big Tech's pervasive influence, Featured, Jacques Ellul, Marshall McLuhan, Robert J. Marks, Social media addiction and teens, Technological Society (book), Technology (regaining control), Technology word origin}

Taking Our Lives Back from Big Tech, a Step at a Time

_{If we don’t have the time to stop and reflect because we are too busy checking our social media…} _{News

July 15, 2022

13

Addiction, Social Media, Spirituality}

In a recent podcast, “Weaving the Technology of Our Lives” (July 14, 2022), Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed tech and culture writer Andrew McDiarmid on the deep ways Big Tech governs our lives — ways of which we are often unaware — and concrete steps for taking control back: https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/Mind-Matters-195-Andrew-McDiarmid.mp3 Here’s a partial transcript and notes. Additional Resources follow: Robert J. Marks: We have been talking about Jacques Ellul’s concept of technique… Andrew McDiarmid: Well, Jacques Ellul was a French sociologist, theologian, and philosopher of technology … Ellul’s lifetime spanned almost the entire 20th century, 1911 to 1994. He wrote books and articles throughout his career on how he saw technology impacting the “human adventure,” as he…

Happy pregnant woman visit gynecologist doctor at hospital or medical clinic for pregnancy consultant. Doctor examine pregnant belly for baby and mother healthcare check up. Gynecology concept.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 5, 2022

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Social Media

Tagged
Abortion and crisis pregnancy centers, Abortion rate decline in U.S., Andrea Swartzendruber, Crisis pregnancy centers, Crisis pregnancy centers (mobile), Danielle Lambert, Google Maps, Google Maps and CPCs, Kylie Cheung, Letitia James}

Activists to Google Maps: Crack Down on Crisis Pregnancy Centers

_{Overall, the U.S. abortion rate has been in decline for about thirty years, for a variety of reasons, including available alternatives} _{News

July 5, 2022

5

Medicine and Health, Social Media}

When the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs decision (June 24, 2022) that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” (SCOTUSblog) returned the abortion issue to the state legislatures, a number crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) that do not offer abortion have been attacked by abortion militants. One source the militants appear to be using is an online map of such centers created by University of Georgia biostatisticians Andrea Swartzendruber and Danielle Lambert, who call them “fake women’s health centers.” For example: Puget Sound Anarchists posted a link to the map in a post made about a vandalism at a Vancouver, Washington pregnancy center. Crisis pregnancy center Options 360 was vandalized with red paint, and the phrase “Jane’s Revenge.” The…

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 28, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy, Religion, Science, Social Media

Tagged
Bacteria, Casey Luskin, Darwinian evolution theory, Evolution, Featured, Human brain (as complex), Isaac Asimov (on human brain), Jerry Coyne, Michael Egnor, New Atheism, Orac (pseudonym), Panda's Thumb (blog), Positivism, Rubik's cube (and specified complexity), Scientism, Specified Complexity, Steven Novella, Why Evolution is True (blog)}

When a Neurosurgeon and a Biologist Keep On Arguing…

_{… we suspect some pretty basic science issues are involved} _{News

June 28, 2022

11

Philosophy, Religion, Science, Social Media}

In a recent ID: The Future podcast (June 24, 2022) Casey Luskin interviews pediatric neurosurgeon Michael Egnor on his blogosphere debates with evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne. Egnor, who has authored many research papers, espouses a non-materialist view of the mind — and of life in general — with which Dr. Coyne, a committed atheist, emphatically disagrees. Here’s a partial transcript from “A Brain Surgeon Debates Evolutionist Jerry Coyne and Other Atheists”: Casey Luskin: We’re going to talk about these debates you’ve had with Dr. Coyne and others. Some of the arguments you’ve made, I think, have been very compelling. But before we get into that, I’d like to ask, why do you focus your writing so much on Dr. Jerry…

close up man hand type on keyboard laptop to use search engine optimization (SEO) tools for finding customer or promote and advertise about content online for marketing technology and business concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 27, 2022

Categorized
Data Privacy, Economics, Social Media

Tagged
Brave Search, DuckDuckGo Search, Google Search, Jacob Carpenter on Brave, Search engines and privacy, Search engines English language datasets}

The Brave Search Engine Survives. So Does Privacy Still Matter?

_{Despite Google’s overwhelming dominance, Brave clocked 2.5 billion searches since this time last year} _{News

June 27, 2022

4

Data Privacy, Economics, Social Media}

Last year, we wrote about the Brave search engine, headed up by Mozilla pioneer Brendan Eich. Brave Search offered the first true alternative to Google since Bing by introducing a third English language index and protecting user privacy. A nice idea, many have thought, but who really cares? So what if Big Tech makes largely unaccountable billions from marketing our information, as long as the social media services it provides remain free? So perhaps surprisingly, Brave is hanging on. Tech maven Jacob Carpenter noted recently at Fortune that, while Google owns 92.5% of the search market business according to StatCounter, that number hasn’t changed much over a decade. And Brave is reporting 2.5 billion searches from its current search engine’s…

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 24, 2022

Categorized
Addiction, Neuroscience, Social Media

Tagged
Adolescents and social media, Amygdala vs frontal cortex, Christine Rosen, Karl D. Stephan, Social media ban on underage users, Teenagers and social media}

Should Kids Under 16 Be Banned From Social Media?

_{An internal study by Instagram found that using the platform made fully one-third of teenage girls feel worse — but they couldn’t stop} _{News

June 24, 2022

7

Addiction, Neuroscience, Social Media}

(This article by Texas State University engineering prof Karl D. Stephan originally appeared at Engineering Ethics Blog (June 20, 2022) under the title “Social Media: For adults only?” and is reprinted with permission.) Writing in National Review, cultural critic Christine Rosen recently proposed a total ban on social media for everyone under the age of 16. One can imagine all sorts of problems with this idea, ranging from enforcement issues to what it would be like living in a country where nearly all the teenagers start screaming at the same time. But let’s step back from the immediate issues and effects, and ask what the ethics of such a ban would be. Rosen cites a number of other things that we don’t let…

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 16, 2022

Categorized
Media, Social Media

Tagged
Amy Coney Barrett, Bill Maher, Brett Kavanaugh, Joe Kahn, Marvin Olasky, media bias, Print media as obsolete, Twitterati}

Have Newspapers Simply Lost Touch With the Mainstream Public?

_{The depressing stats tell a tale that’s a bit more complex: Readers tolerate out-of-touch media less now because they we need them so much less} _{Denyse O'Leary

June 16, 2022

5

Media, Social Media}

Earlier this week we looked at the way a flailing newspaper chain decided to cut back on editorial and opinion pages. The decision should not be a surprise in an age when so much opinion is available for free — and by no means is all of it foolish. One familiar response has been to say, well, media are too “liberal” (or “leftist” or “progressive”) for the readers — and that’s why newspaper are losing them. It’s a factor but there is more to the story. First, we are dealing with a fact: Pious disclaimers notwithstanding, as a group, media personnel are generally more likely to support progressive causes than average Americans. A variety of explanations is offered, including this…