Perspective

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I am very interested in the ways writers use the Medium platform.
Today, I received an alert that extended my interest.
It was a link to a post by Gilad Lotan.
Gilad discusses social networks and “the art of personalizing propaganda” during the Gaza conflict.
He notes:

Not only is there much more media produced, but it is coming at us at a faster pace, from many more sources. As we construct our online profiles based on what we already know, what we’re interested in, and what we’re recommended, social networks are perfectly designed to reinforce our existing beliefs. Personalized spaces, optimized for engagement, prioritize content that is likely to generate more traffic; the more we click, share, like, the higher engagement tracked on the service. Content that makes us uncomfortable, is filtered out.

I found Gilad’s use of visualisations to be very engaging. I went away thinking about this point:

A healthy democracy is contingent on having a healthy media ecosystem. As builders of these online networked spaces, how do we make sure we optimizing not only for traffic and engagement, but also an informed public?

Photo Credit

Twitter and UNWRA school bombing (Gilad Lotan)

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