Feed: Slashdot
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Title: Are a Few People Ruining the Internet For the Rest of Us?
Link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/14/1844...
A small fraction of hyperactive social media users generates the vast
majority of toxic online content, according to research by New York
University psychology professor Jay Van Bavel and colleagues Claire Robertson
and Kareena del Rosario. The study found that 10% of users produce roughly
97% of political tweets, while just 0.1% of users share 80% of fake news.
Twelve accounts known as the "disinformation dozen" created most vaccine
misinformation on Facebook during the pandemic, the research found. In
experiments, researchers paid participants to unfollow divisive political
accounts on X. After one month, participants reported 23% less animosity
toward other political groups. Nearly half declined to refollow hostile
accounts after the study ended, and those maintaining healthier newsfeeds
reported reduced animosity 11 months later. The research describes social
media as a "funhouse mirror" that amplifies extreme voices while muting
moderate perspectives.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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