Social Media of the Future | Xander, Malia, Chris
__________________
Taking inspiration from the Feminist Data Manifest-No and Woodrow Willson’s “Fourteen Points” speech, last week’s praxis entry centered around the idea of forming ethical and user-friendly guidelines for social media platforms to implement. The business model of social media raises concerns over the wellbeing of the consumer. Being a free service that is open to all, tech companies rely on advertisement revenue to stay afloat. This leads to companies collecting user data, using tactics like doom scrolling to make the app more addictive, and providing users with content that is similar to content previously interacted with to keep users on longer.
Several points from the Program for The Peace of Social Media have been implemented into this interactive app mockup, which gives an idea of what social media would look like if it were to follow these guidelines:
1) There shall be no filter bubbling of any kind. Social media platforms will cease to separate users into groups based on their collected data without users knowing.
- This app includes a "Personalized Mode" feature. When this is toggled on, the app will work similarly to social media today, showing you content related to what you normally view. But if it is toggled off, the app will remove the filter bubble and display a variety of different content similar to the incognito mode feature on Google Chrome.
6) Exactly what type of data is being collected will be fully transparent to users.
- Users will not only know that their data is being collected, but will now know exactly what data is being collected.
13) Corporations will be required to obtain consent for the collection, use, and barter of personal data.
- Upon signing up for an account, users must confirm their consent to their data being collected. Rather than a multiple-page, heavy-worded Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, users are met with a concise, short explanation. A proper Privacy Policy can be accessed with ease and users can withdraw consent at any point.
14) The General Data Protection Regulation will be adapted for American law, and 'the right to be forgotten' will be implemented, allowing individuals to request their personal data be erased.
- Users can delete their account and all data associated with it in just a few clicks. No additional steps and no questions asked.