936 tacks
TikTok executives know about app’s effect on teens, lawsuit documents allege
Unredacted documents from a lawsuit against TikTok reveal the company’s awareness of the app’s harmful effects on teenagers, including addiction and negative mental health impacts. Despite internal research validating these concerns, TikTok prioritised user engagement and profit over implementing effective safety measures. The company’s algorithm, designed to maximise user time on the app, has been linked to compulsive usage and a range of negative consequences for young users.
TikTok addiction: It takes all of 35 minutes
Fourteen US states are suing TikTok and ByteDance, claiming the platform negatively impacts children’s mental health and is intentionally addictive. Leaked documents revealed it takes an average of 260 videos, or about 35 minutes, for users to exhibit addictive behaviour. The Australian government’s efforts to address social media addiction, including the eSafety Commissioner’s actions, have been criticised as ineffective.
Small changes to ‘for you’ feed on X can rapidly increase political polarisation
A study that found that small changes to the tone of posts fed to users of X can rapidly increase political polarization. The study found that even a week of exposure to posts expressing anti-democratic attitudes and partisan animosity increased feelings of polarization among users.
Forget the AI job apocalypse. AI’s real threat is worker control and surveillance
The Guardian describes the real danger of AI in the workplace, which is not job loss but the growing divide between people who use AI to extend their skills and those whose working lives are increasingly shaped by opaque, AI-powered systems of surveillance and control. The article emphasizes the need for meaningful training in AI skills and democratic principles in the workplace to address the challenges posed by AI.
Is It Time to Ditch Your Smartphone?
On this week’s episode of “Galaxy Brain,” Charlie Warzel talks with his Atlantic colleague Kaitlyn Tiffany about what our phones are doing to us. Tiffany recently wrote about swapping her iPhone for a flip phone as part of a movement called “Month Offline.” Kaitlyn talks through her personal experience: the joys and inconveniences of a dumbphone and the difficulty of unplugging completely. Warzel and Tiffany talk about the growing smartphone backlash, legal cases against “big tech,” and how, even if many people are convinced that their phones are a problem, the science remains far from conclusive regarding direct harm.
Facebook told advertisers it can identify teens feeling 'insecure' and 'worthless'
Facebook reportedly showed advertisers how it can identify when teenagers feel insecure and worthless by monitoring their posts and photos. The leaked document, prepared by Facebook executives, claims the company has detailed information on mood shifts of young users, including relationship status, location, and frequency of platform access. Facebook apologised for the research, stating it was conducted without proper oversight, but later claimed the article was misleading and that the research was based on anonymous, aggregated data.
Atlantic Reads: Screen People with Megan Garber
In Screen People, Atlantic staff writer Megan Garber examines how the internet — once brimming with democratic promise — has quietly reshaped human behavior through the architecture of its platforms. From social media algorithms designed to provoke outrage, to the subtle habit of treating real people like fictional characters, Garber traces what went wrong and why. But she's not without hope: if we ask the right questions about who we want to be, a better internet is still within reach.
Explainer: what is surveillance capitalism and how does it shape our economy?
Surveillance capitalism is a market-driven process where personal data is the commodity, collected through mass internet surveillance by companies like Google and Facebook. This data is used for commercial purposes, often without users’ full understanding. The term was coined by Shoshana Zuboff, who highlights the power dynamics and the role of “Big Other” actors like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple in this economy.
Did a human write this?
What happens when the majority of content on the internet tips over into AI slop? On this episode of Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel talks to Max Spero, a co-founder of Pangram, an AI-detection company. They discuss how AI-detection tools work and how effective they can be at identifying what’s made by humans and what comes from a chatbot. They explore the cultural concerns around authenticity in the large-language-model era, and whether detection can keep up as models improve.
Why Rich People Post Differently
Is your Instagram "low class"? While we like to think of the internet as a universal playground, a new digital class war is emerging. From the way you use filters to the number of emojis in your bio, your digital habits are increasingly signaling your socioeconomic status to the world. In this episode of Power User, Taylor Lorenz sit down with etymologist and cultural commentator Adam Aleksic to decode the hidden semiotics of "Low Class Instagram."
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