Computational Social Science Seminar: Talia Stroud, UT at Austin

Connection and Disconnection in a Digital Age

Abstract

Democracy, in its ideal form, depends on people encountering and respecting views unlike their own. Rising political polarization makes this increasingly difficult. In response, policymakers, scholars, and think tanks have looked to social media as a possible remedy, whether by altering platform algorithms or by helping partisans form bonds on non-political common ground. This talk reviews empirical assessments of several scalable interventions designed to bring partisans together and reduce partisan animosity, then focusing on one set of studies examining cross-partisan online groups. The interventions largely fail to move the needle. The talk will consider why these approaches fall short and what the results suggest about where research should go next.

Papers

1.  Encountering Politics in Typically Non-Political Online Groups

About the CSS seminar series 

The University of Michigan School of Information’s Computational Social Science seminar series brings together a vibrant and diverse community of scholars whose cutting-edge research in information science, computer science and the social sciences aims to broaden our understanding of important social and technological issues. 

Please RSVP for attendance.