EmTech 2017 Required Reading: Social Media and Society09 Stories

Social media is connecting people around the world at an extraordinary pace. Yet there are important issues that we need to address if these technologies are to reach their potential.

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  1. We Need More Alternatives to Facebook

    Chastened by the negative effects of social media, Mark Zuckerberg says he will tweak his service and upgrade society in the process. Should any company be that powerful?
    April 10, 2017

  2. Growing Up with Alexa

    What will it do to kids to have digital butlers they can boss around?
    August 16, 2017

  3. Eliminating the Human

    We are beset by—and immersed in—apps and devices that are quietly reducing the amount of meaningful interaction we have with each other.
    August 15, 2017

  4. Russian Disinformation Technology

    Russia’s reinvention of war exploits old techniques for a new century. Open-source citizen investigators are fighting back.
    April 13, 2017

  5. Mark Zuckerberg’s Long March to China

    The Chinese government likes to control social media and what people do with it—but Facebook looks willing to launch in China anyway.
    October 18, 2016

  6. Why So Many Web-Fueled Protest Movements Hit a Wall

    Zeynep Tufekci’s new book shows how social networks have empowered mass protests—but also made them more fragile.
    May 10, 2017

  7. Can WeChat Thrive in the United States?

    Though the messaging app dominates in China, few Americans have even heard of it.
    August 11, 2017

  8. Fighting ISIS Online

    The Islamic State is an Internet phenomenon as much as a military one. Counteracting it will require better tactics on the battlefield of social media.
    September 30, 2015

  9. Remaking Social Media for the Next Revolution

    A hero of the Egyptian revolution laments the limits of social media and hopes to improve online dialogue.
    April 16, 2016