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How We Broke Democracy
Article

How We Broke Democracy

Our Technology Has Changed This Election, And Is Now Undermining Our Ability to Empathize with Each Other

Medium, 2016

自动生成的音频
自动生成的音频

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

Recent political earthquakes like the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency reveal painful divides in democratic societies. How did this happen? Human-empathy researcher Tobias Rose-Stockwell outlines how current news consumption patterns amplify and exacerbate divisions in society. He examines how social media tools can help promote consensus and empathy instead. getAbstract recommends this essay to all citizens concerned about the state of political discourse and seeking practical ways to help improve it.

Summary

The Internet changes the way people consume information. During the 20th century and into the beginning of the 21st, a relatively small number of news sources – television networks, regional newspapers and radio stations – dominated the media landscape. Traditional news outlets engaged in fact-checking and mandated equal time for opposing viewpoints.

The web enables a proliferation of news sites, many of which don’t engage in standard journalistic practices and openly promote one ideological vantage...

About the Author

Tobias Rose-Stockwell is a designer, writer and entrepreneur. He is currently writing about the nature of empathy in technology.


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