Likes and shares encourage people to express their anger online
Washington [US], August 13 (ANI): A new Yale University study found that social media platforms were rewarded with an increase in the number of “likes” and “shares” of such languages, so users were morally angry. We have shown that we can encourage the amplification of expression.
“Social media incentives are changing the tone of online political conversation,” said William Brady of Yale University, a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University’s Faculty of Psychology and lead author of the study. He led the study with Molly Crockett, an associate professor of psychology at Yale University.
A team at Yale University measures moral expression of anger on Twitter during a real-life controversial event, and a social media algorithm that rewards users by posting popular content facilitates expression of anger. We studied the behavior of subjects in control experiments designed to test whether they did.
This is the first evidence that some people learn to express more anger over time because it is rewarded by the basic design of social media,” Brady said.
Moral anger can be a powerful force for social good, motivate punishment for moral violations, promote social cooperation, and promote social change.
Researchers also said that there are also dark aspects that contribute to harassment of minority groups, disinformation disinformation, and political polarization.
Social media platforms claim to only provide a neutral platform for conversations that occur elsewhere.
However, many speculate that social media amplifies anger. However, the researchers said that accurate measurement of complex social expressions such as moral anger poses a technical challenge and lacks solid evidence of this claim.
To summarize that evidence, Brady and Crockett have formed a team to build machine learning software that can track moral anger in Twitter posts.
An observational study of 12.7 million tweets from 7,331 Twitter users used the software to test whether users expressed more anger over time, and if so, why.
The team found that social media platform incentives really change the way people post. Users who receive a lot of likes and retweets when they express their anger in a tweet are more likely to express their anger in a later post.
To support these findings, researchers conducted controlled behavioral experiments to demonstrate that users increase their expression of anger over time by being rewarded for expressing their anger.
The results also suggested a nasty link to the current debate about the role of social media in political polarization.
Brady and his colleagues found that members of the politically extreme network expressed more anger than members of the politically moderate network. However, members of politically moderate networks were in fact strongly influenced by social rewards.
“Our research shows that people with politically moderate friends and followers are more sensitive to social feedback that enhances their expression of anger,” Crockett said.
“This suggests a mechanism by which moderate groups become politically radical over time. Social media rewards create a positive feedback loop that exacerbates anger,” Crockett added.
Crockett emphasized that the study was not aimed at saying whether amplifying moral anger was good or bad for society.
However, the findings affect leaders who use the platform and policy makers who are considering whether to regulate the platform.
“Amplification of moral anger is a clear result of social media business models that optimize user engagement,” said Crockett.
“Given that moral anger plays a decisive role in social and political change, we recognize that tech companies have the ability to influence the success or failure of collective movements through the design of platforms. You need to do that, “explained Crockett.
“Our data show that social media platforms don’t just reflect what’s happening in society. Platforms show how users react to political events over time. It creates an incentive to change, “Crockett concludes. (ANI)
Likes and shares encourage people to express their anger online
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