Social Media and Its Influence on Radicalization

Paris Marx is joined by Becca Lewis to discuss YouTube’s history of incentivizing extreme content, how the storming of the US Capitol shows the power of media spectacle, and why we should see social media platforms as media companies.

Becca Lewis is a PhD candidate in Communication at Stanford University. She’s also written for a number of publications, including NBC News, Vice News, and New York Magazine. Follow Becca on Twitter as @beccalew.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Read Becca’s report for Data & Society, “Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube.” You can also read her articles on YouTube radicalization, the final report on the Christchurch shooting, and why Trump’s Twitter ban was an editorial decision.
• Jacob Hamburger explains why the “intellectual dark web” and its claims about political correctness are nothing new.
• Alex Nichols explains how New Atheism was a precursor to the IDW and alt-right influencers.
• The video of Ben Affleck pushing back against Sam Harris’ Islamophobia on Bill Maher’s show, which was supposedly Dave Rubin’s “classical liberal” awakening.
• Zeynep Tufekci describes how YouTube’s recommendation algorithm recommends increasingly more extreme videos.
• Twitter workers demanded Trump be banned before Jack Dorsey announced the decision.
• People who inspire how Becca thinks about platforms: Robyn Caplan at Data & Society and Tarleton Gillespie at Microsoft Research.

Support the show