Twitter Is Like a Brain Implant Into Society

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Twitter is the attention allocation organ of society. It determines where and what we look at because so many journalists write and decide what to write based on what's on Twitter. Television will get their topics from the trending list and respond to things that are happening in real time on Twitter. So the way I like to think about it, we've used this metaphor before, is that Twitter is like a brain implant into society. It rewires what we pay attention to.

Since it’s looking more and more like Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, will probably soon have ownership of Twitter, we wanted to do a special episode about what this could mean for Twitter users and our global digital democracy as a whole.

Twitter is a very complicated place. It is routinely blocked by governments who fear its power to organize citizen protests around the world. It’s also where outrage, fear and violence get amplified by design, warping users’ views of each other and our common, connected humanity.

We’re at a fork in the road, and we know enough about humane design principles to do this better. So we thought we would do a little thought experiment: What if we applied everything we know about humane technology to Twitter, starting tomorrow? What would happen?

This is the second part in a two-part conversation about Twitter that we’ve had on Your Undivided Attention about Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter and what it could mean in the context of the need to go in a more humane direction.

RECOMMENDED MEDIA

On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

Published in 1859, this philosophical essay applies Mill's ethical system of utilitarianism to society and state

Elon Musk Only Has “Yes” Men by Jonathan L. Fischer

Reporting from Slate on the subject

Foundations of Humane Technology

The Center for Humane Technology's free online course for professionals shaping tomorrow's technology

RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES

A Bigger Picture on Elon and Twitter

https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/bigger-picture-elon-twitter

Transcending the Internet Hate Game with Dylan Marron

https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/52-transcending-the-internet-hate-game

Fighting With Mirages of Each Other with Adam Mastroianni

https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/56-fighting-with-mirages-of-each-other

Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_