Understand the intersection of human cognition, algorithmic recommendation systems, and human psychology—how they reinforce (and exaggerate) human bias, and how they can be used to drive media narratives and influence opinion.This book walks you through several case studies covering how social media platforms and their content algorithms have been used to shape public awareness, opinions, and possibly even election results in the USA: the 2014 Ferguson, Missouri protests; the 2014 GamerGate campaign; the 2016 US presidential election; and political disinformation campaigns in the Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Brazil, the Philippines, Myanmar, Mexico, and Columbia.Ever since the invention of the printing press, we have had concerns about the corrupting influence of mass media. But there are some things that are new in the social-media era. We are now living in an era of information abundance. The drastic increase in available media necessitates a way for individuals to sift through the media that is literally at their fingertips. Content recommendation systems have emerged as the technological solution to this social/informational problem.On the other hand, while information is abundant, human attention is in high demand, and garnering it is essential for anyone who wants to participate in the economy or wield power and influence in society. Given the role of content recommendation algorithms in determining what we pay attention to, those algorithms have a pivotal place in our information landscape. This puts great power in the hands of those who can control (or game) the algorithms.  Individuals who are curious about how social media algorithms work and how they can be manipulated to influence culture. Social media managers, data scientists, data administrators, and educators will find this book particularly relevant to their work. weiterlesen