Recap of the first Poincaré Atelier (The World Needs You)

Recap of the Poincaré Atelier On Tuesday 17 May 2022, the The World Needs You’s Poincaré Atelier took place. The main theme was fake news and polarization on social media. The participants discussed the topic by sharing their experiences and their perspectives. The goal was to formulate eventually (a selection of) answers to 4 questions that were made by Prof. Dr. Bart Van Kerkhove, specialised in philosophy, ethics and economics.

A. Social media, the introduction: positive and negative elements Professor Van Kerkhove states that everyone uses social media. Many people can't live without it and they offer enormous opportunities, such as fast communication, the creating of empowerment and opportunity to built a community.

The participating students also add this as positive elements of social media : • Connection : bringing people together.

• More access to information : open source, wherever you are, whenever you want.

• Easy entertainment : just open your phone and you will see funny content.

• Inspiration : to see things you would not see without social media, it can improve your point of view. Social media can also let you be part of interesting conversations and debates.

So if social media are used properly, it contributes to humanity and society. But there are also negative outcomes of social media. The enormous flow of information, fake news and algorithms also create a lot of hatred and division, which in turn leads to polarization. But there is also a big issue with privacy, Professor Van Kerkhove says. He recommends to read the book ‘The Circle’ (by Dave Eggers), that shows or represents how organisations wants to know everything about everyone.

Students also discussed follow negative outcomes of social media: • Time consumption and addiction : losing time, health issues and FOMO. • Monetizing of products and the public.

• Misleading images : not only fake news, but also the creation of wrong perceptions about life such as the perfect body, the perfect relationship, the perfect family, etc. So besides funny content, content on social media can make you also sad and insecure.

• Dating issues : catfishing • Online fraud through social media • Political advertisements and information filter bubble : by a few clicks, people (especially low educated people) not always realise they will see content that matches their clicks. It can be dangerous if political advertisements create tunnel visions, or even worse : hate speech.

It’s clear the negative outcomes of social media are not without danger. Poplarization and fake news can destroy a democracy. So, the Poincaré Atelier worked actively on the following four questions : what can you do yourself to combat polarization, what can/should Facebook/Twitter do, what can/should society/politics do and what can/should the VUB do as a university?

The next pages will share the four questions and the answers of the group discussions.

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B) What can you do yourself to combat polarization?

The students and participants believe that we cannot simply take our position (and so our actions and decisions) for granted. We know that social media are working with filter bubbles and algorithms, so we will always or mostly look critical to content on social media. We know how companies are using social media advertisements. All this information and the way we watch social media, is because we are an educated social class. So that means that not everyone in our society is capable to watch social media like we do.

To combat polarization, the students and participants take these actions in their personal and professional lives: ➢ Paying attention with privacy rules or cookies o Can this website or profile use my data? Being aware what might happen if you give them permission to use your data. ➢ Analyzing news sources : o Checking multiple (official) news channels on social media. o Not just clicking on articles that are shared by friends or unknow profiles. o Not just share random articles on social media. ➢ Always try to listen to both parties in a story or case o Debate and freedom of speech is important, we also need to listen to people, organisations or political parties what they have to say. We can not simply banish or ignore them on social media, this is a wrong signal. ➢ Not answer immediately on a post or discussion o Discussions on social media are often led by emotions or quick answers without considering the consequences. o It is always easier to raise your voice online. Things can escalate quickly. ➢ Avoiding platforms where people have no respect for each other o Twitter is considered as a toxic place to share your thoughts and opinions.

When people disagree they can attack you and it can become easily personal. o Not clicking or responding on political advertisements, especially on hateful ones. You only increase their reach on social media when you participate the discussion. Instead, you report the post.

C) What can/should Facebook/Twitter do?

To combat polarization can not just happen on a individual level. Also social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, can take measures. The discussion group suggested the follow measures: ➢ There should be better rules for users, but also for companies, organisations and political parties. o Companies, organisations and political parties who use advertisements : A maximum budget limit for ads. o Users should be able to choose if they want to see ads or not on their newsfeed. ➢ To avoid trolls and bullying, users can’t post anymore anonymous. o Facebook, Twitter and other platforms should find a solution for profile registrations, but also accept the privacy terms. The discussion group realises that privacy issues are difficult in this case. o More regulation of content, BUT : where do we draw the line? ➢ Social media platforms need to ask more feedback to its users and should be transparent about it (via reports?)

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D) What can/should society/politics do?

The discussion group see an issue with social media platforms regulations, especially the larger ones that are part of a corporate business. They are mostly busy with financial grow.

That’s why the social media platforms need external regulation, elected by the public. ➢ Establishing a social media government o Social media platforms runned by companies should not make their own rules, but rules presented by people that are chosen by the public. Anyone can apply to be part of the social media government. The public need to vote to keep it all democratic. o The social media government will be responsible for the regulation of the social media platforms and control the activities of the companies behind the social platforms. They need to assure that mental health and the public interest will always be the priority. o BUT: geopolitical and cultural issues → Social media law as part of the Genova Convention. ➢ Politicians and society need to educate children already at a young age o Internet and social media use should be part of the education plan. o Schools should inform their students more about politics and all related topics. ➢ Politicians should use social media in more proper way o They have a public function so they should show the society how a debate must be held in a correct way.

E) What can/should the VUB do as a university?

At the end of the atelier, the group also formulated a few ideas for the VUB: ➢ Researchers need more fundings for research. o Research about the impact of social media : economy, society, culture and mental health. o VUB researchers as ambassadors : helping schools to teach children and teenagers about social media use, society, debate and politics. ➢ The university should stimulate more debates and conversations. o Improve the Canva platform where students and professors can debate with each other about interesting topics. o Ask more involvement of students.

▪ To ask students what topics need to be discussed.

▪ To ask students what needs to be changed on policy level.

F) Conclusion In conclusion, it was a very high-quality group conversation, especially because all participants had very different backgrounds. Not everyone did always agree with each other’s point of view, but all participants were open and willing to listen to new perspectives. The spirit of ‘Critical Thinking’, the university’s slogan, was very present with interesting ideas and suggestions.

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