Technology is hijacking our minds and society.... we are advancing thoughtful solutions to change the system... Try these simple changes to live more intentionally with your devices.

When in doubt, blame the robots. Facebook ... has proposed a familiar solution: f the algorithm has failed, let’s just build a better algorithm.... the focus on the software misses the point ... the Internet has failed as a public forum.... Perhaps we wouldn’t still be defending this failed experiment if it wasn’t so stunningly profitable... highl…

The name of my first series is AntiTech... We devised technology to live better, but its meteoric rise over the last decade has turned us into slaves of our own creations. Now, the only good tools left are those that render all other tools unnecessary. We must fight our way through the jungle of tech to find them and get back what we lost: our tim…

Everipedia ... seeks to become a better version of [wikipedia] ... moving to a blockchain.... a points system where creating articles and approved edits amasses “IQ.” ... a token-based currency, giving all existing editors ... a real, financial stake in Everipedia... turns Everipedia into a peer-to-peer resource... effectively uncensorable.

these technologies ... kind of a denial-of-service (DoS) attack on the human will. Our phones are the operating system for our life. They keep us looking and clicking... wears down certain capacities, like willpower... repeated distractions lower people’s effective IQ by up to 10 points... over twice ... that ... from long-term marijuana usage....…

it is not just Zuckerberg. None of the company’s key executives has a “normal” Facebook presence. You can’t add them as friends, they rarely post publicly and they keep private some information that the platform suggests be made public by default... Over at Twitter, the story is the same.... what do they know that we don’t?... former vice-preside…

the NoPhone, a plastic rectangle resembling a smartphone, now exist... raised $18,000 on Kickstarter... people who report using seven to 11 social media platforms had more than three times the risk of depression and anxiety than their peers who use zero to two ... Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter ... delivering ... “variable rewards.” Messages,…

Read it when you need it... ... you can make up a reason to need it... As long as it leads you to directly apply what you learn and turn it from nothing into something... Only then will learning be meaningful.... from reading to retention, I see five phases. Let’s walk through them... waiting for a few days until you extract a book’s lifeblood...…

Decades of studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between writing (particularly journaling) and health.... lower blood pressure, improved immune function, and fewer visits to the doctor... better relationships, improved memory, and more success at work... therapists often use journaling to get their patients to better understand how part…

uses the social network to promote her business... set up various safeguards to avoid becoming too emotionally invested ... a web browser plug-in ... replaces the social network’s endless stream ... with a single inspiring quote.... hired a social media manager ... because she could no longer stand the addictive feedback loop ... She had been a …

It is a cancer... weaning myself off of the platform by methodically running a script that will delete my old content... I would wager I use Facebook more to broadcast my ego than interact with real humans....It’s a useful tool when it is stripped of its power... larded with my personal details it is a weapon and a liability.... any posts older …

The work of researchers, designers, and artists ... includes apps, Chrome extensions, and desktop software... to give users some agency over their online lives.... understand the kind of information the platform may have on you... turn to Data Selfie... Matias’s posts include instructions on how to run your own Facebook audit... Chrome extensions …

It may be that ditching Facebook is not the answer, but rather restricting how your data is used and shared by the company. Facebook has just made its built-in privacy and data settings easier to use

Milner, Facebook’s UK policy director, asked if Cambridge Analytica had Facebook data, told MPs... it will not be Facebook user data. It may be data about people who are on Facebook that they have gathered themselves, but it is not data that we have provided...when you understand the difference between Facebook’s internal data and data collected o…

From Google to Slack, companies are quietly updating terms, rewriting contracts, and rolling out new personal data tools in preparation for... GDPR), and it’s poised to reshape some of the messiest parts of the internet. Here’s what you need to know about it.... sets a higher bar for obtaining personal data ... explicit and informed consent ... a…

people performed worst when their phones were nearby, and best when they were away in a separate room ... merely having their smartphones out on the desk led ... impairment of individuals’ cognitive capacity — on par with effects of lacking sleep... our smartphones can adversely affect our ability to think and problem-solve ... even when they are …

The endless search for rewards of the tribe, and the variability that often comes with it, are key components of ... Stack Overflow... over 5,000 questions are posted and answered daily... Many of these answers take hours to complete and require a high degree of technical expertise.... the site’s creators ... put usage limitations ... fear of crea…

The same amazing tech that enables people to forge deeper relationships, foster closer communities and give everyone a voice can also breed isolation, embolden racists, and empower digital bullies and nefarious actors.... used with great accuracy and potency “to assault... truth and trust... our personal foundations — our privacy and sense of ide…

Let’s take a look at the Trusting News approach to measurement.... partner newsrooms selected two to five strategies ... a good fit for their mission, goals and audience. They also selected which platforms, mediums or methods of communication ... Anywhere journalists communicate with their audience, we want to inject trust-building messages... …

the IFG publication charts ... are always topped by MINDSPACE – our guide to applying behavioural insights to policy... has attracted much overseas interest and has even inspired the establishment of a unit in the intellectual home of 'nudge' - the US... are people right to be concerned about the increasing interest of governments in applying beha…

concern that social media sites contribute to political polarization by creating ``echo chambers" that insulate people from opposing views ... We find that Republicans who followed a liberal Twitter bot became substantially more conservative post-treatment, and Democrats who followed a conservative Twitter bot became slightly more liberal post-tre…

the data crunching company’s approach represents a step change in how analytics can today be used as a tool to generate insights – and to exert influence... While it also used demographic segments to identify groups of voters... Cambridge Analytica also segmented using psychographics... demographics are informational. Psychographics are behaviour…

Cambridge Analytica conducted data research for one of the leading Brexit campaign groups and then misled the public and MPs over the work ... the work with Leave.EU involved analysis of data provided by Ukip... Nix has repeatedly denied there was any involvement... "We have not undertaken any paid or unpaid work for them, OK?”... Leave.EU did no…

Deactivating your account will ... make your profile invisible. All your messages will still be visible, but you won’t be able to use Facebook’s website to message users. For that, you’ll need to use the Facebook Messenger app.... When you delete your Facebook account, you’ll lose your friend list, your wall, posts, and access to your current Fac…

When I need to focus on a project or relax a bit, I turn off the noise that comes from Facebook ... delete your account... But don’t pretend it will make a difference to Facebook or to the state of the world... if tens of thousands of Americans quit Facebook tomorrow, the company would barely feel it... Its growth has plateaued in the United St…

How should policies be made? Ideally by policy makers making decisions after weighing the facts and reconciling the different values that exist in plural democratic societies.Reality often looks different! Operating at both sides of the science-policy interface is made challenging due to the over-supply of knowledge on one side and the complexity …

undoing radicalization is not as simple as filling people’s heads with “accurate” facts. A radicalized person will not — cannot — accept them... you need to first make the radicalized person... capable of not feeling threatened, unsafe, and wounded ... It’s very, very hard. It takes social bonds to be restored somehow — oft through therapy, educat…

The episode fits an established pattern of sloppiness towards privacy, tolerance of inaccuracy and reluctance to admit mistakes... the chances of a regulatory backlash are growing... Facebook needs a full, independent examination of its approach to content, privacy and data... role in the 2016 election and the Brexit referendum... Facebook and o…

With 700 or 800 million Chinese internet users and fewer data protection rules, China is as rich in data as the Gulf States are in oil... Chinese commentators have embraced the idea of a coming singularity... AI development will be conducted by AI itself, creating exponential feedback ... the human mind will be unable to keep pace with robotized w…

Aleksandr Kogan requested and gained access to information from users who chose to sign up to his app, and everyone involved gave their consent.... In 2015, we learned ... Dr. Aleksandr Kogan lied to us and violated our Platform Policies by passing data from an app that was using Facebook Login to SCL/Cambridge Analytica... Approximately 270,000 …