Ars Technica posted a follow up on the recent work of Petter Törnberg (University of Amsterdam) regarding research into the underlying mechanisms of “social media” that appear to produce negative effects. This article briefly touches on each of the three new papers from the ongoing research, regarding echo chambers, “botification” and is it even “social media” any more? Not for the feint of heart, but there are some interesting observations (and not too long of a read).
There is a link to the Aug. 2025 interview with Törnberg and Maik Larooij at the top of this article.
An excerpt:
Törnberg does think it’s possible to reorganize social media spaces in positive ways so that most users can find that 10 percent of other users who agree with them, thus making them more open to divergent views. And it helps that most users really do prefer more pleasant online communities, not platforms rife with toxic waste. “But then how do we shape the rules to produce those outcomes?” he said. “It’s a much harder question. How do we create spaces that are both engaging and fun to use, but that don’t go down to that dark place because of all of these feedback effects?”
BlueSky’s highly effective blocking tools, and even Twitter/X’s community notes feature, which often bridges cross-partisan divides, provide useful examples of possible solutions, if judiciously applied. “We can think of and construct similar systems,” said Törnberg. “We just need to find ways of pushing those effects to a more positive place by finding the pivot points. This is what I’m studying right now. I just don’t have an answer yet.”