Library Resources on the Information Ecosystem
The following books, available in the library, help to explain the nature of our current information ecosystem.
The Social Fact by Call Number: PN4888.S6 W55ISBN: 9780262039598Publication Date: 2019-04-16This book explores the structures of news, information and knowledge, and the ways that changes to those structures are affecting society.
The Misinformation Age by Call Number: BF323.E7 O23 (ebook)ISBN: 9780300234015Publication Date: 2019-01-08The authors of this book argue that social factors contribute more to the spread and persistence of false beliefs than individual psychology. They explore some of these social factors in the text.
Calling Bullshit by Call Number: B837 .B47 2020ISBN: 9780525509189Publication Date: 2020-08-04Bergstrom and West provide a modern handbook to the art of skepticism. Cataloging bullshit in its many forms, they explain and offer readers the tools to see through the obfuscations, deliberate and careless, that dominate every realm of our lives.
Databite Discussion: Digital Technology and Democratic Theory
Research Organizations
These organizations are doing research into the way our information ecosystem works.
- Pew Research Center: Journalism and Media
The Pew Research Center conducts demographic and public opinion research on a wide range of social topics. This section of their site showcases their research on issues in the media - The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy
The Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center conducts research on the intersection of media, politics, and public policy. - The Stanford Internet Observatory
The Internet Observatory is a cross-disciplinary research lab that studies the abuse of information technology, with a focus on social media. - Trust, Media, and Democracy: The Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has partnered with Gallup, Inc to study public opinion on the media and technology in our democracy. - All Tech is Human
This organization of business and technological professionals works to promote ethical and socially responsible thinking in the design and implementation of new technologies. - Data & Society: Media Manipulation and Disinformation
Data and Society researches the ways that data-driven technologies and automation - including the kind found in social media and online recommendation algorithms - influence society. This section of their site features their research on media. - The Dangerous Speech Project
The Dangerous Speech Project studies forms of human expression that promote violence between groups of people, and investigates ways to mitigate the risk of violence while protecting freedom of expression.
Algorithms
Digital Architectures
The Misinformation Age
More Resources for Understanding our Information Ecosystem
- Just Infrastructures Speaker Series
This ongoing series hosted by the University of Illinois explores the complex interactions between people, systems, and algorithms that affect our information ecosystem. Check out the most recent lecture by Joan Donovan on media manipulation. - The Facebook Dilemma
This video series, available through the Films on Demand database, explores the ways in which the popular social media platform has disrupted the information ecosystem. - Why the media is so polarized — and how it polarizes us
In this excerpt from his book "Why We're Polarized", author Ezra Klein discusses the ways in which the attention economy -- a financial structure in which engagement equals profit for online media companies-- leads to increased polarization. Consider the following quote: Since the early 2000s "the internet has become much better at learning what we want and giving us more of it...[a]nd all of this has changed both how political news is produced and how it’s consumed."
