Fake News, Polarization, and Echo Chambers: What Science Says

You can get our special offer for MEL Science by using this link: melscience.com/sBLj/
Does fake news spread better than true news? Do bots spread fake news? What can we do against fake news? Does social media increase political polarization? Is it true that we all live in political echo chambers? In this video, we look at what scientific studies have found and what we can learn from that.
👉 Transcript and References on Patreon ➜ / sabine
💌 Sign up for my weekly science newsletter. It's free! ➜ sabinehossenfelder.com/newsle...
📖 Check out my new book "Existential Physics" ➜ existentialphysics.com/
🔗 Join this channel to get access to perks ➜
/ @sabinehossenfelder
The two browser games I mentioned are "Go Viral" www.goviralgame.com
And "Get Bad News" www.getbadnews.com/
00:00 Intro
01:30 Fake News
09:38 Information Literature
10:16 Echo Chambers
13:15 Polarization
16:38 Summary
17:19 MEL Science: Experiments By Subscription
Many thanks to Jordi Busqué for helping with this video jordibusque.com/
#science

[@kurtmueller2089]

"It used to be that there were only a few neighbors down the street that I could not stand, Now, thanks to the internet, I hate people all over the world"

[@melstjohn3766]

How true!

[@michaelblacktree]

hehe

[@russbell6418]

Such a time saver. And think of the travel expense not wasted!🤣🤣

[@WiseOwl_1408]

Indeed

[@SchgurmTewehr]

Great quote but if you quote someone without stating who you quote that’s respect-less to the person behind.

[@G_Demolished]

Social media lets you connect with people all over the globe and find out how awful they are. 😕

[@RS-ls7mm]

Isn't a total disaster!

[@aleksandrpeshkov6172]

Enters Plato : " SIRACUZE..."

[@DogWalkerBill]

I've generally found that not to be true. Most people around the world are pretty nice.

[@aleksandrpeshkov6172]

@@DogWalkerBill Enters Plato : " Flat Earth, round people .. Round Earth , flat people..."

[@jannikheidemann3805]

What do you mean by connecting? Because few people actually directly connect on social media such that they could have private conversations off of the platform that brought them in touch.

[@robingoergner725]

"Challenge your preconceptions or they will challenge you." Live long and prosper, Sabine.

[@ruthtrentwood3374]

cringe

[@kronoscamron7412]

this is a great principle of science, it should be applied to all fields of knowledge, without criticism and counter-arguments, society will not advance an inch. Dogma is a cancer

[@ourson66]

"Plausible ideas are the ones you should be most skeptical about." Truer words have never been spoken. Excellent work Sabine! I appreciate the dread you talked about when delving into sociological topics, "one big shrug" sounds about right. But thanks for sticking to it and coming up with a detailed but understandable look at how social media changes both us and the society we live in.

[@BoothTheGrey]

Nice sounding aphorisms are the one you should be most skeptical about.

[@ourson66]

@@BoothTheGrey people you don’t know who post pithy comments just to sound off are the ones you should be most skeptical of. Lol

[@satanofficial3902]

"Following an ion trail of polyester fibers will invariably cause triffids to cancel the systemic apologism of pulse-wave dimensional injectors choosing penguins over wave travelling quantum fissures in the spacetime continuum. Underlying deodorants will verify Miracle-Gro photon locks that reject yoga goal posts oppressing student loans for air conditioning school." ---Albert Einstein

[@HagenvonEitzen]

Indeed that quote expresses a very plausible idea. Hm, now I feel skeptical about it ...

[@katg-gk5ox]

more than plausible ideas, the ideas/eplanations that you want to believe - the ones you're most emotionally invested in are the ones to be looked at very carefully.

[@urmwhynot]

I'm old enough to remember MySpace and Tom. Social media use to be more organic. It is now very toxic. 6 months ago I deleted all of my social media and now I just watch space and physics videos 👁️

[@jerelull9629]

You can STILL have fun with those types of vids. I had fun for a few months commenting on the flat Earth debunking sites, then the atheist ones. Then I somehow got on Quora, commenting on Putin's war and other oddities. "Trump is a criminal" is a fun area. I enjoy taking pot shots at the Florida Orange Man, always a rich source of things to comment on.

[@meatwax]

Add art videos to that and you got it covered

[@upon1vp]

Im right behind ya

[@futavadumnezo]

Noice. Welcome to the club.👊

[@QuesoCookies]

Sites like MySpace, Live Journal, Bebo, and Blogger were part of social media as individual expression and interconnection. One's home page was fully customizable, and the focus was on sharing that individuality with others through status updates of what you were doing in real life, photos of where you've been in real life, and blog posts about what you were experiencing in real life. It was intended to help you stay in touch and share your life with other people, and the only reason to visit it was to share and be updated on the lives of people you actually cared about and cared about you. Twitter had an entirely different attitude, though. It was intended to disperse information as quickly and broadly as possible, and as soon as social media discovered how profitable it was to be a broadcast platform rather than a social platform, everyone else followed suit. Gone are custom backgrounds or blog posts or home pages. The only thing that matters is the constant feed of information. I think that's when it went bad, when everyone stopped being unique entities in a network to formless nodes in a system.

[@dianetheone4059]

I love your dry sense of humor. You're like a stealth comedian inside a scientist. Thank you for putting yourself out there.

[@zoe_blackmore]

TRUE :) She is a stealth comedian inside a scientist who is a great communicator. :)))

[@vanishingpoint5561]

@@zoe_blackmore It doesn't hurt that Sabine's also a real cutey that make's my heart sing d ; )

[@e.d.1642]

Love the concept of stealth comedian.

[@mrsrr]

I love the dry sense of humor too. But it's disturbing to pride oneself on only following people with a PhD and to be placed in an echo chamber because of it. Without any connection to the rest of the world, you lose contact with important context. The bad examples, the questions, the worries of people who don't get all that, to them, complicated stuff. The people who start to worry if they are worth anything, because their hard work is not put in the spotlight. Not everyone understands everything, because they are focused on their own lives and while Sabine is very good at presenting a subject. To many people from a different background, it can be considered alien and sometimes even scary because it's too far from their reality. A good science communicator keeps in touch with that side too. No one is more important, we need everyone on board. Feeling better about yourself because you're part of any group, does not do justice to that. The only reason we have scientists is because we have so many people and vv. So. Not a great joke if it was meant as one. Which I hope.

[@Garresh1]

@@mrsrr I didn't get the impression it was particularly prideful. Remember Sabine has made a lot of her fame from criticizing the bad ideas of PHD educated people. I more got the impression it was annoyed acknowledgement that she can't escape it either.

[@tonyhull9427]

I think the best solution for reducing polarization among humans is to put the phone down more often and do more of what we evolved to do: talk face to face with each other.

[@PeteBooty-Juice]

Indeed. In my case, I do NOT have a Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Tik-Tok account. I'm only on a few times week ON KZbin to watch educational videos. I still cannot fathom how someone on Facebook who has 987 "friends," who is posting stuff from a biased political standpoint, and who posts selfies almost daily can be so serious about their phony and pathetic way of life.

[@donholmstrom6482]

Sorry for the late comment but I just saw the video. Your comment is spot on because it seems that people treat each other more civilly in person than when they interact online. This also seems to be true about the way we interact with other drivers while in our separate vehicles. So the face-to-face element is really important.

[@Chipskater-cy7wb]

Ah yes, because there were no such thing as wars, censorship, crime and toxic behaviour BEFORE social media... Social media has its problems but at least it allows us all a chance to speak our minds and give us a way to expose crime to the world. Pros and cons to everything. Getting rid of social media won't change anything.

[@adammichael9759]

You crack me up, Sabine! It is not easy to combine such complex and interesting information with humor in order to explain what is going on. Your team is brilliant

[@tobarstep]

"Better algorithms" is a bit like "benevolent dictators".

[@dekumarademosater2762]

A better algorithm is one that increases shareholder value.

[@kloassie]

So it's not impossible

[@harrywoodell7008]

my favorite "do no evil" ie pax Romana

[@fieuline2536]

Systematically solving math problems is more or less satanic, yes, but I’ve always found catholic liturgical algorithms to be pretty harmless.

[@allykat5899]

Well a benevolent dictator is better than a evil dictator.

[@timetravellingblockhead2122]

"Plausible ideas are the ones we should be most skeptical about." Well *that* was a gem of knowledge

[@puddintame7794]

Because if the elite and experts want us not to believe a thing, God exists for example, we must not think it! They are the experts. Just ask them. Misinformation is wrongthink.

[@DanT10]

And then you have people who believe that long dead politicians are coming back 😀

[@aleksandrpeshkov6172]

Enters Plato : " Plausibility is the champions' breakfast " ( ...and guess hwhat is at the exit...)

[@thwh77]

The idea sounds plausible.

[@aleksandrpeshkov6172]

@@thwh77 To the "THEORETICOS" the ideas don't sound ...they...speak

[@robertthiesen2687]

Thanks for the excellent breakdown. There are other reasons to avoid social media other than polarization. I believe the biggest changes are in the way we relate and communicate with others. As essentially social beings, we must be very careful about our habits in this area.

[@charles.e.g.]

I feel terribly old fashioned! I don’t have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any others that I have never heard of. I don’t know if KZbin is considered social media. But I feel very confident in the accuracy of your information Sabine! I just can’t picture you spreading fake news on fake news on fake news on…Thank you as always Sabine!!🙏

[@thevikingwarrior]

That's what she wants you to think.

[@charles.e.g.]

@@thevikingwarrior What do you mean?

[@thevikingwarrior]

@@charles.e.g. You didn't get the joke, obviously.

[@charles.e.g.]

@@thevikingwarrior I got it. I just didn’t think it was very funny. So I thought I must be missing something. Clearly, I was not.

[@thevikingwarrior]

@@charles.e.g. OK forget it. I have a question for you however.... I often hear about the problems that social media causes people with their mental health; like the problems with what people think of them, the spread of miss-information or right wing abuse and so much more.... But I have a different problem that I cannot find any information on. I keep trying to get followers to follow what I post, and I am struggling with it so much that it is making me feel sick. You see, I always wanted to do something with my life; to educate people or create something that people would appreciate and benefit from, or otherwise be a leader and inspire people. I struggle with this constantly, as I cannot get engagement from other people; not just on social media but in my life in general. It is not like I am crap at everything, I actually have exceptional talents and abilities and people have told me (without trying to sound arrogant), and I cannot put it to good use. I am trying everything to get people to engage and follow me and I don't really want to follow everyone else. This problem is driving me absolutely up the wall crazy. I think that maybe I need psychological help with this issue, but that is not helpful because those people make it worse by diagnosing me with mental health problems that I don't have. I can't find any information about this kind of issue with social media; in terms of problems that social media can cause. I must have an very unique issue that social media is causing me. Any ideas where I can find helpful information to adress this issue?

[@Weissenschenkel]

So, in a nutshell: the problem is related to the algorithms themselves and not to the content posted in social media sites, when the algorithms are tailored to make people stay online longer, because they're gonna watch more advertisement. The second factor is related to headlines with things that upset people in general, whether they're true or not. I had tis suspicion since the Cambridge Analytica scandal was revealed.

[@WesSouza]

I'm always amazed on how accurate, entertaining, informative and precise your videos are, on so many different topics.

[@notanemoprog]

Irony?

[@HarryNicNicholas]

well there are 7plus billion people on the planet, someone has to get things right.

[@TennesseeJed]

A true polymath, that woman!

[@perpetualbystander4516]

@@notanemoprog Rather it's you who don't agree with what the OP said, so that's why you wish it to be irony.

[@notanemoprog]

@@perpetualbystander4516 It was a question.

[@jceepf]

All of this reminds me of Mark Twain's explanation of the sentence "reality often surpasses fiction". He explained it as follows: when you create a story, you purposely make it sound plausible otherwise no one reads your book. Reality has no such constraint. When a guy in "tornado alley" threw is sofa in the city dump, a tornado brought it back to his back yard a few miles away. True story. You make that part of the plot of a book, and people will say: "Get out of here!"

[@BilltheBrewer]

I think the best thing to do to combat the problem is to share this video via social media, which is exactly what I'm going to do.

[@carrdoug99]

My first line of defense. The closer any given information is to what I believe is true, the more important it is to fact check that information.

[@Tinil0]

Yup, that's my motto too. I phrase it as "The more you want a story to be true the more scrutiny you need to apply"

[@thierrylandrieu7441]

Yes , but sometimes it gets tricky . I really loved the idea of ARNm vaccines but shouldn't have checked the studies . Just a recent exemple , nothing to fuss about . Anyhow very few people were able to really check this kind of info , althought many had become virus "experts" by that time ... I don't blame anybody , just sometimes you better be wrong .

[@CallMeA6]

@@Tinil0Yup. Deepstate controlled opposition and bots try to push fringe lunacy into the truth to discredit it.

[@KenMathis1]

That is suboptimal if you have a good fact based belief system to begin with. There is no reason to question sources with a good track record of reliability more than sources with a track record of lies. In no world am I fact checking the Washington Post more than I'm fact checking Trump. There is a reason why the phrase _"extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"_ is so widely accepted.

[@carrdoug99]

@@KenMathis1 in this age of half truths and partial (agenda driven) information, no source can be trusted without question. Trusting the Washington Post over anything from trumplandia is low hanging fruit.

[@binbadende]

This year I deleted my last social media account. Lucky enough I didn't need objective measures for that decision, but repeatedly feeling angry and/or drained after 10 minutes on a platform is my personal indictor to quit. This year Twitter finally reached the bar despite carefully selected follows and ruthless blocklists. I loved the idea of social media initally but since social media became a major outlet for news media and a "must be" location for people with ego >> education (rangeing from artists to world leaders), I became more and more frustated. And last but not least: thank you and Merry Chrismas!

[@ericvulgate]

Ten years ago fb was fun and entertaining, but most of all it was a place one could speak freely. Censorship destroyed the platform, not too much sharing.

[@howlrichard1028]

But KZbin is social media.

[@binbadende]

@@howlrichard1028 not completely wrong :) But I think you may savely say "I abanndoned all clocks in my appartment, even if there is a small one integrated into your toothbrush". Yes, there are not few social media elements on YT, but in the end it's a streaming plattform in my opinion. I never visit YT "just for meeting ppl".

[@binbadende]

@@ericvulgate tbh, I wished a lot of stuff had be taken down there. Facebook was the first entry in my social media quit list.

[@davidsoulsby1102]

Im not quite there yet Twitter and Telegram, but reading mostly, I try not to get drawn it (it doesn't work). The only reason I don't go is that you do get a much broader and deeper range of news and views than mainstream media. What does get me going is the tribalism......especially when its hypocritical, exaggeration and full on lies.

[@maxm2639]

This taught me a huge amount, and reminded me how simply looking at the existing literature can show you where the complexities are likely to lie, some common misconceptions, and where the evidence currently seems most in agreement.

[@jose.montojah]

Almost as if the optimization of information flow and workflow for their own sake were somehow unsustainable... Yeah, almost if.

[@maxm2639]

@@jose.montojah Clarify a bit? What would optimization "for their own sake" be?

[@patrickegan8866]

There's an important flip side to this as well in that social media is very good and useful at providing specific groups of people (e.g., young mothers, highly socially anxious people, and more) an opportunity to connect with others. I'm not at all into social media but it's always important to consider how it affects the lives of others. Great video as always, thanks for helping to bring psych and sociological science to the masses

[@PinataOblongata]

Atheists and protestors in theocracies that murder apostates, other suppressed protest groups, etc

[@addammadd]

Leaded gasoline was good for engine knocks. DDT was highly effective for agriculture for a while. Asbestos is a wonder material with nearly limitless industrial applications. It’s important to consider how these things affect peoples’ lives.

[@peterbelanger4094]

No, not everyone. I have social anxieties, trouble making friends, but social media is no help whatsoever. None of this can be trusted. Nobody online can be trusted. There is no emotional, social connection here, haven't found any in 25 years of using the internet. never made any friends online. i don't know how people do it, make friends, with text and an avatar graphic..... it's weird. To me there is no such thing as an "online community", the term makes no sense to me. What? a bulletin board of strangers & bots?

[@PinataOblongata]

@@peterbelanger4094 So you have what is clearly an unusual experience compared to everyone else, and then claim you can extrapolate that to mean only your experience is valid? Doesn't make any logical sense. While I'm sorry for your experience and personally agree it feels harder now than it used to (or is this just my age?) tons of people make friends and even find partners online. And there are several voices you can trust, even they are a small minority amongst the steady flow of BS (but that is true of just about any medium).

[@azmard4865]

Exceptional content as usual, Sabine ^•^

[@mb-3faze]

How many Sabine subscribers are waiting for her report on the recent fusion breakthrough? I know I am!

[@notanemoprog]

@@mb-3faze The Failing New York Times got it first! Sorry subscribers, MSM is more important

[@jamielondon6436]

@@mb-3faze She actually wrote an article for the NYT about it.

[@londen3547]

@@mb-3faze Right, she will get back to us in 30 years.

[@mb-3faze]

@@jamielondon6436 Thanks. "NYT sabine fusion" finds it. As expected, Sabine has sensible, level-headed comments to make. I do disagree with her fission solutions: although Germany is somewhat windless and sunless in winter, not too far to the south there is an abundance of both energy sources and a mass of cables for electricity transmission from N Africa to Europe would seem just as do-able as lenghty pipelines from Russian gas fields which are further away and already in exisitence.

[@joecaner]

If one defines "fake news" as misinformation, one does not need to engage social media to encounter it. Traditional media sources have long been purveyors of misinformation. This is likely been true since the inception of the various methods of communications and for similar motivations. To promote stories that will drive desired political and economic outcomes, but also because a story was popular because people found it engaging.

[@DanielRMueller]

Part of it, I think, is simply stuff "lost in translation" or the telephone game. The reporter talks to an expert. The expert might realize the reporter is not an expert himself, and might simply things so he better unstands. Or he might not. He might use words from the field that have specific meaning in the field, but to a reporter might just be synonyms for the same things (like force, energy, power - do non-physicists always understand the difference? Or kW vs kWh vs Joules vs KCalories vs Newtonmeter? Or in law - revision vs appeal). And then the reporter tries to write it down, trying to explain it to someone he suspects knows even less about the topic, and he simplifies more, accidentally sneaks in a synonym that would be misleading ... And that's all without any bias or agendas already!

[@henrythegreatamerican8136]

"Traditional media sources have long been purveyors of misinformation." Not only that, the corporate media loves to treat all sides as equal. As if there are no wrong ideas coming from republicans or democrats. The corporate media portrays the ideas coming from both sides as simply being different but equal..... They still refuse to admit 40+ years Reaganomics completely annihilated the American middle class

[@octosquatch.]

Ever heard of yellow journalism?

[@joecaner]

@@DanielRMueller Transcriptions errors are a fact of life, but the directions those errors take can be reliably attributed to bias. The selection of what stories are cover and what "experts" are invited to pontificate on those topics are all editorial decision, and as such, encompass bias. There are no unbiased positions or people. The 19th century ideal of objectivism, which I personally find attractive, start with presuppositions. Even the most rigorous practitioners of science as a method have biases. The best that can be hope for is that one becomes cognizant of their biases and exercises intellectual honesty to the best of their ability.

[@dadsonworldwide3238]

1964 these topics and terms entered American lexicon only after JFK assination. Gossip and rumors was always taken with a grain of salt. But when your losing these repression speech tactics have always been a karl marx approach .. They have no value and only suppress idealism.

[@gregbailey45]

Good point, Sabina. "THINK" before reacting. "THINK" before sharing.

[@Dave183]

There were always people who fed on gossip. True truth seekers will always find it.

[@technomage6736]

Society's use of social media is like a cat attacking it's own reflection in the mirror.

[@nil981]

Then maybe the problem is with the person and not his/her reflection.

[@sailingmohican2767]

Lol hence not liking what they see.. however it's great for selling a car or advertising your business for free

[@geoffreypiltz271]

Exactly. Social media enables us for the first time to see just what as a (worldwide) society we are really like, but the bad stuff does get emphasised. What percentage of posts/comments are actually objectionable?

[@StratsRUs]

No

[@christopherellis2663]

I disagree: there are plenty of malicious actors who pretend ethical standards

[@ponyote]

This was very well presented, with your characteristic humor and gravity. Thank you again, Sabine.

[@michaellucas7177]

Bravo for this accurate and precise articulation of Sabine's elegant balance of humor and gravity.

[@ponyote]

@Michael Lucas she has a mastery of that that so few do. Glad you agree!

[@StephenWylie1522]

Gravitas....... you pair of wannabees

[@judgeberry6071]

I've asked a couple of times so far. I may have missed something. Has this woman been DeepFaked or tweaked slightly with CGI? Godd day to you all :)

[@alxpilk]

I spent a large chunk of my free time this year pouring over that google doc, this is such a brilliant highlight of studies in it. Thank you Sabine, subbing now :)

[@andycordy5190]

I was so hoping that my negative feelings about social media would be reciprocated by this video. Brilliantly conceived as always. Thank you.

[@dsjwhite]

Brilliant. Always interesting, often unpredictable, and generally reinforces my preconceived notions. Thank you Sabine

[@User53123]

LOL

[@justaloo]

Your videos are sooo good! The puns are hilarious while you learn about something in an objective point of view (or as objective as it can be). And thank you so much for having the Spanish CC, I can share it with my family :)

[@franknagel6228]

I think these attribution patterns are well known from social psychology. What is new is that people in social media are being forced to use it every second.

[@thomasnaas2813]

Thank you for being a voice for critical reason in an age where the medium is the madness rather than the message.

[@johnschmidt1262]

When I get information wrong, and it happens sometimes, it feels mostly like my skepticism just didn't kick in and it sort of flew under the radar. It just takes that little extra attention usually to realize something's wrong, but you don't always have the time and focus to do it.

[@jannikheidemann3805]

@Wemple’s Temple Sounds plausible, nonetheless I would be interested in reviewing your sources on that.

[@jannikheidemann3805]

Almost everything is wrong, the question is how inaccurate is it and in what context. Something can be true in a certain context, but there are errors in said context, making it untrue if viewed in a larger context. Yes, I make my life difficult trying to think that way.

[@TheInfectous]

@@jannikheidemann3805 Well, the effect isn't just plausible it's a sure thing at this point and is easy pretty easy to find supporting information if you're inclined. I doubt that it was designed specifically for adverts but at this point all of the major websites do optimize for advertising in every single aspect so surely infinite scrolling has been as well.

[@empireempire3545]

I would like those research repeated for different languages - i suspect the cultural aspect influences the result HEAVILY.

[@gefginn3699]

Great post Sabine. I always enjoy tuning into your newest post.

[@bettybotterbutter]

Thank goodness for you and this channel, Sabine! Thanks!!!

[@mariswolowitz2969]

What does this have to do with physics?

[@michaelfried3123]

I left FB 2 years ago, first month after leaving was different to get used to, but now I realize I have less anxiety and am in a far better mood. I won't be going back to antisocial "social" media.

[@HarryNicNicholas]

the problem (for them) is both FB and twitter hand out 30 day bans and in the those days you realise you never needed them. if you could still upload (i use FB for my photo albums) and like (after all you're banned because you didn't like something), and you could still comms with friends, that would make sense and it would've kept me hooked, but to stop you doing POSITIVE things as well - it's not "punishment to learn to behave better" - it just weans you off. i still use facebook for my photos, but i upload them and leave. i see no use for it on a daily basis.

[@773AREACODE]

Word Up, I didn’t think you’d cover these topics. Your a great teacher.

[@IntentionalGains]

Sabine. You're a breath of fresh air.

[@eonasjohn]

Thank you for the video.

[@LucTaylor]

I'm laughing hysterically at "checking Twitter 3 times per week" I'm lucky if, before I left the site, I failed to check less than 3 times every waking half hour, unless I was literally in the middle of a physical activity or driving. It was actually kinda a problem

[@toboldgoodbody8974]

So true, every social media page relies on people spending as much time as possible there, because more time = more ads = more money, so their apps are optimized to pull you back in as often as possible.

[@em.1633]

Remove "kinda". That's a full blown addiction.

[@codahighland]

My solution to avoid checking it constantly is to have a bot copy my feed into a dedicated chat room. I don't run the risk of diving down rabbit holes from stuff I see while scrolling if I don't ever have to scroll -- I get a notification and can make a snap decision whether or not to engage for that single item. Of course this likely only works because I keep my feed strongly curated.

[@MiltonRoe]

I am in awe of your stamina. Everything I read on Twitter is garbage. I check it about three times a year and close the tab in disgust after several minutes. Cannot understand the attraction -- most people are profoundly ignorant and Twitter is a firehose of their random thoughts.

[@KarlSmith1]

@@toboldgoodbody8974 I'm so glad youtube isn't like that.

[@mrtransmogrify]

"Asking for a friend"... that's a classic one LOL Computer Networking and its influence on general culture/mores ... that was what I wrote on for my final graduate paper in the 90s...

[@reggiep75]

Salacious lies and BS entertains more than the mundane truth. This is why fake news is successful! Keep up the good work. All of your vids are a joy to watch 😊🤗

[@bobblue_west]

We've had fake news since humans could speak.

[@satanofficial3902]

It's *SEXIST!!!* to say BS when she cows also go poopoo.

[@bobblue_west]

@@satanofficial3902 and trans cows too.

[@antsalberta7526]

You are so amazing at what you do! Love your explanations, it makes so much more sense when you explain anything to me!

[@ingvaldkarlsson5270]

Thanks for your insightful comments!

[@ryvyr]

Thank you for placing non-adsense at front/back/both of video rather than interrupting somewhere between, so I can justify liking the video and listening to offer. Excellent analysis as usual, informative and inviting to scrutenize my daily processes~

[@helmutzollner5496]

Excellent Analysis. Thank you Sabine.

[@MadMethod-qs1en]

Getting excited for Saturday morning Sabine as an adult, like I used to get excited for Saturday morning cartoons and a bowl of cereal as a child.

[@ragevsraid7703]

I love everything you do Sabine

[@HarryNicNicholas]

well she could pull her finger out and get quantum gravity sorted. but i guess i agree.

[@jerryperuci]

I have been viewing for a few weeks now, I Love your comment about working with others it makes total sense since physics was what caught my attention and really like that your a scientist and care about your reputation. I subscribed today! Greetings from Florida!

[@acarias3225]

Sabine, really good post. As usual, the best us humans can do for now is pay attention to the parts we can control. Thanks for your work. Merry Christmas.

[@CAThompson]

I am seriously grateful for people more sensible than I who have helped shape what and how I think such as Sabine & other KZbinrs but I'm also becoming more entrenched in my views as I've been reading and watching factual reports and the accounts of people affected by current concerns. Finding out how people are being affected by events, laws, public opinions etc. is a boon from social media that is worth making an effort to benefit from to combat misinformation and bigotry whilst broadening our understanding.

[@notanemoprog]

"combat misinformation and bigotry " As these concepts are defined by you, of course. Typical hegemony-seeking "liberal"

[@kudr66]

Depends on who decides what is "misinformation". There is usually no other way than looking into evidence, which is often not possible, because whenever government has opinion, the best empirical evidence is usually censored and cannot be published at all.

[@schifoso]

Critical thinking is lacking in today's society, and both social media and lack of attention span only makes this problem worse.

[@TheWolfgangGrimmer]

Very true, but then again, don't look to the institutions that are in power to start wanting to teach critical thinking... because you know, incentives and all that.

[@TheHorseshoePartyUK]

I highly strongly, truly very strongly recommend you check out the Big Think video: Psychologist debunks 8 myths of mass scale

[@rocketraccoon1976]

You're so wrong and I don't need to think about why cause I know why...ummmm...wait...what did you say? 😵‍💫

[@Epistemonto]

The two frames at 3:29 with the back and forth from paper authors is pretty great. Good job on a thorny topic, thanks!

[@johnkufeldt3564]

I like that you have all sorts of different subjects. Cheers from Canada Sabine.

[@jackdavis6249]

Please take this important and vital message on the road to as many Universities as possible. We will all benefit from that effort. Thanks for the great stuff...

[@apacheattackhelicopter8185]

And let's hope woke students will not disrupt her lectures

[@guerreiro943]

@@apacheattackhelicopter8185 Ok boomer.

[@trikk9964]

@guerreiro943 ... okay... groomer...

[@liberty-matrix]

“I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works,” ~Chamath Palihapitiya, Former Facebook VP

[@adamwells9352]

"...because that's what sociology generally looks like to a physicist." Lolz... Love it.

[@ThomasJr]

Wow, Sabine put a headline in Portuguese from Brazil. Thank you Sabine

[@annecarter5181]

Such a wide range of topics!! I love Sabine’s presentations.

[@mikotagayuna8494]

If you read something that makes you upset, it was likely written to manipulate you into feeling that way. There is no emergency, no issue or conflict that cannot be presented in a detached but respectful way.

[@TheHorseshoePartyUK]

Rolling Stone article: "That uplifting tweet you just shared" is one path into the rabbithole of a real life conspiracy that uses totally nonsensical conspiracy 'theories'

[@TexRenner]

I'm so glad to have discovered your channel. Thank you.

[@alcyone1349]

Nice video Sabine, but I was waiting for the part where you investigate the psychological side of social media. Maybe in a second part video? Thank you regardless.

[@mikebaker2436]

"Think of how stupid the average person is... and realize half of them are stupider than that." -George Carlin

[@007kingifrit]

kinda makes you question why we let people vote equally.....

[@HansLemurson]

But you have to use the Median for your "average", not the Mean.

[@jannikheidemann3805]

@@c4pt4ina69 Correct! median =/= average

[@KarlSmith1]

Three out of four replies are emissaries from the land of Nitpick, wishing to speak to you about your imprecise terminology regarding measures of central tendency. Who could have predicted that would happen?

[@mikebaker2436]

@@007kingifrit “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -Isaac Asimov, 1980

[@worldpeace1822]

Thank you and your team! Merry Christmas and happy new year. 🎊

[@skaruts]

Reliance on fact checking organizations to determine truth is a huge red flag in any scientific study.

[@alexanderktn]

"That's what you get when you follow mostly people with PhDs" - I love it!

[@markproulx1472]

My favorite line in the video.

[@TheProfJones]

"That's what y ou get when you follow mostly people" who have been indoctrinated at liberal universities

[@theplasmacollider6431]

PhDs in what?

[@georgegilbert7347]

@@theplasmacollider6431 As I understood the comment, just having a PhD is all that matters; subject is not relevant. (Remember, PhD stands for "pilled higher and deeper".)

[@lorenbeverly4007]

This had me laughing. She is stoic!

[@AlessandroGenTLe]

I came to think, after some years of usage, that social media (and in particular Twitter, Facebook and, mainly for the youngest, TikTok and Instagram) did and INCREDIBLE HUGE damage to our society, being the major cause of not just polarization but spread of false claims, verbal and social violence, and, for the last 2, the idea that your self esteem is based on the amount of likes you get. Likes that, most of the time, has zero value being provided by perfect strangers with no value themselves.

[@peterbelanger4094]

Who gets to be the arbiter of truth? The arrogant technocrat transhumanist? f u guys.

[@etienne8110]

To be fair, propaganda and fake news existed before social medias (just ask the 1930's) Hate didn't wait for social media: ask the american KKK etc... Social media are just making things public. Your racist murderer neighbour from the KKK in 1890 would just be the same nowadays... but with a twitter MAGA account...

[@AlessandroGenTLe]

@@etienne8110 yes but the amount of people they were able to reach was much less and they didn't have "reinforcement algorithms". Social media are more similar to a very addictive drug that someone puts in your drink while you're not aware but that tends to hook you. Easy minds are falling for that constantly. And the fact that "every possible opinion is legit" on those media is grossly wrong... Here we say that in the past the village idi0ts were going to the bar, tell their BS and the rest of the people were either ignoring them or joke them. Now every idi0t with a computer can go online, tell their BS and find hundreds or thousands of other idi0ts ready to backup their BS...

[@etienne8110]

@@AlessandroGenTLe Just open a history book to see that ideologies didn't need social medias to reach far and wide. Be it nazism, communism, franquism or even the french revolution; none needed social medias. In the past you had the church, then the papers, then the radio conveying the exact same BS than social media. Like all tools, people just need to be trained to use them well. We managed it with church, papers and radio (at least to some extent^^), we'll manage with SM too. They aren't worse nor better. I believe most of the "fear of SM" comes from boomers afraid of the changes in the power structure and their locked-in habits. But if you just look at the big picture it is just what happens all the time.

[@jasonotoole2652]

You're awesome Sabine!

[@guybroughton8572]

You got to love and really respect this lady.

[@LordZordid]

Regarding polarization. I have complained for a while now about KZbin not having an option to suggest me things I don't want to see.

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

Which views do you have? I may try to find you something abhorrent.

[@alchobum]

I have so many interests that KZbin has no idea what it should recommend. Perhaps even algorithms can be driven insane.

[@Anna-mv9ew]

Yeah, would be a great option

[@aleleeinnaleleeinn9110]

Social media algorithms are inherently questionable. Ultimately they are to keep the platform in buwsiness and growing. Everything else is simply a tool set to accomplish the meta goal.

[@Bryanhaproff]

Perfect video. Thankies.

[@graymars1097]

Thanks for reinstating my sanity among these channels

[@MisterVinnie2012]

Sabine I love this subject, as I have been into an echo chamber myself for a few years and managed to get out after started reading social psychology, evolutionary psychology and many other subjects. It is so easy to fall into echo chambers and very difficult to realise you are in one, so much so, that I think it is a miracle that only 5% are in one. Thanks for covering the subject!

[@TheHorseshoePartyUK]

Good on you! I myself have been a bit lost in the head in more than one political direction, and was very very lucky I managed to find my way back to Reality. Tried briefly to lead others out of the pit, else stop others falling in. Now people are allowed to play out again and much less vulnerable to propaganda conspiracy theories by enemies of Humanity, my life is headed more in a different but related direction. Constructing playlists for Critical Thinking, mental health, general psychology, Philosophy, economics and more. Give them a look if you like? Also some naughty comedy too, heh

[@eljcd]

A very good and cautionary explanation, Dr. , thank you. My own rules to sniff fake news are: they are simple they blame "the other guy" all is gonna be awesome

[@zyeborm]

If it's simple and makes you feel good about something you already feel it's suspicious is my motto lol. If it's simple, makes you feel good and attacks someone else is probably wrong.

[@alchobum]

Or if the title seems like clickbait, click elsewhere

[@russbell6418]

And of course: I’ll make this simple for you… Nobody else understands this, and not to forget This is the end of all that is good, wholesome, or tasty!

[@frederiquecouture3924]

Madame, You are extremely intelligent. It is an absolute pleasure to listen to You.

[@crearley]

KZbin algorithms have brought me to your channel, and Im' glad they did. I'm really enjoying the subject matter.

[@joanalosm]

Thank you for this accurate analysis. A new video about the time we and our children spend on SM and how it affects our brains and capabilities would be highly apprecated, specially concerning Tik Tok and other attention absorbing apps.

[@dennistucker1153]

Great video!! Thank you Sabine.

[@taylorralston4702]

Only the second video I've watched of Sabine, and I'm impressed at her objectiveness an neutrality on both the handling of political issues and the critical mindedness of considering but not fully trusting studies and journal articles. Anyone can quote a study to make a point, but very few talk about how some studies are just flashes in a pan, and can be debunked or retracted later. It's good to keep in mind that even peer-reviewed journals are subject to political and social pressures, and often have their own set of biases and financial motivations. Good job Sabine!

[@DavoidJohnson]

It's easy to forget that your initial polarisation begins at home and then the people you share your education with. Social media jumps into the parent/teacher position and can perpetuate the process at a time when you might have otherwise spent more time in self reflection.

[@1nduwaraThisa]

Keep it up Sabine! love your work 😍Love from Sri Lanka❤

[@FTZPLTC]

Something that's always bothered me about the various claims about social media's divisiveness and creation of echo chambers is that it rarely if ever compares its effects to "old media". It's easy for someone to say that the algorithm is just feeding me news stories I agree with (although I would dispute that, because the algorithm doesn't seem to know the difference between me liking something and me complaining about it). But when you look at how people *used* to consume news, they were mostly either watching one news program now and then, or buying one newspaper. I think one of the benefits of social media is that you're far more likely to see what a range of news sources are saying about the same issue - whereas I doubt very many people were ever buying half a dozen newspapers to check whether they're all reporting the same stories in the same way or not. Point being, it's nice to see a discussion of social media's potential ill effects that actually takes any notice of the evidence, and isn't just alarmist for its own sake. Would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison of these studies with studies of print and TV news, as, for example, I would be surprised if the US's polarisation isn't strongly linked to highly-partial TV news channels, far more than social media.

[@LC-wv7tz]

People consume information from a larger variety of sources, but that information is of a lower quality and less factual. Old media was factually more objective and more factual while being less incendiary.

[@FTZPLTC]

@@LC-wv7tz Honestly, I don't think it *is* lower quality. I think you're giving Old Media way too much credit there - especially since a fair chunk of the questionable information on social media originates with Old Media (e.g. the Daily Mail, now considered too unreliable to cite as a source on Wikipedia). Maybe it depends what country you come from, but certainly the UK press have never been worried about objectivity or factuality, and practically revelled in being incendiary. That's why they put out so much anti-social media rhetoric - they see social media as competition.

[@LC-wv7tz]

@@FTZPLTC Nope, there used to be laws in place that strictly regulated the kind of content media could produce and forced balance and objectivity. Media companies were required by law to contain news content that served the public good, and these programs were money drains on the companies. They lost money on them. After these laws and regulations were changed, so did media and news, and for the first time ever companies chose to produce news instead of being forced to and figured out how to make it profitable.

[@FTZPLTC]

@@LC-wv7tz - The problem is that when you're worrying about how to make news profitable, you're going to run into conflicts between integrity and profit. Most news organisations will try to resolve those conflicts without sacrificing quality or integrity *too much*... but many of them won't, and the most profitable ones (naming no names but for the sake of argument let's call them Pupert Furdoch and the Mox Network) will be the ones that err on the side of making money and merely *appearing* to have integrity to their consumer base.

[@newmillennials]

Wow, fantastic presentation!

[@danielbloom2470]

The problem isn't that people have echo chambers. The problem is that there isn't enough real representation for different groups of people in the world because everyone is offended with those who disagree with them.

[@Jackiee_Chann]

Thank you for bringing such an important topic that we can all most definitely take into perspective for our lives. On a side note, awesome sponsor and I’ll be most definitely placing an order for my 6 year old son, the mel science kits look pretty awesome in comparison to almost any other science kit subscription or Amazon - no I’m not a paid actor lmao, just enthusiastic about science for my kids

[@notanemoprog]

"- no I’m not a paid actor lmao, just enthusiastic about science for my kids " ^ Just what a paid actor would say

[@Jackiee_Chann]

@@notanemoprog 😆😆😆😆

[@KaiHenningsen]

Personally, my main problem with "the algorithm" (mainly on YT) is that I can't adjust it to my needs, I have to rely on the AI recognizing what those are, and with the extremely limited feedback from me, that isn't working very well. Just for a few examples off the top of my head I'd like to communicate to the algorithm: - N% of recommendations should be based on my subscriptions, and those subscriptions should all hold equal weight. - No or very, very few recommendations should recommend a video I've already seen. - M% of videos should be randomly chosen new topics, so I have a chance to find things I didn't think to look for. - L% of videos should be based upon recent viewing, with a quickly falling weight - more of the last should not dominate all recommendations I'm pretty certain different people would place weights differently. Also note that none of those rules specify any particular political or social direction, only the data I produce, mainly by subscribing and watching, do. Maybe call it "democratizing the algorithm"?

[@Anna-mv9ew]

Yep, this feature would be appreciated by me too

[@alexisrdevitre]

Great video. Interesting discussion!

[@martixy2]

I once fell victim to a phishing attack at work due to distraction. It lasted all of 10 seconds before I looked at what I was doing, but it certainly makes distraction a valid consideration.

[@vfwh]

As to what to do about it, maybe not ban real scientists from social media if they have a different opinion from Fauci?

[@empireempire3545]

Sabine any chance for Your take on the newest US fusion announcement or is it as always - overhyped? :D

[@ricknplano1401]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@Gabcikovo]

5:43 "it's funny even if it isn't true" - and that's how fake news get shared

[@TheJon2442]

You are a complete gem........ social media I would say get a life and get out more. However, some need to be told what to think... You will own nothing etc.

[@TheJon2442]

Not forgetting mainly peaceful riots... I wonder why CNN and the BBC can no longer brainwash some. Even stupid people can eventually realise they are being indoctrinated..

[@josephinemitchell9504]

@@TheJon2442 mindwipe 😉

[@vitoria.no.c]

Another amazing video. Thank you for sharing such thoughtout video even when it isn’t physics related.

[@paulvalasutean7285]

You are the best, Sabine! You are one of the smartest peoples ive heard in my life and although i never actually laugh at your jokes i still enjoy them☺️

[@ExcretumTaurum]

Coffee + Hossenfelder = a great start to a Sunday morning

[@noob19087]

"Fact checked by certain organizations". When the ministry of truth says something, you can be sure it's true. It's in the name, after all.