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SUMMARY:The paradox of virality  - Steve Rathje (New York University)
DTSTART:20240124T150000Z
DTEND:20240124T160000Z
UID:TALK210718@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Yara Kyrychenko
DESCRIPTION:I will present the results from a variety of interconnected st
 udies about intergroup conflict\, the spread of (mis)information\, and how
  these topics interact with digital technologies such as social media. Fir
 st\, I will present research showing how social identity motives — parti
 cularly out-group negativity — explain why content is widely shared (or 
 goes “viral”) on social media. Then\, I will present research showing 
 that widely shared content is often not widely liked — a phenomenon I ca
 ll the “paradox of virality.” I will discuss the results of a study sh
 owing how accuracy and social identity motivations causally shape the beli
 ef and spread of (mis)information. I will also present the results of a la
 rge-scale digital field experiment that tests the long-term effects of exp
 osure to misinformation and divisive content by having participants unfoll
 ow several polarizing social media accounts and misinformation sources for
  one month. Finally\, I will present current and future research direction
 s demonstrating how we can explore these questions on a global scale using
  multi-site “global studies" and how we can enhance our methods for test
 ing these questions using large-language models.
LOCATION:Ground Floor Lecture Theatre\, Department of Psychology\, Downing
  Site\, Cambridge
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