Has Social Media Changed Us for Better or for Worse?

Date

Episode 12

The emergence of social media over the last decade and a half has been rapid and abrupt. Platforms that, at first, provided an opportunity to connect with friends and family in new and interesting ways online have now also become vessels for misinformation and hate while fundamentally changing the way an entire generation learned to communicate with others. Now, as terms like “fake news” have entered our lexicon, a question arises: Have social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and others outlived their usefulness?

Joining Curiosity Unplugged are Aron Culotta, assistant professor of computer science; Daniel Krieglstein, Illinois Tech alumnus and adjunct instructor in the College of Computing’s Department of Information Technology and Management; and Anthony Michael Kreis, visiting assistant professor of law at Chicago-Kent College of Law.