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Changing the incentive structure of social media may reduce online proxy failure and proliferation of negativity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2024

Claire E. Robertson Open the ORCID record for Claire E. Robertson [Opens in a new window] ,
Kareena del Rosario ,
Steve Rathje  and
Jay J. Van Bavel
Claire E. Robertson*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA kareena.delrosario@nyu.edu; sr6276@nyu.edu; jay.vanbavel@nyu.edu
Kareena del Rosario
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA kareena.delrosario@nyu.edu; sr6276@nyu.edu; jay.vanbavel@nyu.edu
Steve Rathje
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA kareena.delrosario@nyu.edu; sr6276@nyu.edu; jay.vanbavel@nyu.edu
Jay J. Van Bavel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA kareena.delrosario@nyu.edu; sr6276@nyu.edu; jay.vanbavel@nyu.edu Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway
*
Corresponding author: Claire E. Robertson; Email: cer493@nyu.edu
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Abstract

Social media takes advantage of people's predisposition to attend to threatening stimuli by promoting content in algorithms that capture attention. However, this content is often not what people expressly state they would like to see. We propose that social media companies should weigh users’ expressed preferences more heavily in algorithms. We propose modest changes to user interfaces that could reduce the abundance of threatening content in the online environment.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e81
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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