Are search algorithms abusing our children?
James Bridle’s Post: https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2 Over the weekend, I read an article that disturbed me immensely. Tech Author James Bridle’s piece Something is wrong on the internet is a well-researched essay into an unexpectedly nightmarish domain: children’s videos on YouTube. Bridle starts off by noting that he has been an active internet user since the […]
Using Bayes Theorem to predict the existence of life on other planets
Source: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2017/10/the-alien-observatory-searching-for-life-on-keplers-exoplanets-what-does-its-early-evolution-on-ear-th-implygoogli4chm.html Researchers David Spiegel from Princeton University and Edwin Turner from the University of Tokyo recently announced their conclusion that the idea that life might exist on other planets is actually only supported by a very small amount of evidence, most of it coming from what we know about the emergence of life on early […]
Power Law Distribution in VC-Funded Startup Success
https://moneyweek.com/how-to-invest-in-the-next-google-while-its-still-small/ Startup companies usually need funding from external sources, and from the perspective of these external sources, it is difficult to decide which startups will most likely succeed and become profitable. Organizations such as incubators and accelerators typically intervene with support capital during the early stages of a startup’s life, specifically during the period of […]
Ad Auction Bidding Strategies
This article discusses various bidding strategies for optimizing the exposure of your company’s ad on Facebook. This offers an interesting perspective that differs slightly from class. In class, we look at advertising slots with a set CTR (click through rate). Thus, it is easy to pair advertisers with advertising slots based on their value of […]
Political Clusters in US
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/16/us/politics/the-two-americas-of-2016.html The article by the New York Times, “The two Americas of 2016”, shows two maps of America based on which area voted for which candidate. The twist was that the parts of each map that are land are places that voted for candidate X while the places covered in water voted for candidate Y. This […]
Information Cascades and Rebellions
https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/10/mass-movements http://voxeu.org/article/riots-and-revolutions-digital-age Both of these articles explain revolutions, riots, regime change, and even stock market behavior in the context of information cascades, which are essentially just people imitating the behavior of those before them. For instance, when looking into revolutions, Ellis and Fender relate the situation to workers deciding to rebel. In both of […]
Network effects in the spread of #MeToo
In the past few weeks there have been many stories of people coming forward to accuse public figures of sexual assault or harassment. Shortly after the allegations against prominent figure Harvey Weinstein, people began sharing their own stories of sexual assault and harassment on social media. From celebrities and politicians to everyday people like you […]
Social Media Algorithms Unable to Prevent Foreign Manipulation
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-15/can-social-media-close-gaps-that-let-russians-in-q One of the most talked about issues in current events is Russian social media influence in last years presidential election. While the exact scope and effectiveness of Russian social media influence is not yet fully understood, both private and public organizations in the U.S. are fervently trying to quantify and identify its exact ramifications. […]
Information Cascades and our Attorney General
In class, we learned that an information cascade forms when a group of people make decisions and choices that creates information for a second group, who then uses this information from the first group to make their decisions and choices. In other words, this is somewhat like the phrase “Following the Heard.” Although that sounds […]
Transforming Online Platforms Into Profitable Endeavors
Source(s): https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennaabdou/2017/08/31/follow-this-entrepreneurs-advice-to-turn-your-blog-into-a-profitable-business/2/#435d08dc6139 There are a multitude of great entrepreneurial ideas that make use of social media, lifestyle trends, or online platforms; however, many of these ideas never come to fruition due to poor execution. Gina Bianchini, CEO and founder of Mighty Networks, tries to solve this problem by connecting platforms with customers and the digital community […]
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