Prompt
Thanks to technology, we live in an age where the totality of human knowledge rests but a few swipes and taps away. Yet scholars have disagree whether modern technology has made it easier for people to connect learn more about the world or has trapped people into informational coccoons. It remains to be seen what impact technology has on the kind of broad-based discourse necessary for democracies and pluralistic societies to thrive.
So here is your question:
According to the latest research, how serious a problem do these modern technologies (e.g. social media, internet search engines, etc.) pose to democracy?
Write a 1,500 academic paper in response to this question. Your paper will take the form of a standalone “literature review” (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
It’s helpful to think of a literature review as an attempt to help fellow scholars make sense of the existing research (much of it confusing, contradictory and incomplete). In your paper, you will help sort out what’s true, reliable information from that which is not. This is a challenging task.
To make your argument, you are required to reference at least three outside sources (see below). No, you will not be conducting your new research experiments. Please do not venture beyond the sources listed below to find your own studies; just stick to these given sources.
One last piece of advice. While you might feel the pressure to pursue multiple claims and to draw many conclusions, try to focus on adding one clear, well-supported insight to the conversation. Despite what you think, 1,500 words goes quickly.
Formatting
According to the Journal’s “Paper Submission Guidelines”, your manuscript must include a title, abstract, key terms, acknowledgments, and a works cited. All references must be in MLA format (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Please see the the Journal’s guidelines for the full instructions and some helpful tips on style.
Provided Sources
In the course of your paper, make reference to at least three of the following texts.
Bakshy et al., Science, “Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook”
Barberá et al., Psychological Science, “Tweeting From Left to Right: Is Online Political Communication More Than an Echo Chamber”
Boxell, "Is the internet causing polarization? Evidence from demographics" (working draft)
Quattrociocchi et al. “Echo Chambers on Facebook”
