Platforms for the People

A User-Centric Approach to Improving Experiences on Social Media

Even though Social Media can in principle have a useful function for democracy, the discussion mainly focuses on phenomena such as toxicity, misinformation and echo chambers that are seen as a threat to a fair public discourse. "Platforms for the People" focuses on these negative consequences: On marginalization, demobilization to psychological illnesses. The project shows that users perceive negative posts differently and react in an individual way. 

Team

Prof. Dr Yannis Theocharis (yannis.theocharis@tum.de), Professor of Digital Governance, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology.

Dr. Franziska Pradel (franziska.pradel@tum.de), Research Associate at the Chair of Digital Governance, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology.

Dr. Jan Zilinsky (jan.zilinsky@tum.de), research assistant at the Chair of Digital Governance, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology.

What results can you expect from this project?

  • Based on the results of the experimental designs, various policy briefs will be written that include evidence-based recommendations for action for relevant stakeholders.
  • Together with stakeholders from politics, business and civil society, a series of events and workshops are planned to reflect and discuss the research results and identify input for further problems.