{"title":"Chris Bail","description":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome to the Chris Bail collection, where the fascinating worlds of social science and digital landscapes intersect. Chris Bail, a renowned scholar in the field of sociology, provides a fresh and insightful perspective into how our online interactions shape our offline realities. His work primarily explores how social media platforms amplify both connection and division in contemporary society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eChris Bail's \u003cem\u003eBreaking the Social Media Prism\u003c\/em\u003e is a standout title in this collection. In this captivating book, Bail challenges the conventional narrative about social media's role in modern life. Rather than simply blaming these platforms for the current state of polarised discourse, he delves deeper into understanding how social media can distort our perceptions and why it often fails to reflect the true fabric of society. His research combines innovative data science with real-world experiments to offer new strategies for coping with the challenges posed by digital communication.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor readers interested in Science \u0026amp; Nature, Chris Bail's work is a perfect blend of scientific exploration and social commentary. It encourages you to think critically about the impact of the digital age on human relationships and societal structures. Dive into this collection and discover how you can navigate the complexities of the online world more effectively.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"breaking-the-social-media-prism-by-chris-bail-9780691203423","title":"Breaking the Social Media Prism","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA revealing look at how user behaviour is powering deep social divisions online - and how we might yet defeat political tribalism on social media.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn an era of increasing social isolation, platforms like Facebook and Twitter are among the most important tools we have to understand each other. We use social media as a mirror to decipher our place in society but, as Chris Bail explains, it functions more like a prism that distorts our identities, empowers status-seeking extremists, and renders moderates all but invisible. \u003ci\u003eBreaking the Social Media Prism\u003c\/i\u003e challenges common myths about echo chambers, foreign misinformation campaigns, and radicalising algorithms, revealing that the solution to political tribalism lies deep inside ourselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on innovative online experiments and in-depth interviews with social media users from across the political spectrum, this book explains why stepping outside of our echo chambers can make us more polarised, not less. Bail takes you inside the minds of online extremists through vivid narratives that trace their lives on the platforms and off—detailing how they dominate public discourse at the expense of the moderate majority. Wherever you stand on the spectrum of user behaviour and political opinion, he offers fresh solutions to counter political tribalism from the bottom up and the top down. He introduces new apps and bots to help readers avoid misperceptions and engage in better conversations with the other side. Finally, he explores what the virtual public square might look like if we could hit 'reset' and redesign social media from scratch through a first-of-its-kind experiment on a new social media platform built for scientific research.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eProviding data-driven recommendations for strengthening our social media connections, \u003ci\u003eBreaking the Social Media Prism\u003c\/i\u003e shows how to combat online polarisation without deleting our accounts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Masterful . . . immediately relevant. . . . \u003ci\u003eBreaking the Social Media Prism\u003c\/i\u003e answers important questions about the origins of our current political environment and suggests how existing platforms and reward systems might be redesigned to make things better. Bail's scientific conclusions are refreshing in a space dominated by informed speculation, and the book offers hope that data-driven solutions can bring us back from the brink.' - Jennifer Golbeck, \u003ci\u003eScience\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Smartly and engagingly challenges assumptions about how [ideological and cultural echo] chambers work.' - Frank Bruni, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'[Bail] draws on extensive interviews with social media users to explore the profound differences between people's online and real-life personas, and lucidly details his own efforts to develop a new social media platform that cultivates more civil discourse. This is a persuasive and well-informed look at one of today's most pressing social issues.' - \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46997956886764,"sku":"9780691203423","price":54.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/1aaa5b44576a87366df882e41543a85e.jpg?v=1773005236"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/chris-bail.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}