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We tackle social media's effect on political polarization with Dr. Chris Bail, author of Breaking the Social Media Prism, Duke professor, and director of the Polarization Lab. According to Dr. Bail, most of the population of America isn't actually polarized; social media only gives us that perception.

Topics Discussed-

The myth of echo chambers
How vocal and extreme, social media users influence our view of political polarization
What do you mean by "the social media prism?"
Breaking the social media prism
How to bring the moderates back to social media
How future tech will shape our perception of politics
Fake news - who shares it
How do we fix tech in order to crack this perception?

Chris Bail is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Duke University, where he directs the Polarization Lab. He studies political tribalism, extremism, and social psychology using data from social media and tools from the emerging field of computational social science. His widely acclaimed 2021 book, Breaking the Social Media Prism, was featured in the New York Times, the New Yorker, and described as “masterful,” and "immediately relevant" by Science Magazine.

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80. The Perception of Political Polarization and How to Fix It: Dr. Chris Bail (Author of "Breaking the Social Media Prism," Duke Professor, and Director of the Polarization Lab) 32:59 Share

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80. The Perception of Political Polarization and How to Fix It: Dr. Chris Bail (Author of "Breaking the Social Media Prism," Duke Professor, and Director of the Polarization Lab)