Subject Guides

Weapons of Math Destruction, Common Read 2022

This guide is intended to help faculty and students engage with the 2022 Common Read book, Weapons of Math Destruction. Special thanks to Vicky Ludas Orlofsky and Courtney Walsh of Stevens Institute of Technology for the foundation for this guide.

Big Data, Civics, & Voting

Big Data, Civics, and Voting

“They can target microgroups of citizens for both votes and money and appeal to each of them with a meticulously honed message, one that no one else is likely to see. It might be a banner on Facebook or a fund-raising email. But each one allows candidates to quietly sell multiple versions of themselves -- and it’s anyone’s guess which version will show up for work after inauguration.” (pp. 187-188) 

Facebook

Facebook and its Many Issues

“[W]hat [Facebook’s social scientists] have demonstrated is Facebook’s enormous power to affect what we learn, how we feel, and whether we vote. Its platform is massive, powerful, and opaque. The algorithms are hidden from us, and we see only the results of the experiments researchers choose to publish.” (p. 184)

Cambridge Analytica scandal

Political News: Reach and Engagement

This is not ok