Social Media
Society
Reflecting on a year without the internet
For a full 12 months, McGill faculty lecturer Aron Lee Rosenberg, MA’19, PhD’23, avoided smartphones, social media and email. His new book raises questions about how we interact with the internet
People
A leading advocate for responsible tech joins McGill
She has been on the cover of Time and U.S. president Joe Biden cited her during his State of the Union address last year. Now Frances Haugen is joining McGill’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy as its new senior-fellow-in-residence.
Culture
A look back at the Star Wars Kid
Years before he became an award-winning law student at McGill, Ghyslain Raza, BCL/LLB’11, LLM’20, was once one of the most famous people on the planet – and he hated it. A new documentary explores how he was the subject of one of the internet’s first viral memes, and how that affected his life.
Discovery
The dangers to democracy in a digital age
Disinformation, online security, attacks on democracy - there is no shortage of things for McGill's new Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy to examine. "There is definitely an appetite out there for the expertise and research we have to offer."
Culture
Exploring the way we communicate online
In her bestselling book Because Internet, Gretchen McCulloch, MA’14, a linguistics columnist for Wired, explores emoji, memes, and the way we use language on our digital devices.
People
The Yes Theory explores the upside of discomfort
The members of Yes Theory have become YouTube stars by embracing the uncomfortable. They’ve pushed themselves, their fans – and even Will Smith – to do the sorts of things most of us would shy away from.
Society
“Fake news” with a purpose
A recent video proclaiming the cancer-busting properties of a species of moss turned out to be phony – and that was the point. Created by McGill’s Jonathan Jarry, BSc’03, the video demonstrated how easy it is for a conspiracy theory to go viral.
Discovery
Tweeting for the cause
How has social media affected movements for social change? According to information systems professor Emma Vaast, the different people who rally behind a cause on Twitter play distinct and complementary roles.
Discovery
The dangers of living online
In his new book The Internet Trap, Ashesh Mukherjee, an associate professor of marketing at the Desautels Faculty of Management, looks at some of the less appealing ways in which the online world affects us and offers suggestions about what we can do about it.