Overview

Like nation-states, the social media states of the Internet demonstrate fragility relating to governance, operations, and services. The rule of law can be fragile where technologies are created at a pace faster than legal constructs can be established. The global communication and information infrastructure has been seeded and populated by people communicating and devising new rules of conduct online. Law and policy have been playing catch-up in areas such as international law, right to privacy, protection of children, data security, and more. The rapid changes in technologies requires law and policy to advance beyond oversight of local, closed systems to transnational and ‘a-national’ company-states, ones with a nominal locale but present in multiple locales via the internet. Assessing the fragility of the social media states using indicators can provide a view of long-term prospects for the platform, a focus for technical and social design, and a focus for social rules, policies, and procedures to stabilize these fragile social states.

Full Product Details

9783111806549

Table of Contents

Reviews

""I lost count of the number of things I learned and the fresh insights in this very big book. The 'fragile state' argument about social media is worth the price of admission, yet Haythornthwaite moves far beyond that by laying out the specific ways this fragility can be measured. It's the best kind of two-fer: a blueprint for future scholars and a map for policymakers."" Lee Rainie, Director, Imagining the Digital Future Center Elon University ""Debates over social media often ignore the differences across such platforms, such as between Facebook and TikTok, with billions of users. Professor Caroline Haythornthwaite's book draws stimulating analogies between social media and nation states, such as in how they regulate speech. By clarifying the differences across platforms and their similarities with nation states, this book illuminates key risks to social media and their users. Must reading for those seriously interested in social media."" William H. Dutton, Emeritus Professor, University of Southern California ""This is a fabulous book. Caroline Haythornthwaite is the first to fully embrace the analogy between social media and nation states for a systematic and comprehensive assessment of their vulnerabilities."" Axel Bruns, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology ""Are social media platforms failing their 'citizens'? This book goes beyond familiar tech criticism by treating platforms as the geopolitical actors they've become. A sharp, timely read for students, scholars, policymakers, and business leaders trying to make sense of the digital age."" Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd, Professor and co-Director of the Social Media Lab, Toronto Metropolitan University

Author Information

Caroline Haythornthwaite, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, USA.

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