Research Talk: How does the social media based attention economy contribute to dehumanization and division? A case study of the Joe Rogan Experience

Abstract

Social media is one of the systemic issues that are driving polarization and division. Via algorithmic sorting, audience capture, and the engagement economy, the content that trends on interactive platforms often arouses strong negative emotions that separate us, scapegoat marginalized communities or individuals, and entrench the already influential. But why does the technology work this way. Exploring Jodi Dean’s foundational concept of communicative capitalism, and using the Joe Rogan Experience podcast as a case study, this presentation will explore the relationships between misinformation, dehumanizing discourses, polarization and business models in the attention economy. In so doing, it highlights how current scholarship that divides disinformation and misinformation by intent may be missing a bigger picture of how and why toxic information spreads so readily.

About the speaker

Jaigris Hodson is the Canada Research Chair in Digital Misinformation, Polarization, and Anti-Social Media. Their research takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how the technologies we use to communicate heighten our vulnerabilities to misinformation, polarization, and other on- and offline anti-social behaviors.  Hodson uses novel, field-building approaches to map the relationships between polarization, misinformation, and online harassment, and to facilitate democratic communication. As a Canadian Science Policy Fellow (2018-2019), Jaigris worked with Environment and Climate Change Canada to assist in understanding how to best communicate the science of climate change to the Canadian public. Jaigris is on the editorial board for the Journal of Digital and Social Media Marketing.