Data Profiling | Concepts

Custodians of the Internet

Custodians of the Internet examines how major social platforms decide what content stays up and what gets removed, revealing that moderation is shaped by opaque policies, economic priorities, cultural norms, and political pressures. The author highlights that these hidden choices, often made by a combination of algorithms and laborers behind the scenes, have profound effects on free expression, public discourse, and social norms.

Social Media and the Struggle for Society

Baym argues that social media are not a neutral social good but part of a socio‑technical and economic system in which communication practices are commodified, with platforms harvesting social interaction as data for profit. She critiques how the term “social media” obscures issues of ownership, power, and inequality, and calls for approaches to media that support societal well‑being rather than monetizing users’ sociality.

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