Bringing the social and ethical responsibilities of computing to the forefront

The inaugural SERC Symposium convened experts from multiple disciplines to explore the challenges and opportunities that arise with the broad applicability of computing in many aspects of society.

Terri Park | MIT Schwarzman College of Computing • mit
June 8, 2023 ~12 min

Our social media use falls into 4 categories

Four broad categories capture the myriad ways we use social media, say researchers. And each category is tied to a cluster of personality traits.

Gerry Everding-WUSTL • futurity
June 8, 2023 ~9 min


Mounting research documents the harmful effects of social media use on mental health, including body image and development of eating disorders

Research shows that social media, with it endless promotion of unrealistic standards of beauty, has had a negative impact on millions of young people.

Emily Hemendinger, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus • conversation
June 7, 2023 ~10 min

TikToks on endometriosis focus on pain and infertility

TikTok videos related to endometriosis focus on people's experiences with chronic pain and infertility, specifically in vitro fertilization, researchers report.

Stephanie Lopez-Duke • futurity
June 5, 2023 ~4 min

What gets people to share articles on social media?

Social media users are likely to share posts that contain information that they feel has value to themselves or to the people they know, research finds.

Hailey Reissman - Penn • futurity
May 24, 2023 ~5 min

Words in teen girls’ texts say a lot about their mood

What teen girls post on social media can reveal a lot about their mental health. Pronouns like "I," "me," and "my" may be a red flag.

U. Oregon • futurity
May 22, 2023 ~5 min

The importance of solitude – why time on your own can sometimes be good for you

Solitude is chosen, not thrust upon you.

Thuy-vy Nguyen, Assistant Professsor, Department of Psychology, Durham University • conversation
April 27, 2023 ~6 min

AI and Twitter could help predict opioid deaths

A new approach that uses artificial intelligence and Twitter language predicts opioid death rates much more accurately than current methods.

Gregory Filiano-Stony Brook • futurity
March 23, 2023 ~6 min


Should the US ban TikTok? Can it? A cybersecurity expert explains the risks the app poses and the challenges to blocking it

Banning TikTok: What data privacy risk does the app pose, and what could the Chinese government do with data it collects? And is it even possible to ban an app?

Doug Jacobson, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University • conversation
March 23, 2023 ~8 min

China could be harvesting TikTok data – but much of the user information is already out in the open

TikTok has been banned from UK government devices, but it’s easy for all social media platforms to harvest your data.

Alan Woodward, Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Surrey • conversation
March 21, 2023 ~8 min

/

50