Rise of the Meganets

Many of you may not remember a time before computers, but it is true, they haven’t always existed.  As a matter of fact, life before computers was very different.  They filled a human need to interact, and AOL was the first software to really connect the world via chat rooms.  Here you could talk with people all over the world about any topic.  And they were totally random.  You had no idea what you were getting.  This need to connect continued, and through the natural course of evolution, AOL became Friendster, then Myspace, and before you know it, there are a bunch of social media platforms all vying for our attention.  The more we use these platforms, the more they learn about us.  The more they learn about us, the more they change to capture our attention, which changes how we interact with them, and so on.  This runaway feedback loop is how these platforms became Meganets, and this week, David Auerbach tells the story on how these Meganets have quietly taken over modern society.