The New Digital Dark Age
WiredFor researchers, social media has always represented greater access to data, more democratic involvement in knowledge production, and great transparency about social behavior. In 2024, we will face a grim digital dark age, as social media platforms transition away from the logic of Web 2.0 and toward one dictated by AI-generated content. However, changes in data access by social media platforms, as well as the explosion of generative AI misinformation, means that the tools that researchers and journalists developed in prior national elections for monitoring online activity won’t work. The EU’s Digital Services Act is a step in the right direction of regulation, including provisions to ensure that independent researchers can monitor social network platforms. Until then, the transition from social media to AI-mediated information means that, in 2024, a new digital dark age will likely begin.