Technology
How Shadow Banning Can Silently Shift Opinion Online
In a new study, Yale SOM’s Tauhid Zaman and Yen-Shao Chen show how a social media platform can shift users’ positions or increase overall polarization by selectively muting and amplifying posts in ways that appear neutral to an outside observer.
Blockchain Technology Can Help Consumers Tip Farmers—But Should It?
Apps that track food supply chains could make it easier for customers to tip the farmer who produced their coffee or cocoa. But a new paper suggests that this well-intended feature might reduce farmers’ overall income.
Does Big Tech Gobble Up Competitors?
An executive order from President Joe Biden last month and a congressional report in October accused large technology firms of engaging in “killer acquisitions,” citing research by Yale SOM’s Florian Ederer.
Can Congress Create Real Competition for Big Tech?
Last week, members of Congress from both parties introduced a series of bills to curtail the dominance of the major technology firms. We asked Prof. Fiona Scott Morton if the proposed legislation would help level the playing field.
Social Media Is Addictive. Do Regulators Need to Step In?
Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton and her co-authors argue that smarter and more robust antitrust enforcement can help, by making room for new social media platforms that promote themselves as healthier alternatives.
How Better Mobile Crowdsourcing Can Help Combat Food Waste and Feed the Hungry
Yale SOM’s Vahideh Manshadi and Scott Rodilitz worked with Food Rescue US to hone their strategy for connecting volunteers with food donations. Their findings can help other nonprofits harness the power of crowds for social good.
Create Trust Online by Pairing User Control and Data Security
In a new study, Yale SOM’s K. Sudhir and his co-author examine the impact of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). They find that strict privacy rights paired with strong data security mandates create an atmosphere of trust that makes data sharing more beneficial for both firms and their customers.
Study: Improved Video Game Technology Contributed to Decline in Work by Younger Men
Between the 2000s and the 2010s, weekly recreational computer use by men in their 20s rose by 2.7 hours; at the same time, working hours for this group dropped by 1.8 hours. A study co-authored by Yale SOM Dean Kerwin K. Charles concludes that improving technology caused much of the increase in gaming, and nearly half of the decline in working hours for young men.
Is Bitcoin a Bubble?
The price of a single Bitcoin is up more than 700% since the beginning of 2020, defying years of predictions of a crash. We asked Prof. Aleh Tsyvinski, professor of economics at Yale, to shed some light on the continuing phenomenon.
A Peaceful Transfer of Power at Amazon
We asked Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, author of a landmark study of CEO succession, how Amazon will be changed by the departure of its founder.
What Can Smartphone Location Data Tell Us about the Pandemic?
Yale SOM’s Kevin Williams and his co-authors used cellphone location data to create a data set tracking movement during COVID-19, which is publicly available for researchers.
