Social Media Impacts on Social & Political Goods: A Peacebuilding Perspective

Social media is both an asset and a threat to social and political goods. This first in a series of policy briefs on social media aims to build the capacity of civil society to understand the economic and psychological appeal of social media, identify the range of opportunities and challenges related to social media, and promote discussion on potential solutions to these challenges. Currently, few in civil society or government understand how social media works. Technology experts and investor-oriented social media platforms cannot address the opportunities and challenges brought by social media capabilities. Together, government, corporations, and civil society, need to find ways to respond to the growing crisis of social media ethics and impacts.