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Shaping the Future of Social Media with Middleware
No full textMiddleware, third-party software intermediaries between users and platforms, offers a promising solution to counter the concentrated power of social media platforms. The term has referred to a variety of technologies and systems over the years, including third-party provider tools that platforms themselves use internally. In this paper, we focus on “middleware” in the form of open, third-party products and services that are composable—meaning, with multiple providers available to be mixed and matched for specific use cases—and which offer user agency over the selection process and overall experience. Our analysis centers on middleware’s potential to transform two common social media experiences that are often the focus of controversy, user dissatisfaction, and political debates: curation, which involves selecting and organizing information to shape what content is emphasized or deemphasized in a digital environment, and moderation, which addresses harmful content and compliance with platform policy. By providing users with greater control over these experiences, middleware promotes a more user-centric, democratic online sphere. It enables users to choose from competing providers and algorithms, offering a flexible architecture as an alternative to both centrally controlled, opaque platforms and an unmoderated, uncurated internet. Middleware has the potential to provide greater choice around the content individual users see, and to address over-moderation concerns. By decentralizing control and enhancing user autonomy, middleware may also help to reduce the potential for abuse of power by platforms, fostering a more just and equitable digital ecosystem.
The success of open middleware presently hinges on the adoption and cooperation of established major platforms. For middleware to thrive in the present largely centralized environment, platforms must permit third-party services to operate and enable users to choose between them. However, the growing rise of federated platforms, such as Mastodon and Bluesky, and the increasing participation of major platforms in the fediverse (e.g., Meta’s Threads), creates new opportunities for the development and Executive Summary adoption of middleware as an integral part of the user experience. These emerging ecosystems prioritize user choice and both horizontal and vertical interoperation, allowing for community-driven moderation tools and enhanced user control of the social media experience. In light of this shift in technology and adoption, the Foundation for American Innovation and the Stanford Cyber Policy Center convened a gathering of experts in April 2024 to explore the implications of advancing middleware adoption. The group included technologists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, activists, civil society leaders, academics, and independent researchers. Over a day of deliberations, participants examined middleware’s potential as a
transformative force to reshape the digital public sphere, enhance user agency, and address persistent challenges in content curation and moderation. They also considered the trade-offs of middleware and the negative externalities it might create, as well as the technological, regulatory, and market barriers that could either support or hinder its implementation.Middleware, third-party software intermediaries between users and platforms, has been broached as a means to decentralize the power of social media platforms and enhance user agency. Middleware may enable a more user-centric and democratic approach to shaping digital experiences, offering a flexible architecture as an alternative to both centrally controlled, opaque platforms and an unmoderated, uncurated internet. The widespread adoption of open middleware has long hinged on the cooperation of established major platforms; however, the recent growth of federated platforms, such as Mastodon and Bluesky, has led to increased offerings and user awareness. In this report we consider the potential of middleware as a means of enabling greater user control over curation and moderation—two aspects of the social media experience that are often mired in controversy. We evaluate the trade-offs and negative externalities it might create, and discuss the technological, regulatory, and market dynamics that could either support or hinder its implementation
Afro-Islamic Diasporic Countercultures: West African Muslim Writers in the Americas and the Making of the Muslim Diaspora
No full textPh.D.Many academics have written about the historical significance of slave narratives in relation to the international abolitionist movement in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. However, despite the wide efforts, no comprehensive reading exists that does justice to the ways in which Islamic abolitionist discourses and Afro-Islamic cultural complexities are articulated in the literature produced by enslaved African Muslims in the Americas during the nineteenth century. Using a cluster of theoretical approaches, specifically Orientalism and Infrapolitics, my aim is to explore two aspects. Firstly, I seek to understand how the processes of “othering” the identity of literate African Muslims diminished the political significance of their writings. Secondly, I aim to comprehend how enslaved Muslims deployed Islamic epistemologies to engage in abolitionist discourses. Moreover, I argue that these individuals simultaneously reproduced Afro-Islamic traditions of knowledge transmission and writing as practice as a way to disseminate Islamic education. Studying West African Islamic traditions of literacy and manuscript culture before and during the reign of the Sokoto Caliphate is crucial to identifying the mechanisms with which enslaved Muslims structured and composed their literature to both address slavery and spread Islamic knowledge in the Americas. In doing so, this research will show that these literary works collectively reflect a series of Afro-Islamic Diasporic practices that are historically integral to the countercultures produced within the Black Atlantic. They reflect a deep connection to a West African Islamic intellectual tradition of literacy, education, and knowledge transmission. The impact of this historical legacy significantly resonates with contemporary ideas of Afro-Brazilian Muslims, African American Muslims, and Cuban Muslim struggles for identity, justice and liberation. For a long time, Euro-American processes of knowledge production have long dismissed the viability of Afro-Islamic identities, knowledge and epistemologies as a category of analysis. Through this research, it is my hope to dislodge such notions and provide insights into the often-overlooked contributions or ignored practices of the Afro-Muslim diaspora in the Americas
Impact of Intimate Partner Violence Education on Clinician Readiness, Screening, and Patient Management
No full textD.N.P.One in three women report being a victim of intimate partner violence (IPV) in her lifetime. IPV is a type of behavior classified as causing physical, psychological, or sexual harm to those in an intimate partnership. Violence affects women in all settings, and among all racial, religious, and socioeconomic groups. Abused women are likely to visit the emergency department (ED) more frequently than non-abused women. Therefore, it is vital that ED healthcare providers have experience with identifying and managing IPV victims through screening and referrals. This quality improvement project aimed to assess the impact of a one-hour educational intervention on ED clinicians’ readiness to manage IPV. The secondary aim evaluated changes in clinical practice related to IPV screening and referral documentation in the electronic health record (EHR). Clinician readiness was measured pre-intervention using the Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey (PREMIS). Following the in-person educational session, clinicians answered the post-education PREMIS. Survey data was collected in Qualtrics. Seventy-five electronic health records were audited retrospectively pre- and post-intervention for evidence of IPV screening and referral documentation. The post-intervention survey responses were comprised of 10% (n = 4) of the ED’s clinicians. There was a statistically significant difference in age between those who completed the survey pre- and post-intervention and those who did not, x²(3) = 9.3, p = .025. There was no statistical difference in gender, degree, or hours of IPV training. The PREMIS subscale scores improved, but differences were not statistically significant. Retrospective EHR review demonstrated screening in 1.3% of the records pre-, compared to 8% post-intervention, a clinically and statistically significant increase, x²(1) = 4.14, p = .042. This project demonstrated education was effective at improving clinicians’ knowledge and preparation regarding IPV management. The project also found education increased IPV screening documentation and referral rates by clinicians.
Equally Visionary and Nefarious: The Legacy of the South Sea Bubble in the Industrial Age 1770-1860
No full textHomogenizing Effect of Large Language Model on Creativity: An Empirical Comparison of Human and ChaGPT Writing
No full textM.P.P.Despite the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) to enhance creative processes, increasing concerns have emerged about the standardization of AI outputs, often referred to as the homogenizing effect. In this thesis, I investigated the homogenizing effect of Large Language Models (LLMs) on creativity by empirically comparing human and ChatGPT-generated writings. For this, I analyzed 600 college admissions essays, including 200 written by college applicants and 400 generated by GPT-4 utilizing various settings. I computationally measured the semantic diversity of essays using Divergent Semantic Integration (DSI) as a proxy of creativity. Additionally, I developed a novel approach to assessing collective creativity by measuring the unique semantic diversity incremented by pooling ideas across multiple essays. My findings across two studies revealed that human essays consistently show higher creativity at individual and collective levels than those generated by GPT-4. Moreover, despite enhancements aimed at maximizing the diversity of AI models’ outputs, human-written essays consistently outperform GPT-4, especially in contributing to collective creativity
Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: Analyzing the Effect of Higher Education on Socioeconomic Status
No full textM.P.P.The cycle of poverty is a sociological concept that illustrates the idea that if a child grows up in poverty, he or she could live in poverty as an adult and raise children in poverty. In turn, this creates a continued cycle. It is in good interest of policymakers to find ways to help break the cycle of poverty to decrease reliance on social safety net programs and to promote equity. In this paper, I explore the effect of higher education on socioeconomic status for people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. I find that there is a positive statistically significant relationship between higher education and socioeconomic status, regardless of socioeconomic background. Continued research into this topic could help better inform policymakers about the importance of education programs that target low-income and marginalized populations
Trade and Aid: Examining Determinants of Assistance to Ukraine
No full textM.P.P.In the years leading up to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, some warned that Russia’s growing economic influence in Europe would translate into great political power. In response to the 2022 invasion, many countries provided bilateral aid to Ukraine, though some gave much more than others. I examine whether trade with Russia and trade with Ukraine are associated with a country’s bilateral aid to Ukraine in 2022. I use 2005-2021 aid values to model each country’s 2022 donations if the invasion had not occurred, estimate the difference between predicted and actual 2022 donations, and analyze factors associated with generosity that is higher or lower than expected. I find that greater trade with Russia is consistently associated with lower generosity in 2022 aid to Ukraine. This strengthens the case that Ukraine’s allies should continue efforts to reduce their economic dependency on Russia
Emerging Technologies, Defense Innovation & Military Change: How will the AI Wave Change Warfare in East Asia?
No full textThe Effect of a Procedural Sedation Flowchart on Nursing Documentation and Staff Confidence in the Emergency Department
No full textD.N.P.Procedural sedation (PS) involves the use of medications that may depress cardiorespiratory function. Due to the risk of patient harm, such practices call for trained and experienced nursing staff familiar with the necessary monitoring and charting that accompany such procedures. This quality improvement project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational flowchart in increasing the completeness of staff documentation and staff confidence in procedural sedation procedures in the Emergency Department. The project occurred in a Level II Trauma Center with a 45-bed Emergency Department.
A new procedural sedation flowchart was implemented to aid nurses in monitoring and documenting patient care. Pre- and post-Likert scale confidence questionnaires and charts were audited for completeness of documentation for three months pre-practice change and three months post-change.
While no statistically significant changes were noted in staff confidence from pre- to post-practice change, multiple improvements were noted in nursing documentation/monitoring. A full set of pre-sedation vitals were documented from 50% pre to 89.5% post (p = .005), intra-procedure pain assessments documentation increased from 67.9% pre to 88.2% post (p = .005), and a significant increase in the percentage of vital signs documented completely at 30 minutes post-procedure was noted, from 60% pre to 94.4% post (p = .009).
The results indicate that the project positively impacted nursing documentation and improved the delivery of high-quality, safe care