Cortico co-founder and Board Member Deb Roy recently delivered a talk at the Chautauqua Institution, titled “Social Media and Democracy.” Currently serving as Director of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication, Roy’s research has been influential in understanding the ways in which social media deepens social fragmentation and the spread of misinformation.

The technology undergirding Cortico’s Local Voices Network was launched under Roy’s leadership as our first CEO and seeks to offer an alternative to platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, which use algorithms to show users the content that is most like their own pre-existing ideas and opinions. By contrast, LVN seeks to illuminate the complexity and nuance of individuals’ perspectives and provide opportunities to listen to those with differing viewpoints and experiences.

Read about Roy’s talk on the Chautauqua Daily:

• MIT Center for Constructive Communication director Deb Roy to discuss social media issues and alternatives
• MIT’s Deb Roy analyzes divisions caused by social media-dominated world