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Courtwright, David T. “Mr. ATOD’s Wild Ride: What Do Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs Have in Common.” UNF Digital Commons, 2005.
- This source describes limbic capitalism which is a category that social media arguably belongs in. It was very useful for understanding this type of industry and why the lack of regulations regarding algorithms is so worrisome. The other industries listed in the title are heavily regulated because they profit directly off of having negative effects on users.
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Dujeancourt, Erwan, and Marcel Garz. “The Effects of Algorithmic Content Selection on User Engagement with News on Twitter.” Information Society, vol. 39, no. 5, Oct. 2023, pp. 263–81. EBSCOhost.
- Erwan Dujeancourt is a researcher at Stockholm University and Marcel Garz is associate professor of economics at Jönköping University in Sweden. This source includes data that targets an important timeframe being Twitter's switch from a chronological timeline to an algorithmic one.
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Loewenstein, George. “The Psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation.” Carnegie Mellon University, Psychological Bulletin, 1994.
- George Loewenstein is a professor of economy and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. This source was important to the topic when describing curiosity. This definition was needed because curiosity is what drives engagement and many videos catch attention from curiosity rather than genuine interest.
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Li, Susan. “Meta Platforms Inc. Form 10-K.” Sec.Gov, United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2025.
- Susan Li is the CFO at Meta which is a company that owns many different social media platforms. The form 10-K was used to show directly how social media companies make money without the need for anyone else to interpret the form.
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Lyons, Antonia C., et al. “Limbic Platform Capitalism: Understanding the Contemporary Marketing of Health-Demoting Products on Social Media.” Addiction Research & Theory, vol. 31, no. 3, June 2023, pp. 178–83. EBSCOhost.
- Antonia C. Lyons has a PhD in health psychology and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and 5 books and works at the University of Auckland. This source was used to explain the disconnect between what technology companies want and what is good for the public.
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Onifade, Abdurrahman Bello. “Looking Beyond the Impressions of Algorithms and Fact-Checking in Fighting Online Misinformation: A Literature Review.” Education for Information, vol. 39, no. 1, Jan. 2023, pp. 33–49. EBSCOhost.
- Abdurrahman Bello Onifade is a researcher who has written many scholarly articles on both technology and algorithms. This source describes the incentives for tech companies and how spreading misinformation is what is good for profits because of the human bias towards it.
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Oosterwijk, Suzanne. “Choosing the Negative: A Behavioral Demonstration of Morbid Curiosity.” PLoS ONE, vol. 12, no. 7, July 2017, pp. 1–20. EBSCOhost.
- Suzanne Oosterwijk is an associate professor at the University of Amsterdam who has a focus on social psychology. This source sheds light on morbid curiosity and shares findings from a study where they tested the human bias towards harmful, violent or deadly content. It was used to show the human bias towards this type of media which can explain why it is so prevalent online.
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Pelley, Scott, and Frances Haugen. “Whistleblower: Facebook Is Misleading the Public on Progress against Hate Speech, Violence, Misinformation.” 60 Minutes, CBS, 2021.
- Frances Haugen is a data analyst and ex-Facebook employee who has done extensive work with algorithms. This source gives convincing information on algorithms pushing harmful content. Haugen is a whistleblower who made some of the inner workings of the Facebook algorithm public knowledge. The interview was used to get as close to understanding an algorithms engagement bias without seeing an algorithm itself and reveals a possible reason for algorithms remaining so secretive.
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Haochen Sun. “The Right to Know Social Media Algorithms.” Harvard Law & Policy Review, vol. 18, no. 1, Dec. 2023, pp. 1–57. EBSCOhost.
- Hoachen Sun is a professor of law at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law. This source is wonderful for looking at the laws in place or lack thereof regarding social media companies. It is a great starting point when trying to understand the big picture of algorithms and how the law is interpreted by the companies that own them in order to maintain their algorithmic secrecy.
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Tokaji, Daniel P. “Truth, Democracy, and the Limits of Law.” St. Louis University Law Journal, vol. 64, no. 4, June 2020, pp. 569–94. EBSCOhost.
- Daniel Tokaji is a dean and professor of law at Wisconsin Law School. His work often has a focus on democracy, elections, and technology. This source was used to explain why an algorithm pushing misinformation is dangerous and helps to understand the potential impact this has on democracy.
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Yousef, Ahmed Mohamed Fahmy, et al. “Demystifying the New Dilemma of Brain Rot in the Digital Era: A Review.” Brain Sciences (2076-3425), vol. 15, no. 3, Mar. 2025, p. 283. EBSCOhost.
- Yousef is an Associate Professor of Education and eLearning at Fayoum University in Egypt. This source was useful in bringing the harmful effects of algorithms into modern terms without losing any legitimacy. "Brain rot" is a very common saying among young people that was used by Yousef to explain the important issue of mindless media.
