🏛 Yes, Social Media Really Is Undermining Democracy

Plus: Jack Ma Plans to Cede Control of Ant Group, DeepMind has predicted the structure of almost every protein known to science, and more…

Today’s pick

Yes, Social Media Really Is Undermining Democracy. Within the past 15 years, social media has insinuated itself into American life more deeply than food-delivery apps into our diets and microplastics into our bloodstreams. Look at stories about conflict, and it's often lurking in the background. (Jonathan Haidt / The Atlantic)

Jonathan Haidt @JonHaidt

.@Meta responded to my Babel essay, and @TheAtlantic gave me a chance to respond to Meta. I explain why the 2 studies they so often point to do not exonerate them. In fact, the deeper you go into the published research, the stronger the case gets:

theatlantic.comYes, Social Media Really Is Undermining DemocracyDespite what Meta has to say.

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Jack Ma Plans to Cede Control of Ant Group. HONG KONG—Billionaire Jack Ma plans to relinquish control of Ant Group Co., people familiar with the matter said, part of the fintech giant's effort to move away from affiliate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. after more than a year of… (Jing Yang / Wall Street Journal)

Jing Yang @jingyanghk

@WSJ scoop: #JackMa plans to cede control of Ant, as the fintech giant moves away from #Alibaba, after an eventful year and a half. The change will put back any revival of Ant's IPO for a year, or longer, becuz of securities regulations. w/@raffaelehuang

wsj.comWSJ News Exclusive | Jack Ma Plans to Cede Control of Ant GroupThe shift, long under consideration to reduce governance risks, comes as the Chinese fintech giant seeks to move on from a tough year.

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DeepMind has predicted the structure of almost every protein known to science. The latest data release gives the database a massive boost. The update includes structures for “plants, bacteria, animals, and many, many other organisms, opening up huge opportunities for AlphaFold to have impact on important issues such as… (Melissa Heikkilä / MIT Technology Review)

Melissa Heikkilä @Melissahei

DeepMind says its AlphaFold tool has predicted the structure of nearly all known proteins and is offering its database to anyone for free. This is a big deal — the tool could help scientists understand diseases better and create new drugs quicker.

technologyreview.comDeepMind has predicted the structure of almost every protein known to scienceAnd it’s giving the data away for free, which could spur new scientific discoveries.

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YouTube's new tool lets creators turn their own videos into Shorts. YouTube wants to quickly ramp up the number of short-form “Shorts” videos available on its platform in order to better compete with TikTok. To aid with this effort, the company is today rolling out a new creator tool that turns… (Sarah Perez / TechCrunch)

Sarah Perez @sarahintampa

YouTube’s new tool lets creators turn their own videos into Shorts:

ift.ttYouTube’s new tool lets creators turn their own videos into Shorts – TechCrunchYouTube wants to quickly ramp up the number of short-form “Shorts” videos available on its platform in order to better compete with TikTok. To aid with this effort, the company is today rolling out a new creator tool that turns existing YouTube videos into Shorts in a matter of moments.…

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The Twitter Blue subscription is getting more expensive. People frequently express their amazement that Twitter is free, but for some people, it isn't — Twitter Blue launched last year in several countries, tacking on a few extra features for anyone willing to pay $2.99 per month. Today the… (Richard Lawler / The Verge)

Richard Lawler @rjcc

What kind of person would pay $5 for Twitter Blue? (Hear me out -- that edit button for Tweets test has gotta be coming soon, right?)

The Verge @verge

The Twitter Blue subscription is getting more expensive https://t.co/FIoMy2NqA7 https://t.co/pjGEFcG642

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