Understanding Social Media & Apps

50 minutes • 6 experiences

Understanding Social Media & Apps

How the apps you use really work

Follow the path from psychological manipulation to data commodification. Understand why you can't stop scrolling, what happens to your data, and how algorithms shape what you see. Grounded in documented cases.

⏱️ 50 minutes

📍 6 stops

👥 Anyone who uses social media

Scroll down to begin your journey. Each experience builds on the last.

game

Design the Worst AI

What if good intentions lead to terrible outcomes?

Build the "most engaging" app by toggling features: notifications, infinite scroll, personalization. Watch as it becomes addictive and chaotic. Congratulations—you just designed Instagram.

⏱️ 3 minmedium

game

Your Data for Sale

What's your data worth?

See your data profile: location, browsing, purchases, health. Watch it get auctioned to companies. You made $0.48. They made $677+. That's a 1,410x markup.

⏱️ 4 minmedium

investigation

The Free Lunch

If it's free, what are you really paying with?

Choose a "free" app. Watch the Terms of Service scroll by impossibly fast. Click "I Agree." See your data points fly away to advertisers, brokers, partners. This is what you agreed to in 0.3 seconds.

⏱️ 2 minmedium

game

The Filter Bubble

What reality is AI showing you?

Split screen: Two users search the same topic. One sees progressive sources. One sees conservative. Neither knows what the other sees. This is Google.

⏱️ 2 minlight

game

The Recommendation Rabbit Hole

Where do algorithms take you?

Start with "healthy recipes." Click what the AI recommends. In 10 clicks, you're watching conspiracy theories. This is YouTube's radicalization pipeline.

⏱️ 3 minmedium

investigation

When Seeing Isn't Believing

How did deepfakes evolve from warning to weapon?

Journey through 4 real deepfake cases (2018-2024): Obama PSA warning, Tom Cruise TikTok perfection, Zelenskyy war propaganda, $25.6M Arup video call heist. Watch how the technology evolved from detectable fakes to perfect simulations. Understand the real risks: financial fraud, political manipulation, wartime propaganda, non-consensual deepfakes. Learn how to protect yourself when video can no longer be trusted.

⏱️ 5 minmedium

Ready to Begin?

Start with the first experience and work your way down. Each one builds on the last.