Events
Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Cedric Langbort & So Sasaki, University of Illinois "Some Models of Content Moderation for Social Networks in the Presence of Competition"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speakers:
Cedric Langbort & So Sasaki, Coordinated Science Lab, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC)
Title:
Some Models of Content Moderation for Social Networks in the Presence of Competition
Abstract:
The past decade has witnessed a range of shifting and sometimes contradictory behaviors among social media platforms regarding their content moderation policies. These behaviors often seem to have been adopted more as reactions to societal and legal pressures than as strategic choices aimed at better serving the platform's users or beating the competition. It is natural to wonder, however, whether a platform’s set of regulations, or lack thereof, can be used as a competitive advantage, since users may choose to switch to a competitor if they feel that the moderation rules in place limit their access to content they value.
We aim to address this question in this talk by asking what content moderation policy a platform should chose to satisfy its base and/or to become/remain dominant in a market where platforms compete for users and their attention.
More precisely, we consider two stylized settings (both being extensions of Morris' celebrated model of network contagion, one where platforms can curb the amount of deception employed by a news source, the other where they directly choose the kind of content that is allowed to circulate) and determine policies that two strategic and competing platforms can sustain in equilibrium when their users value both content and social interaction. In the first setting, we further investigate how the effectiveness of the policy depends on parameters such as network structure, news virality or size and cohesiveness of in-network communities... In the second setting, we study whether tailoring the moderation policy to different subgroups may help a platform better serve its users when it is in competition with others. While these models admittedly make a number of simplifying assumptions, which we discuss, we believe they provide valuable insight towards an economically normative view of content moderation for social networks.
Speaker Bio:
Cedric Langbort is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC), where he is also affiliated with the Decision & Control Group at the Coordinated Science Lab (CSL), and the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He works on applications of control, game, and optimization theory to a variety of fields and co- founded and co-directed the Center for People & Infrastructures at CSL. His and his advisees’ work have garnered multiple recognitions such as a NSF CAREER Award, a Siebel Energy Institute Research Award, an IEEE CDC Best Student Paper Award and a NDSEG fellowship. Most recently, he has been leading a US DoD MURI project on Information Exchange Network Dynamics funded by ARO, in which, along with psychologists, communication scientists and behavioral economists, he investigates the dynamics of (mis)information over networks.
So Sasaki received his Bachelor and Masters of Engineering in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Tokyo, as well as an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from UC San Diego. He is currently working toward his Ph.D. degree at the Decision and Control Group, Coordinated Science Lab, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. His research interests include game, optimization, control, graph theory, and machine learning, with application to social media.
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/95560170313
Passcode: NICO25
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Steven Franconeri, Northwestern University "Point Taken: A gamified Intervention that Creates Enlightened Disagreements"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Steven Franconeri, Professor of Psychology, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences; Professor of Management and Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Title:
Point Taken: A gamified Intervention that Creates Enlightened Disagreements
Abstract:
Should we drop standardized testing for college or Ph.D. admissions? Allow athletes to join teams based on gender identity? When organizational and public policies bind behavior, human coexistence requires a way to determine that collective policy. Because individuals and like-minded groups have incomplete information, constrained strategies, and biased perspectives, thoughtful debate on those policies is critical. Unfortunately, those debates too often degrade into chaotic fights.
Point Taken provides a scalable solution by translating best practices in conflict resolution and critical thinking into a structured dialogue that can be learned and played in 30 minutes. In this interactive session, you'll play a short game to feel its effects.
Players replace persuasion with a common goal of discovering why they disagree. Dialogue then unfolds thoughtfully and calmly, through chains of short written reasons and responses. We've tested the game extensively in schools and organizations, and conducted a formal pilot study. All show powerful improvements in the tone and quality of debate, across longstanding and strongly-held disagreements. I’ll give background on best practices for enlightened disagreement, show how they translate to the game, ask you to play a game, and then ask for your advice on next steps.
Speaker Bio:
Steven Franconeri is leading scientist, teacher, and speaker on visual thinking, visual communication, and the psychology of data visualization. He is a Professor of Psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences at Northwestern, Director of the Northwestern Cognitive Science Program, as well as a Kellogg Professor of Management and Organizations by Courtesy. He is the director of the Visual Thinking Laboratory, where a team of researchers explore how leveraging the visual system - the largest single system in your brain - can help people think, remember, and communicate more efficiently.
His undergraduate training was in computer science and cognitive science at Rutgers University, followed by a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Harvard University, and postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia. His work on both Cognitive Science and Data Visualization has been funded by the National Science Foundation, as well as the Department of Education, and the Department of Defense. He has received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award, given to researchers who combine excellent research with outstanding teaching, and he has received a Psychonomic Society Early Career award for his research on visual thinking.
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/97198523514
PW: NICO26
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)