Tim Minchin on how social media algorithms shape our digital lives
It has turned out that the particular [social media] algorithms that we have allowed into the world... are dehumanising mechanisms and extremification robots.
We believed technology would bring us closer, that social media would foster understanding, empathy and stronger democracies. But somewhere along the way, the tools meant to connect us began to divide us.
Watch as comedian, actor and author Tim Minchin unpacks how social media algorithms have shaped our digital lives in ways we didn’t expect, and why it's time to take a more conscious approach. By staying informed and aware, we can keep what’s good, challenge what’s harmful and rebuild a more connected, human online world.
This quote was featured in the Nobel Prize Dialogue Sydney.
Tim Minchin
In addition to two decades of award-winning live performance and multiple recorded specials, Tim Minchin is the composer and lyricist of smash-hit stage musicals, Matilda and Groundhog Day. He is also a screenwriter (of the award-winning Upright, in which he stars alongside House of The Dragon’s Milly Alcock), and a screen actor, (Atticus Fetch in Californication, Friar Tuck in Robin Hood 2014, Darius Cracksworth in Disney's The Artful Dodger). He is a public speaker, and a book of his commencement speeches, You Don’t Have to Have a Dream, was recently published.
Stage roles include his acclaimed Judas in the 2014 UK / Australian Arena Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, and Rosencrantz in the Sydney Theatre Company’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. His 2020 studio album, Apart Together, peaked at #2 on the ARIA charts.
Among many accolades, he has won two Olivier Awards for Best Musical, a British Composers Award for Best Score, a Logie for Best Supporting Actor, an ACTAA for best TV comedy performance, an Edinburgh Comedy Award for best newcomer, a What’s On Stage Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the Richard Dawkins Award for Science Communication, and an Order of Australia for Services to the Arts and the Community. He has been nominated for some Tonys and a Grammy.
Photo: Damian Bennett.
