BBC Focus - 03.2020

3

FROM THE

EDITOR

Ihavetoadmit,I don’tlikeTwitter.Assomeonewho

worksona magazine,thisfeelslikea bitofa

confession,sincethesocialmediasiteis abuzzwith

journalistsandeditorskeepingtheiraudiencesup-to-

dateonthestoriesthatmatter.I wanttolikeit andI

canseethepoint,buttomethemediumfeelsbroken.

Thetroubleis thatthethingsthatmakethesitegreat

• brevity,trendinghashtagsandanonymity– alsogiverisetoits
  worstfacets. 280 charactersmeansthatcomplexdebatesbecome
  simplistic;trendsmeanthateveryonehastohaveanopinionon
  everything;andanonymityhasa habitofturningpeoplesour.
  Ultimatelythemediumrewardsthosewiththemostpolarising
  views,whichusuallymeansanyattemptat debateleavespeopleon
  eithersidestaringat a craterwherethemiddlegroundusedtobe.
  Ofcourse,thereis a goodsidetoTwitter.It canconnectstrangers
  withsimilarinterestsandcauses,dissolvingthousandsofmilesin
  a singleclick.Andit’smassivelyempoweringinthewayit helps
  thosewhocan’tleavetheirhomesconnectwiththeworldat large.
  Butnevertheless,it’shardtocomeawayfromthesitewithout
  feelingangrynowadays.Sotherealquestionis – is theangerwe
  seeonTwitterbleedingintotherealworld?Areweallasangryin
  personasweseemtobeonline?Headto p54 to find out how social
  media seems to push our buttons...

Daniel Bennett,Editor

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ONTHEBBCTHISMONTH...

MARKMIODOWNIK

Is biodegradableplastica

wasteoftime?Materials

scientistMarkMiodownik,

oneoftheteambehindthe

BigCompostExperiment

explainswhyplasticsaren’t

always a bad thing.-> P

DREMILYLEVESQUE

CouldtheBetelgeusestar

beabouttoexplode?We

askedUniversityof

Washingtonastronomer

Emily,whostudiesthe

physicsofsupergiant

stars.->P

DRCAMILLAPANG

Scientistsareteaching

machinestolearnlikeus.

Butwhatcancomputers

teachusaboutourselves?

Camillatellsushowscience

helpedhercreatea guideto

living with autism.->P

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Someanimalshaveevolved

tolooklikefreshfaeces.To

findoutwhy,wildlifewriter

Benjourneysintothe

poo-niverse...->p

Whyare

sphynx

catshairless?

->p

Dangerous

Visions:Body

Horror

Developedthrough

theWellcomeTrust

Experimentalstories

scheme,thisthree

partseriesis partof

BBCRadio4’s

DangerousVisions

season,andpresents

radiodramasthat

discussdystopian

versionsofourfuture.

Begins 11 March, 14:

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CONTRIBUTORS

ComedyClub

Extra:The

Hitchhiker’s

Guidetothe

Galaxyis 42

Celebratethe

phenomenathat

redefinedthescifi

genre andis funny

toboot inthis

fivehourspecial.

BBCRadio4 Extra,

8 March, from 8pm

Religioninthe

DigitalAge

Thisfourpartseries

askshowtechnology

haschangedthe

practiseofreligion.

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