What if Facebook’s effects are broader and more pernicious than hate speech or fake news? What if it scrambles the way entire communities determine right-or-wrong? What if it could be linked, by hard empirical data, to a national epidemic of violence?
I can’t recall any statistic that has stopped me in my tracks quite like this one: In any German town where per-person Facebook usage rose to one standard deviation above the national average, attacks on refugees increased by about 50 percent. 50 percent.
Well that was extremely depressing. Facebook's complete reliance on algorithms to curate content has turned it literally into a hate machine. It really feels like we've entered a new era of yellow...
Well that was extremely depressing.
That algorithm is built around a core mission: promote content that will maximize user engagement. Posts that tap into negative, primal emotions like anger or fear, studies have found, perform best and so proliferate.
Facebook's complete reliance on algorithms to curate content has turned it literally into a hate machine. It really feels like we've entered a new era of yellow journalism, but I guess as long as it's a program doing it Zuckerberg et al. can tell themselves it's not their fault or responsibility.
I think by now we've all seen Facebook's ad campaign to make it less of a cess pool. I'm not sure if I should be holding my breath as to whether or not it's just window dressing.
That quote reminds me a lot of Reddit's reluctance to root out (or at least do something about) their pervasive issues of hate-speech and bad actors. I'm sure it is a factor in many popular social...
That quote reminds me a lot of Reddit's reluctance to root out (or at least do something about) their pervasive issues of hate-speech and bad actors. I'm sure it is a factor in many popular social media sites.
I feel like as of right now all traffic looks the same to advertisers. Maybe if someone revealed to advertisers that X% of their ads played in front of neo-Nazis, we might get faster responses...
I feel like as of right now all traffic looks the same to advertisers. Maybe if someone revealed to advertisers that X% of their ads played in front of neo-Nazis, we might get faster responses from platforms to deal with hate speach.
I'm not completely sure they would; money is a powerful motivator, oftentimes no matter the source. I can't recall the name of the group(s) at the moment, but there have been movements to contact...
I'm not completely sure they would; money is a powerful motivator, oftentimes no matter the source. I can't recall the name of the group(s) at the moment, but there have been movements to contact advertisers directly when their ads are displayed on the more heinous sites (not talking about Fox News here). Apparently they have had some success, but it is slow going. It's something, at least.
While not a core value, tildes kind of does this as well. Every gender/social issue post gets tons of comments and thus tends to sit near the top of the site. It seems as though it’s filled with...
That algorithm is built around a core mission: promote content that will maximize user engagement. Posts that tap into negative, primal emotions like anger or fear, studies have found, perform best and so proliferate.
While not a core value, tildes kind of does this as well. Every gender/social issue post gets tons of comments and thus tends to sit near the top of the site. It seems as though it’s filled with the same people having the same arguments.
Yeah, this is a definite downside of "activity" sort being the default. It's probably one of the main reasons I don't want to keep it as the default, it prioritizes controversial topics that are...
Yeah, this is a definite downside of "activity" sort being the default. It's probably one of the main reasons I don't want to keep it as the default, it prioritizes controversial topics that are often just filled with bickering.
Hearing how Facebook is fueling an actual genocide in Myanmar sounds like it is out of some dystopian episode of black mirror https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-facebook-hate/
Hearing how Facebook is fueling an actual genocide in Myanmar sounds like it is out of some dystopian episode of black mirror
Reuters found more than 1,000 examples of posts, comments and pornographic images attacking the Rohingya and other Muslims on Facebook. A secretive operation set up by the social media giant to combat the hate speech is failing to end the problem.
Some 700,000 members of the Rohingya community had recently fled the country amid a military crackdown and ethnic violence. In March, a United Nations investigator said Facebook was used to incite violence and hatred against the Muslim minority group. The platform, she said, had “turned into a beast.”
This is the logical conclusion of "freedom" of information. Large, powerful actors just end up paying lots of money to own it all, but make it look "free."
This is the logical conclusion of "freedom" of information. Large, powerful actors just end up paying lots of money to own it all, but make it look "free."
I came across this article from a Twitter thread from the author - https://twitter.com/Max_Fisher/status/1031929601117827073
Well that was extremely depressing.
Facebook's complete reliance on algorithms to curate content has turned it literally into a hate machine. It really feels like we've entered a new era of yellow journalism, but I guess as long as it's a program doing it Zuckerberg et al. can tell themselves it's not their fault or responsibility.
I think by now we've all seen Facebook's ad campaign to make it less of a cess pool. I'm not sure if I should be holding my breath as to whether or not it's just window dressing.
That quote reminds me a lot of Reddit's reluctance to root out (or at least do something about) their pervasive issues of hate-speech and bad actors. I'm sure it is a factor in many popular social media sites.
I feel like as of right now all traffic looks the same to advertisers. Maybe if someone revealed to advertisers that X% of their ads played in front of neo-Nazis, we might get faster responses from platforms to deal with hate speach.
I'm not completely sure they would; money is a powerful motivator, oftentimes no matter the source. I can't recall the name of the group(s) at the moment, but there have been movements to contact advertisers directly when their ads are displayed on the more heinous sites (not talking about Fox News here). Apparently they have had some success, but it is slow going. It's something, at least.
While not a core value, tildes kind of does this as well. Every gender/social issue post gets tons of comments and thus tends to sit near the top of the site. It seems as though it’s filled with the same people having the same arguments.
Yeah, this is a definite downside of "activity" sort being the default. It's probably one of the main reasons I don't want to keep it as the default, it prioritizes controversial topics that are often just filled with bickering.
Yeah, it wouldn’t even be that bad if it was actual discussions, but like you said it’s just bickering
Hearing how Facebook is fueling an actual genocide in Myanmar sounds like it is out of some dystopian episode of black mirror
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-facebook-hate/
Sri Lanka as well: Where Countries Are Tinderboxes and Facebook Is a Match
This is the logical conclusion of "freedom" of information. Large, powerful actors just end up paying lots of money to own it all, but make it look "free."