61–70 of 219 posts
Why doesn't Facebook have an identity verification process? They literally allow anyone to sign up as any person. There is a show on MTV called Catfish that is dedicated to people who create fake profiles to trick people into relationships.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In part, imho, the distrust comes from the the standards of the highest tiers of professional journalists being on a low right now too.
I'm doubtful that most journalists actually want it to be that way. Those are just the economic and reader incentives in journalism today. There are some great stats about just how much the number of professional journalists has shrunk in the social media era.
It's ironic that as we move into a world where anyone can be a "journalist" and anyone can have a voice, we need professional journalists more than ever. Now a journalist will not only need training in writing well, conveying a story with facts, and investigating, but they will also need to become experts in identifying fake source material. In a world where anyone can make a video or photo of anyone doing anything,…
https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/10/11/pro-trump-outlet-link...
https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/11/12/bl-fake-profiles/
https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/12/13/facebook-bl-cib/
https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/12/20/facebook-removes-the-...
It's ironic that as we move into a world where anyone can be a "journalist" and anyone can have a voice, we need professional journalists more than ever. Now a journalist will not only need training in writing well, conveying a story with facts, and investigating, but they will also need to become experts in identifying fake source material. In a world where anyone can make a video or photo of anyone doing anything,…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can see this being a naïve but realistic take given what we knew in ~2008. In 2012 it should have been clear that this model could be gamed. And it's on Facebook that their culture wouldn't allow them to see that.
You’re assuming they didn’t see that. Given it’s now nearly 2020 and we’ve had years of reports of election meddling yet Facebook are only calming down on suggestive emoji - stating that they have no interest in policing “free speech” when it comes to political ads - I’m inclined to believe they’re not unaware their network is being games but rather don’t care because it’s still money in their pocket.
Facebook solved a problem (connecting) but it also created one (fake content, bot farms).
Either Facebook will fix it, or if they don't, new products will pop up to solve the problem to try to provide more reliable content.
Recently, might have seen it on here (I forget where) someone trained an AI to try to detect fake news. Sure the first attempts will be crappy prototypes, but the point is that people are trying to figure the problem out.
It's ironic that as we move into a world where anyone can be a "journalist" and anyone can have a voice, we need professional journalists more than ever. Now a journalist will not only need training in writing well, conveying a story with facts, and investigating, but they will also need to become experts in identifying fake source material. In a world where anyone can make a video or photo of anyone doing anything,…
One of the scariest quotes for me was Facebook's Little Red Book in 2012 (a book handed out to every employee) that had this quote: > "When everyone has a printing press [i.e., Facebook], the ones with the best ideas are the ones people listen to." In retrospect, it gives a ton of insight into the flawed beliefs within the company. https://twitter.com/nemild/status/1006533287378968576 https://www.businessinsider.com/…
Should be:
"When everyone has a printing press, the most persuasive ones are the ones people listen to"
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In part, imho, the distrust comes from the the standards of the highest tiers of professional journalists being on a low right now too.
It's not the journalists but their bosses that are the problem.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the scariest quotes for me was Facebook's Little Red Book in 2012 (a book handed out to every employee) that had this quote: > "When everyone has a printing press [i.e., Facebook], the ones with the best ideas are the ones people listen to." In retrospect, it gives a ton of insight into the flawed beliefs within the company. https://twitter.com/nemild/status/1006533287378968576 https://www.businessinsider.com/…
> "When everyone has a printing press [i.e., Facebook], the ones with the best ideas are the ones people listen to." Should be: "When everyone has a printing press, the most persuasive ones are the ones people listen to"
It's ironic that as we move into a world where anyone can be a "journalist" and anyone can have a voice, we need professional journalists more than ever. Now a journalist will not only need training in writing well, conveying a story with facts, and investigating, but they will also need to become experts in identifying fake source material. In a world where anyone can make a video or photo of anyone doing anything,…
We don't need real journalists, we need a way to pay for news that makes accurate reporting profitable.
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Good article, but for the sake of argument: Don't you think any technical "solutions" to this issue will also eliminate the possibility to use these tools for ethical goals (let's say the roles were reversed or whatever) – in addition to all the other gray-area, and inevitable arms-race of detection/avoidance?
Definitely. I mean I think e.g. you could have incredible art projects and experiences created out e.g. of giant undetectable fake crowds. There are real tradeoffs in terms of what we value or need in a society.