I wonder if this excludes posts which pay to be boosted? So many of the "ads" on FB are not banners, they're paid boosts of random posts (content, video, etc). IMO, these are the problem as they are difficult for people to ID as ads and appear to be legit.
Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
201–210 of 510 posts
Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
#202I'm a political advertiser as part of my job and one thing most people don't get is that it's not just ELECTORAL ads that Facebook usually is referring to when they're talking about "political" ads. It's, as mentioned in the article, a shorthand for "Ads About Social Issues, Elections or Politics." So, a few points. First, the obvious, that these things all depend on the extent to which Facebook promotes this "featur…
I feel ya, but that's not why I use facebook.
I unfollow friends who mostly post political stuff, even though I generally agree with them. I'm there for pictures, the shared calendar and the messaging. I'll check out memeorandum or NYT for news, and will sometimes read political stuff on reddit or twitter.
To me, I prefer FB as a way to stay connected with friends. I have many other ways to learn about political topics.
Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
#203I wonder if it'll be a obscurely named toggle hidden away in a settings sub page somewhere just so they can say they've offered the option. Unlikely of course but it would be nice if they were turned off by default and they offered users the option to turn them on with a disclaimer about how inaccurate and shady many of them are.
> I wonder if it'll be a obscurely named toggle hidden away in a settings sub page somewhere just so they can say they've offered the option. Wouldn't that disproportionately remove only young urban democrats from political advertising? also, how come the news of this change only came from a non-american news source?
I don't really understand the argument that these ads have value to the people that turn them off. You might be able to make a case that the ads have some good by passively informing people and getting your message out but anyone who's turning them off I would imagine has pretty much made up their mind.
Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
#204I see where they are coming from, but this seems backwards to me. I would like to block all commercial ads, but it seems really important to me that people see political ads. Granted, the current campaigns in the US are messed up and most ads look like propaganda, but this is a narrow view of what politics can be. Because on the other hand, as a political activist I know how incredibly hard it is to get your message…
@captainmuon I appreciate your sentiment, that viewing politics through a dirty lens is a disservice to democracy.
But it is exceptionally difficult to get past the constant battle for share of voice, for power, my tribe vs. your tribe, and down to the brass tacks of problem solving.
Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
#205I see where they are coming from, but this seems backwards to me. I would like to block all commercial ads, but it seems really important to me that people see political ads. Granted, the current campaigns in the US are messed up and most ads look like propaganda, but this is a narrow view of what politics can be. Because on the other hand, as a political activist I know how incredibly hard it is to get your message…
Everyone in politics has an agenda. Not everyone in politics is willing to be honest about what that agenda is, and rarely are they held accountable for misinformation used in pursuit of that agenda.
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Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can target Facebook ads with surgical precision to manipulate people exactly the way you want. This is exactly what Cambridge Analytica did. You cannot target people with such precision in traditional advertising. I don’t think it’s unfair to say social media advertising and data collection is the biggest risk to democracy that we have ever faced.
>This is exactly what Cambridge Analytica did The impact of Cambridge Analytica is so overstated that it crosses into hyperbole. They were a bunch of clowns with minimal impact that got magnified to a status of super-villain because you could use them to club Trump over the head with. And let's not lose sight of the big picture, namely before Trump accidentally won (yes, accidentally and barely), the Trump campaign w…
Exactly. Not just that, when the Obama used social media targeted advertising to its advantage it was fawned over in the media.
Cambridge Analytica was targeted purely because they were on the wrong political side, it's as simple as that. Does anyone really think they would have gotten any attention if they were working for Hillary?
Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
#207This misses the point hard. The problem is people who don't realize they're being lied to.
I think FB (and Zuck) have made it pretty clear by now that they actively want their users to be free to consume what they want, even if others think that’s bad for them. They understand what they’re doing.
That's blatantly false. Try posting porn, or lies in ads about non-political topics. Political ads are the only thing that gets a pass.
Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
#208I see where they are coming from, but this seems backwards to me. I would like to block all commercial ads, but it seems really important to me that people see political ads. Granted, the current campaigns in the US are messed up and most ads look like propaganda, but this is a narrow view of what politics can be. Because on the other hand, as a political activist I know how incredibly hard it is to get your message…
twitter only reaches the masses because the press relays the tweets. they only do this when it aligns with the story they want to deliver.
the vast majority of what passes through twitter is wholly unnoticed by the public if not many of those who use the service.
the idea of blocking political based advertisements is pretty much defeated by news stories of which many are political.
I am all just for putting a banner, border, or cigarette style label, on all ads with the ability to click anywhere on the border to hide that ad permanently.
Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
#209I see where they are coming from, but this seems backwards to me. I would like to block all commercial ads, but it seems really important to me that people see political ads. Granted, the current campaigns in the US are messed up and most ads look like propaganda, but this is a narrow view of what politics can be. Because on the other hand, as a political activist I know how incredibly hard it is to get your message…
> I find it frustrating and damaging to democracy that politics is viewed as something dirty. Politics should be just a domain of problem solving and discussion like programming, home improvement, or cooking - except that everybody should have a say since it affects everybody. Why do we assume everybody in politics has sinister intentions?
Because politics, at least at the top levels, has been perverted by lobbying.
Your ideal of politics seems to be that of people trying to figure out what choices and compromises need to be made. I'm sure most politicians start out like that, but once they get to office, they see that fundraising for reelection is their #1 goal, full stop.
Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could say the same of most of the web, from Github to HN...
You can say that about life It is an exceptionally privileged situation to be in when you believe you can simply opt out of politics.
But you, largely, can! We're privileged not because of any actual individual privilege (though it does help quite a bit!) but because there are already a bunch of people who are fighting for your interests. You only really have to participate in a tiny tiny subset of issues where your position isn't being heard.