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Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

nytimes.com

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Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

#51

Post by folksinger »

mantas wrote: post #26
nof wrote: post #12

Just boycott Facebook already. 'but everyone uses it', yes but you have a choice. If you don't like the Facebook, then gtfo and make the effort to build something to replace it. But I guess that is too much work. People whine about Facebook, yet they do nothing to change the situation. You change the situation by making a choice. If your choice is to have Facebook account, then you are part of the problem, not the so…

The solution is not to build FB killer. The solution is to decentralise the web. Let's embrace newsletters and RSS feeds once again. I recently came back to using RSS feeds and it feels great. The problem is that many websites don't maintain their feeds properly. Broken links, missing content and whatnot.. I guess nobody ever uses them aside from weirdos.

The actual solution is to go for a walk in the woods with some friends or family members.

The actual solution is to invite your neighbor over for dinner.

The actual solution is to volunteer at a retirement home.

The actual solution is to join an amateur sports league.

The actual solution is to take an in-person group class in a subject that you find interesting.

Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

#52

Post by fauigerzigerk »

nof wrote: post #12

Just boycott Facebook already. 'but everyone uses it', yes but you have a choice. If you don't like the Facebook, then gtfo and make the effort to build something to replace it. But I guess that is too much work. People whine about Facebook, yet they do nothing to change the situation. You change the situation by making a choice. If your choice is to have Facebook account, then you are part of the problem, not the so…

No. Small publishers have no choice. They have to be where their readers are. All they can do is try to diversify as much as possible, but it won't mean a whole lot if one of the world's oligopolists cuts them off overnight.

Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

#53

Post by watwut »

folksinger wrote: post #51
mantas wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The solution is not to build FB killer. The solution is to decentralise the web. Let's embrace newsletters and RSS feeds once again. I recently came back to using RSS feeds and it feels great. The problem is that many websites don't maintain their feeds properly. Broken links, missing content and whatnot.. I guess nobody ever uses them aside from weirdos.

The actual solution is to go for a walk in the woods with some friends or family members. The actual solution is to invite your neighbor over for dinner. The actual solution is to volunteer at a retirement home. The actual solution is to join an amateur sports league. The actual solution is to take an in-person group class in a subject that you find interesting.

How does any of that replaces facebook in just about any aspect?

Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

#54

Post by r3bl »

I'm really, really proud to see my former colleague reaching the front page of HN.

I know the pain and struggle investigative journalism organizations face (especially in infosec). Going through all of this and reaching less people because some dickhead in the United States decided to add these countries randomly really pisses me off.

Even worse are the other countries chosen like Cambodia and Venezuela, which both have Free Basics. Bloggers, pizza shops, investigative journalism organizations... they're all screwed because of one group of dickheads in Silicon Valley.

Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

#55

Post by r3bl »

nof wrote: post #12

Just boycott Facebook already. 'but everyone uses it', yes but you have a choice. If you don't like the Facebook, then gtfo and make the effort to build something to replace it. But I guess that is too much work. People whine about Facebook, yet they do nothing to change the situation. You change the situation by making a choice. If your choice is to have Facebook account, then you are part of the problem, not the so…

So what are you gonna do in Venezuela and Cambodia (also on this experiment) where people have and use Free Basics? Cut yourself off completely from your potential market because you don't want to have Facebook?

Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

#56

Post by cguess »

therealmarv wrote: post #4

Facebook is the worst way of getting news and information in general. It's not the open independent web and by joining Facebook you agreed that you give them control. So even when I understand the frustration and I agree with the context... you all agreed to Facebook conditions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"Shut down and get off the internet" is what the leaders in these countries want people to do.

The question isn't for individuals, it's for distribution. If you're in these countries essentially the only way to reach the people these days is through Facebook. Any other option and you're handing out a poorly xeroxed zine on the side of the street. The president of the country used to explicitly run the censorship of media in Yugoslavia. Nothing gets published without a tacit sign off even now.

Facebook promised to democratize interactions, got every journalist in the world to go along with it, and then pulled the carpet.

Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

#57

Post by oconnor663 »

r3bl wrote: post #54

I'm really, really proud to see my former colleague reaching the front page of HN. I know the pain and struggle investigative journalism organizations face (especially in infosec). Going through all of this and reaching less people because some dickhead in the United States decided to add these countries randomly really pisses me off. Even worse are the other countries chosen like Cambodia and Venezuela, which both h…

Do you think they'd be better off without Free Basics at all, or more that they'd be better off if it worked differently?

Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

#59

Post by muglug »

lowry wrote: post #49

This is stupid. Facebook was bashed for influencing politics. It now tries to avoid political discussion entirely by downplaying news from Pages, but it is now bashed for it as well. Where's your integrity, journalists?

Facebook was bashed for not doing enough to counter efforts by individuals and foreign governments to spread false and misleading stories in the run up to recent elections.

The solution is not to downplay articles from established news organisations, especially not organisations that Facebook users have chosen to follow.

Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia

#60

Post by [deleted] »

folksinger wrote: post #51
mantas wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The solution is not to build FB killer. The solution is to decentralise the web. Let's embrace newsletters and RSS feeds once again. I recently came back to using RSS feeds and it feels great. The problem is that many websites don't maintain their feeds properly. Broken links, missing content and whatnot.. I guess nobody ever uses them aside from weirdos.

The actual solution is to go for a walk in the woods with some friends or family members. The actual solution is to invite your neighbor over for dinner. The actual solution is to volunteer at a retirement home. The actual solution is to join an amateur sports league. The actual solution is to take an in-person group class in a subject that you find interesting.

[deleted]
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