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Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

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Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#571

Post by egman_ekki »

waqf wrote: post #330
nostrademons wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a problem with human wetware - there are several cognitive biases [1][2][3][4] that make people engage more strongly with ideas that fit their preconceptions and discount ideas that don't. Add information-sharing to the mix and the aggregate effect you get is large information cascades that fracture the population into tribes that believe things not necessarily because they're true, but because they are state…

As any alien arriving in your world would immediately ask, why doesn't having a true representation of the world help you survive and gain status? And if it doesn't, why does it matter?

An interesting TED talk about the topic how evolution does not necessarily favor true representation of reality in our minds and bodies: https://www.ted.com/talks/donald_hoffman_do_we_see_reality_a...

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#572

Post by dredmorbius »

munificent wrote: post #341

Facebook relatively recently reaction buttons. Would a "This is untrue" reaction button help?

That's an option. You've got the fundamental problem that many people treat truth as a popularity contest or majority opinion. It's not.

You'd need at some level a source of trusted truths against which to compare or rate statements. Though user-based flagging could work.

There's both a wisdom and a madness of crowds to contend with.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#573

Post by dredmorbius »

tomohawk wrote: post #501

They have it backwards. Its not about blocking misinformation. That just puts you in the role of the Inquisition. It's about seeking the truth.

Both matter. Blocking fuckwits (or misinformation) is a very useful heuristic to promoting truths.

(Google "Block fuckwits" for my earlier discussion(s))

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#574

Post by dredmorbius »

squozzer wrote: post #165

A humble question -- Had Hillary won, would this post even be on HN?

Yes.

The problem of disinformation, misinformation, propaganda, etc., spreading through any media channel eventually surfaces. This happens to be the event which finally brought it to consciousness.

Your comment reminds me of the early attitudes toward AIDS, dismissing it on the grounds it was just "a gay disease".

It wasn't. But it took a long time for collective (and political) consciousness to reflect that. It still hasn't in many parts of the world.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#575

Post by emodendroket »

return0 wrote: post #551
emodendroket wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those things already apply to Facebook users. Facebook is actually proposing active censorship here.

Yes that s what i m saying facebook has no business to censor people.

Oh. Well then I agree.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#576

Post by hx87 »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #374
hx87 wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Separate ideology (or whatever happens to be the object of bias) from identity, and you're halfway there. People are much more amenable to changing their minds if their identities aren't at stake. For example, most people can discuss the pros and cons of F-150s and Silverados fairly rationally; those with the Calvin pissing logos, not so much.

>> most people can discuss the pros and cons of F-150s and Silverados fairly rationally; those with the Calvin pissing logos, not so much. How is this different from stereotyping then?

Who am I stereotyping? People with "Calvin pissing on Ford/Chevy/Ram logo" stickers? The vast majority of truck drivers don't really care about brand--they just want the most appropriate truck for their situation.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#577

Post by tenpies »

remarkEon wrote: post #49
agildehaus wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the solution to "damned if you do, damned if you don't" here is to just remove the stupid news sidebar.

I imagine the news sidebar drives a lot of traffic. (I agree, though.)

Yes. Remember that Facebook itself is essentially becoming what AOL used to be. AOL News was huge and it's still probably one of their most popular sites to this day.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#578

Post by fullshark »

grandalf wrote: post #553

Trump's strategy worked brilliantly on social media. Here's the strategy in a nutshell: 1) Say something outrageous that news orgs will grab for a quick, clickbait story that will generate tons of ad revenue. 2) Let outraged people share via social media. 3) Benefit as some of the people seeing the content will not disagree and will take the candidacy seriously. 4) Win. It doesn't matter what Facebook does with its t…

Except he closed the gap in the last few weeks of the race when he stopped saying outrageous shit.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#579

Post by TrumpVoter12345 »

t_12345 wrote: post #565
TrumpVoter12345 wrote: post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Happy to oblige. Let's get the big one out of the way: I disagree with Trump on climate change. That said, the current president did jack sh#t about it, and so would Clinton (who is owned by her wealthy donors). Combined with the fact that the President can't enact policy unilaterally, and there's broad consensus around climate change in the legislative branch, I don't think too much damage will be done if any at all…

> That said, the current president did jack sh#t about it Did you get a chance to see this? https://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/climate-change > In September 2013, EPA announced proposed standards for new power plants and initiated outreach to a wide variety of stakeholders to help inform the development of emission guidelines for existing plants. In June 2014, EPA released the Clean Power Plan — the first-ever carbon…

Blah blah blah, announcements of a plan to create a committee to create a committee. The fact is no tough environmental legislation was actually enacted. And solar grew because it got massively cheaper. Guess what, it'll continue to grow under Trump.

Don't get me wrong, I did vote for Obama (again mostly because he promised to end wars), but he ended up being a complete disappointment on almost everything.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#580

Post by jklinger410 »

CaptSpify wrote: post #436
jklinger410 wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony here is also the idea that all of this so-called propaganda comes from the right. The left is constantly selecting it's own set of "facts" and tactfully leaves out whatever doesn't agree with their agenda. Simply look at all the disingenuous pro-Clinton fact checking throughout the election. Just look at the number of rape, assault, race-baity bullshit that is circulated by liberals every day. There article…

Eh... unless you have numbers, I'm going to disagree. I don't visit FB much, but I've seen enough other social media to know that both sides play the same game. They both leave out data, mis-use existing data, and outright lie. I'd love statistics to prove me wrong.

>They both leave out data, mis-use existing data, and outright lie. I'd love statistics to prove me wrong.

I don't disagree with this at all. I just said that they are framing this as if the only propaganda on social media comes from the right.

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