Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
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Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
#2I understand why the media is frustrated about this. Zuckerberg basically promised them all of this traffic if they just "go all in" with Facebook. And now he's pulling the blanket from under them - just like the media was warned he would do, and they didn't listen.
That said, from an objective point of view, first off the media is not entitled to the user's home page in a random social network. They should have never believed that they were.
Second, to be honest, I think it's better for democracy if stories aren't fed by Facebook through its black-box algorithm. I suppose the a small government like the Serbian one couldn't do much to get Facebook to spread their propaganda through it, but if say the U.S. government were to do that, or even say the Indian government - oh boy. It would be such a propaganda machine, better than TV ever was.
The second part to this is that even if governments don't directly control the feeds to spread propaganda, they can exploit Facebook's algorithm, just like Russia supposedly did in the U.S. election, so the end result is the same.
This is why I'd rather people do their own research and they do the job of looking for posts, rather than "being served" those posts by a black magic algorithm that may have all sorts of biases embedded in it.
Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
#3It's a sad state of affairs if Facebook is a requirement for becoming a working democracy.
Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
#4Facebook 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)_/¯
Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
#5Even though their formats are different NYT et al. and FB are competitors. Even though there is kernel of truth, the media witch-hunt of Facebook is out of proportion.
Long story short, its not concern for democracy (if NYT was concerned about democracy it would not be a rabid partisan) its just jealousy and hate that Zuckerberg is eating their cake.
Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
#6[deleted]
Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
#7Even though their formats are different NYT et al. and FB are competitors. Even though there is kernel of truth, the media witch-hunt of Facebook is out of proportion. Long story short, its not concern for democracy (if NYT was concerned about democracy it would not be a rabid partisan) its just jealousy and hate that Zuckerberg is eating their cake.
The anxiety seems proportional to Facebook's reach, does it not? Does anyone else have that reach?
Don't believe you can support your second paragraph. You can't erase the points an article makes by identifying a potential motive, and surely in an organization the size of the NYT, there's room for lots of motives.
Whether they are jealous or not, Facebook is still a threat to democracy.
Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
#8Even though their formats are different NYT et al. and FB are competitors. Even though there is kernel of truth, the media witch-hunt of Facebook is out of proportion. Long story short, its not concern for democracy (if NYT was concerned about democracy it would not be a rabid partisan) its just jealousy and hate that Zuckerberg is eating their cake.
What an uneducated answer from what I assume is a techy. Facebook is a treat to democracies. There are more articles on this than the other way around.
Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
#9Even though their formats are different NYT et al. and FB are competitors. Even though there is kernel of truth, the media witch-hunt of Facebook is out of proportion. Long story short, its not concern for democracy (if NYT was concerned about democracy it would not be a rabid partisan) its just jealousy and hate that Zuckerberg is eating their cake.
What an uneducated answer from what I assume is a techy. Facebook is a treat to democracies. There are more articles on this than the other way around.
Treat or threat?..
Re: Facebook's experiments with user behavior in Serbia
#10Even though their formats are different NYT et al. and FB are competitors. Even though there is kernel of truth, the media witch-hunt of Facebook is out of proportion. Long story short, its not concern for democracy (if NYT was concerned about democracy it would not be a rabid partisan) its just jealousy and hate that Zuckerberg is eating their cake.
Probably a grain of truth to that, but no more. Sure, there are plenty of valid concerns and discussions to be had about Facebook (where I work BTW). OTOH, a lot of the most vitriolic commentary, from both fellow techies and from traditional media, seems to have at least a tinge of Tall Poppy Syndrome to it. Does anyone really think $newspaper or $startup would be any less problematic if they grew to the same size? Get real. Maybe if we dropped some of the double standards and blind hate, we could actually have those important conversations about real solutions to real problems.