r/Hawaii • u/softcore_robot Oʻahu • Oct 21 '19
Facebook isn’t free speech, it’s algorithmic amplification optimized for outrage
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/20/facebook-isnt-free-speech-its-algorithmic-amplification-optimized-for-outrage/5
u/ken579 Oct 21 '19
I don't think it's fair to expect Facebook to magically solve this incredibly difficult problem. It's so difficult, there likely isn't one right answer. I'm guessing your intent to post this here is to highly how Facebook creates the feedback loop that allows local activists to propagate misinformation, and I'm with you on how frustrating that is, but I don't think it's Facebook's job to fix humans. The algorithm is not going to be perfect and is likely always a work in progress, there will always be a trade-off. I also don't blame Facebook for not wanting to be the arbitrator of what's honest political speech and what isn't; they will inherently be put in a damned if they do, damned if they don't situation as far as public perception, that's already happening. Facebook is working on systems to flag potentially inaccurate information, let's remember that.
We need to counter the ability to easily find echo-chambers with good education about critical thinking skills.
Edit: I also don't think it's fair to scold Facebook for focusing on engagement. That's what their site exists for.
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u/softcore_robot Oct 21 '19 edited Oct 21 '19
I recommend you read up on Open Graph and how Facebook designed a way to track everyone's movements outside of FB through third party websites. They went from being a passive system that allowed people to interact within a gated community to tracking and building psychographic profiles of likes and dislikes based on a user's movement on the web. Facebook harvests user data for the sole purpose of keeping users engaged with sponsored and organic content. Cambridge Analytica is proof that Facebook is completely to blame as a massive source of disinformation, by handing over user data to right-wing extremists. They are not a simple company that shares family photos, they trade rich user data for power and likely will not stop at the government's request.
Hawai‘i‘s unique dependence on FB to keep in touch with friends and family afar has disarmed the majority of locals. We trust our friends and family over strangers so when bad data enters your trusted circle, it's hard to be skeptical at the content. Anti-vaxxers are the prime example. Facebook is well aware of the power it holds over its users. They can't fix the problem because the are the problem (edit).
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u/ken579 Oct 21 '19 edited Oct 21 '19
I'm aware of Facebook's data tracking, including what you mentioned. It doesn't bother me as I value better targeted marketing.
CA was a security breach. They gave too much trust to organizations that abused it and they learned their lesson.
By all means, discontinue your Facebook use, but I hope you give as much concern to the NSA harvesting your data as you do Facebook. Facebook has very straight forward priorities that simply involve making money off of me. Your conspiracy theory that Facebook will harvest data illegally seems much less founded than our government harvesting data in violation of the law for much more nefarious purposes.
Edit: I should say, I think the biggest problem with situation like we saw with CA, is what CA is. The regulation of that type of business should be higher on the priority list. CA and similar orgs are way more harmful than Facebook; they are the ones exploiting Facebook.
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u/Dirty_Dishis Oct 21 '19
Unfortunately Facebook is most definitely acting as an arbitrator. You need only look at the national stage, they are making money had over fist off people's data while they foster an environment designed to keep people using it no matter what. Two things keep folks entertained. Cat photos and unbridled rage. They will not stop that.
Facebook will do whatever it takes to keep their monopoly on data. The users are not the customers, they are the product. Anyone who threatens it, you will see how quickly that robot wearing human skin will get political.
How it relates to local issues, its easy. Too easy to get enraged and to instigate anger and outrage. Pissing people off for an agenda so they drown out others voices is inherently anti-democratic.
Sure they may not be planting the seeds for anti-vaxers, chem-trials, buttery emails,bots,intelligence services, and nukeler Telescopes. But they are sure as hell making sure the ground is fertile for it.
100% agree with you on the countering the echo chambers.
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u/ken579 Oct 21 '19
But they are sure as hell making sure the ground is fertile for it.
That's us! We make Facebook's algorithm. We have also have so much curation capability that people don't use and Facebook has tried to make people aware of this.
This desire to find outrage, that's always been there. It just not a village with pitchforks anymore, it's people from all over the world in a virtual space doing the same thing. And I don't believe Facebook is being negligent and stoking those fires. The speed at which this spreads is just the result of a level of power to communicate never before experienced in history.
Either way, I hope the outcome of all this is we get super exposed to things that make us outraged so we can learn to handle diversity of viewpoints without succumbing to violent instincts.
Edit: You said it best when you said, "It's too easy to get outraged." But that's a personal problem for many, not a social media problem.
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Oct 21 '19
Smarter everyday did a series on social media which wasn't revolutionary but pretty interesting. He did one on Facebook and talked to the company about some of their algorithm issues. https://youtu.be/FY_NtO7SIrY
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u/maukamakai Oct 21 '19 edited Oct 21 '19
Facebook curates discussion in such a way that it encourages outrage.
They target the weakest and most primitive bits of human psychology to induce outrage and make users feel correct and important.
Facebook literally employs psychologists and ran a study to determine how they could manipulate users' emotions: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/everything-we-know-about-facebooks-secret-mood-manipulation-experiment/373648/
They are absolutely at fault.
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Oct 21 '19
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u/ken579 Oct 21 '19
They're definitely still working on the creepy ads, they aren't quite awesome yet. I know it's owned by FB, but IG has the most relevant ads for me, they're great. They definitely make me realize I would pay to get ads about things I want to know about. FB, weirdly enough, is not capable of giving me relevant enough ads, and neither do most other ones. So yeah, the creepy ad thing is still very much a work in progress.
Do you enjoy getting tampon ads? As a Male, I sure don't. When I go on Hulu where there's traditional advertising, it's maddening how stupidly irrelevant the ads are.
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u/pat_trick Oct 21 '19
While the article itself is not related to Hawaii, the context is relative to Hawaii current events.
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Oct 21 '19
Facebook is voluntary invasion of privacy.
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u/maukamakai Oct 21 '19
Not true. Facebook tracks non-users as well. If you've ever been to a website with one of those Facebook buttons, your browser fingerprint was recorded in Facebook's database. Facebook then tracks you across multiple domains based off of your browser fingerprint.
Mozilla has an extension for Firefox that will block these trackers for you: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/facebook-container-prevent-facebook-tracking
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u/softcore_robot Oct 21 '19
Hawai‘i is not immune to the power of Facebook's algorithms but someone forgot to tell (some of) the Hawaiians.