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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > Political/War Lounge > Social engineering, Propaganda and Facebook

Social engineering, Propaganda and Facebook
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BadKosh
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May 9, 2016, 01:09 PM
 
Why am I not surprised? Lefties don't even see the problem.

Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News
     
subego
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May 9, 2016, 01:18 PM
 
"The conservative curator described the omissions as a function of his colleagues’ judgements; there is no evidence that Facebook management mandated or was even aware of any political bias at work."

Plus, if you get your news from Facebook... I mean, Jesus.
     
BadKosh  (op)
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May 9, 2016, 01:35 PM
 
Judgements? Really? Lack of perhaps.
     
subego
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May 9, 2016, 01:56 PM
 
Thank god we have Nick Denton's judgement as a fallback.
     
turtle777
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May 9, 2016, 01:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
Plus, if you get your news from Facebook... I mean, Jesus.
Unfortunately, these morons are also voters.

-t
     
subego
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May 9, 2016, 02:01 PM
 
I doubt anything they read on Facebook will sway them. Their minds are made up.
     
subego
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May 9, 2016, 02:05 PM
 
What exactly does one imagine one is doing if they hold the job of "curator"?

Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd expect them to, I don't know... curate and shit.

If I want uncurated news for robots by robots, I go to Google.

Which I do.
     
The Final Dakar
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May 9, 2016, 02:14 PM
 
It's an issue of either transparency or interpretation. Yes, curation implied they manipulated the feed. If you had asked me they would have done so for either clicks or $$$. The problem with this revelation is that they suppressed news that would have gotten clicks based on politics. They're completely free to do so, but I can't blame anyone who that doesn't sit right with.
     
BadKosh  (op)
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May 9, 2016, 02:33 PM
 
This is why I want the news/propaganda/opinion/fiction labels to be mandatory. Selling advertising to "News" but getting opinion/propaganda should get the media outlets to have to return the money. its not like FakeBook isn't already playing around with others minds.
     
subego
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May 9, 2016, 02:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
It's an issue of either transparency or interpretation. Yes, curation implied they manipulated the feed. If you had asked me they would have done so for either clicks or $$$. The problem with this revelation is that they suppressed news that would have gotten clicks based on politics. They're completely free to do so, but I can't blame anyone who that doesn't sit right with.
Considering the iron Facebook has, click and/or money optimization can be handled far better by a robot.

Adding a human to the story selection process can serve no function other than to add bias.
( Last edited by subego; May 9, 2016 at 03:14 PM. )
     
The Final Dakar
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May 9, 2016, 03:36 PM
 
Good rebuttal. I guess the answer is what their marching orders for favored content were.
     
Hawkeye_a
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May 9, 2016, 03:58 PM
 
Angela Merkel caught on hot mic confronting Mark Zuckerberg over racist Facebook posts

That's the most recent one i've heard of FaceBook. I've heard of Twitter "de veriifying" conservative commentators and pulling other such shenanigans on their site as well.

Anyone really surprised?
     
The Final Dakar
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May 9, 2016, 04:54 PM
 
To twitters credit they announced or explained the policy of deverifying promoters of hate speech and violence.
     
Hawkeye_a
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May 9, 2016, 05:31 PM
 
See How Facebook Shapes Left-Wing News In An Election Year (DailyWire, May 9 2016)

(probably masquerading behind the banner of hate speech.... n doubt)

EDIT>> Is Facebook biased regarding Israel/Arabs?
( Last edited by Hawkeye_a; May 9, 2016 at 09:13 PM. )
     
The Final Dakar
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May 10, 2016, 03:44 PM
 
Looks like he won a senate investigation.
     
Captain Obvious
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May 10, 2016, 08:56 PM
 
Its the same as every newspaper ever and network news when there were only the big 3. As such who cares.
These days people seek out the news sources that echo the opinions they already have. Facebook isn't a journalism centric entity and its users don't pay a dime to use it. Its a private sector business issue.
( Last edited by Captain Obvious; May 10, 2016 at 10:47 PM. )

Barack Obama: Four more years of the Carter Presidency
     
Hawkeye_a
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May 11, 2016, 01:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by Captain Obvious View Post
Its the same as every newspaper ever and network news when there were only the big 3. As such who cares.
These days people seek out the news sources that echo the opinions they already have. Facebook isn't a journalism centric entity and its users don't pay a dime to use it. Its a private sector business issue.
Oh i totally agree with what you're saying. Whether or not they're a news agency doesnt really matter, as a private company they can choose to promote whatever they see fit (and other companies which have the opposite view have the same right). I have no problem with FaceBook/Twitter/Google/Apple/Microsoft bias.

And there isnt any issue either in pointing out and making people aware of their bias.
     
subego
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May 11, 2016, 01:52 PM
 
The key difference is most news outlets who claim to be impartial are biased.

Facebook makes no claim to impartiality. The only reason one would think they are impartial is they believe Facebook to be a legit news source (wrong) or being impartial has financial benefit (wrong in most cases).
     
subego
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May 15, 2016, 03:10 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Good rebuttal.
Even a broken clock has its moment.
     
   
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