I miss the 70’s.
3 Likes
Facebook is a data collector and (targeted) advertising platform offering ‘free’ social connectivity to participant targets. It is certainly capable of and, based on anecdotal evidence, does censor on occasion but why focus on that rather than the data and participant aspect; e.g.,
add a fake-news and fact-check button to posts so that participants can react with something more than ‘like,’ ‘laugh,’ etc and see what happens.
So the safe approach is to assume Russian intelligence agents are tracking you on Facebook, and are manipulating you to think the way they want you to think.
They’ve gotten their guy into the White House. Face it, you’re easy pickings on Facebook.
1 Like
I have made that same assumption here at TPM. There are frequently trolls among us.
1 Like
The notion that a company with $26 billion in yearly revenue is helpless to deal with this problem is hilarious codswallop. That revenue is almost entirely advertising-based, and so FB has a distinct disincentive to do anything to cut into that revenue stream. Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t give a shit because his wealth permanently insulates him and his family from any of the negative ramifications of what his company does—or refuses to do—on a daily basis.
What’s particularly incredible is that a guy who was born into Judaism runs a company that is selling ads to Nazis. Zuckerberg should hire Netanyahu’s son—they have a lot in common.
Pro-Trump/anti-Clinton/anti-Dem groups were able to purchase “ad” space and post the most insanely ridiculous lies and smears about Hillary Clinton on a 24/7/365 basis, and Facebook claims it has no control over the material that’s posted. Yet I guarantee you that if I started running ads touting a book that exposes the shocking truth that Mark Zuckerberg uses FB headquarters to run his pedophile ring and his wife is a meth addict who tortures animals for pleasure, those ads would be pulled and my account killed within short order.
8 Likes
2013 was not the last time FB “caved to public pressure.” What about during the election when they were pressured into firing their entire news curation staff? FB created that department to combat exactly the sort of “Fake News” that they wound up promoting, but were pressured into firing the 27 journalists and editors they had on staff after a meeting with RIght Wing Media leaders: https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/16/11682130/facebook-news-bias-glenn-beck-meeting
A friend served on that staff and saw the whole thing. Caving to that rightwing pressure is exactly what has allowed them to be in this place today.
I’m not a business, and I don’t run ads on Facebook, but I just received this no-reply email from them. I didn’t catch the entire email in my screen shot, but you get the gist. What does it mean?
Edited to try to shrink size of screen shot.
Did you mean to reference Don Jr. instead of the Zucker with that statement?
Did you mean to reference Don Jr. instead of the Zucker with that statement
No, I intentionally meant to reference Zuckerberg, but it certainly applies to everybody in the Trump family and administration as well.
2 Likes
Wouldn’t be a problem if there were no people who get all their “news” on Facebook. 
1 Like
I completely agree that self-driving cars and human-driven cars on the roads at the same time is more dangerous than self-driving cars alone. And I’m not saying that statistically speaking moving to self-driving cars will not be safer.
Nevertheless, any system complex enough to do useful work is complex enough to do unpredictable things. Some of which could prove fatal.
100% with you there.
Especially in cases where your name is not common. As far as I can tell, my name is unique on the internet. If you find something with my first and last name together and spelled correctly, it is me.
Or so he thinks…
1 Like
Interesting to bring up Equifax by comparison, whose CEO should’ve been grilled to shreds by Elizabeth Warren, a month ago. But so far they’re equally doing nothing.
1 Like
According to Aaron Mackey, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, there’s not much in the law that can force Facebook to disclose, well, anything.
“The short answer is that as a private entity, there’s no requirement that they provide any additional information,” Mackey said.
Mueller?
Mueller?
Anyone, Mueller?
http://www.nerve.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/files/ben-stein.jpg
2 Likes
Wouldn’t be a problem if there were no people who get all their “news” on Facebook.
I was initially mystified by all the hoo-ha over FB’s “curating” of news on Facebook, thinking to myself, “What fucking idiot would think for even one second of getting their “news” on Facebook?”
Boy, was I naive.
5 Likes
When I saw “The Social Network”, the movie about Zuckerberg, I vowed to delete my FB account, but I never did. I have a number of good friends who live far away, and I haven’t figured out a better way to keep in touch. Having said that, there’s a lot I don’t like about FB.
I use my real name, because I figure my identity is probably already easily available on the internet for anyone who is determined to find it. I just hope my personal information is not hacked, but look at what happened with Equifax. My info has not been used so far as I know, but it could happen.
If you create content by an algorithmic process that is in some sense random, or else get content through user input (which is like random, only malicious and sick), you must filter out the objectionable material that is guaranteed to be there! Remember Tay, Microsoft’s Nazi Female Teen Chat Bot?
2 Likes
We need complete transparency. A real-time feed of all ads appearing on the platform as well an accounting of who paid for every ad. There should be NO anonymous advertising purchases (just like there should be NO anonymous campaign contributions, but that’s another story).
2 Likes
I gave FB a try a decade or so ago and quit after seeing multiple work contacts presented for me to friend - and I only went on FB on my personal computer and kept my work email separate and only accessed that via my work provided laptop. Somehow they were able to link private me to my work and that pissed me off so it was a quick goodbye to their prying eyes.
1 Like