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Influence
[edit]Roughly 2 billion people use the Facebook platform monthly and approximately 1.2 billion use it each day.[1] Approximately 62 percent of adults in the United States use social media to get news meaning facebook's influence has become a liability for the company.[2] During the 2016 U.S. presidential election propagandists used the Facebook platform to disseminate fake news that more frequently favoured Donald Trump over Hilary Clinton.[2] As a social media platform, user generated content and media created content can be shared vastly within the digital community. In some cases it has been understood to have reached as many readers as United States states media agency, The New York Times, Fox News and CNN.[2] This has come with repercussions for Facebook, as they were accused of releasing personally identifiable information of approximately 82 million users to Cambridge Analytica.[3] The Cambridge Analytical Scandal drew much attention to the privacy settings and influence of the News Feed on the Facebook platform. The News Feed has become a significant contributor to the spread of misinformation; as former U.S. president Barack Obama put it, "misinformation...looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television."[1]
After the 2016 election, journalist Margaret Sullivan called on Facebook inc. to hire an editor to monitor News Feed to ensure accuracy and balance of news stories.[1] In late 2016, Facebook described plans to issue warning labels on certain News Feed posts. Facebook has a partnership with fact-checkers like Snopes.com and PolitiFact, and would display that a story is disputed if it has been debunked by one of those fact-checkers.[1]
Operation
[edit]On the Facebook app, News Feed is the first screen to appear, partially leading most users to think of the feed as Facebook itself.[4]
The Facebook News Feed operates as a revolving door of articles, pages the user has liked, status updates, app activity, likes from other users photos and videos. [5] This operates an arena of social discussion. Algorithms are employed on the Facebook platform to curate a personalized experience for users that is predominantly featured in the News Feed.[6]
Adam Mosseri is Facebook’s vice president in charge of News Feed and Chief Product Officer while Chris Cox runs the Facebook app and News Feed.[4] On October 1, 2018, it was announced Adam Mosseri would become the head of Instagram.[7][8]
Algorithms:
[edit]Facebook's proprietary algorithms compare the merits of about 2,000 potential posts every time the app is opened, using a complex system based on providing a meaningful experience, over that of clicks, reactions, or reading time.[4] The News Feed has been described as a filter bubble, showing users personalized results about information deemed interesting to them, in contrary to showing all information, even information that they disagree with.[4] Subsequently, the functionality of the News Feed has been debated as to whether or not it is an echo-chamber.[1] Facebook has been researching this situation since 2010,[4] and initially used an algorithm known as EdgeRank.[9] By late 2013, clickbait articles had become significantly prevalent, leading Facebook's chief product officer Chris Cox's team to hire survey panels to assess how News Feed was working. As a result, Facebook began adding ever-increasing numbers of data points to its algorithm to significantly reduce clickbait.[4]
Effect on opinion
[edit]A 2015 study published in Science concluded that Facebook's algorithms had a minimal effect on the news feed's diversity, though the study prompted academic criticism.[4] The Facebook platform is being closely studied as a result of events such as the Cambridge Analytica Scandal to further understand the affect of algorithms on the formulation of public opinion.[6]
References:
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Manjoo, Farhad (April 25, 2017). "Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug?". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
- ^ a b c Allcott, Hunt; Gentzkow, Matthew (2017). "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election". Journal of Economic Perspectives. 31 (2): 211–236. doi:10.1257/jep.31.2.211. ISSN 0895-3309.
- ^ Isaak, Jim; Hanna, Mina (2018). "User Data Privacy: Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and Privacy Protection". IEEE. 51(8): pp.56-59 – via IEEE.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c d e f g Manjoo, Farhad (April 25, 2017). "Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug?". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
- ^ "How News Feed Works | Facebook Help Center | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ a b Bucher, Taina (2017). "The algorithmic imaginary: exploring the ordinary affects of Facebook algorithms". Information, Communication & Society. 20(1): 30–44 – via Taylor and Francis Online.
- ^ "Former Facebook News Feed head Adam Mosseri to lead Instagram". October 1, 2018.
- ^ Constine, Josh (October 1, 2018). "Meet Adam Mosseri, the new head of Instagram". TechCrunch.
- ^ Al-Greene, Bob (May 7, 2013). "What Is Facebook EdgeRank and Why Does It Matter?". Mashable. Retrieved June 15, 2017.