Facebook's Left-Leaning Bias

[BridgeTroll]

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/is-facebook-lying

Did Facebook lie? In a "the sky is green" way, no. But in the polished, expertly-hedged, truth-with-a-spin way that corporate communications departments are so good at, yes.

Claim #1: It's just an algorithmClaim #2: Curators don't "inject" storiesClaim #3: User preferences are a factor in Facebook TrendingSo, did Facebook lie?

[Adam White]

lol.

Such whiny babies.  If you don't include their most crazy examples of crazy, then you are 'suppressing' 'conservative' viewpoints?

Let's take Breitbart, etc out of the equation. What about other conservative (and reputable) publications like the Wall Street Journal or the Daily Telegraph?

Although I might not agree with the editorial stance of the Telegraph or Times, I wouldn't include them in the "most crazy examples of crazy".

[BridgeTroll]

I could care less whether they editorialize or not.  DO NOT CARE.  Just don't lie that you are... pretty fukin simple.

[BridgeTroll]

lol... as always... as long as it spins counter clockwise...  polished, expertly-hedged, truth-with-a-spin way.  Don't even have a facebook account... don't waste my time with such trivial crap...

Happy Friday! 

[Sentient]

I could care less whether they editorialize or not.  DO NOT CARE.  Just don't lie that you are... pretty fukin simple.

Here they come again, right on cue...  FOX NEWS! WINGNUTS! BATSHIT CRAZY...!!!  Soon we will get the "so what!, Isn't there anything mor eimportant to focus on!!!  MOve ALONG!


Meanwhile the entire essence of the outrage is purposefully ignored and dissembled.

DID FB DO WHAT THEY TELL YOU THEY ARE DOING?  That is the only question.  What is the answer Steven?

This is what they SAID they did:

How does Facebook determine what topics are trending?

"Trending shows you topics that have recently become popular on Facebook. The topics you see are based on a number of factors including engagement, timeliness, Pages you've liked and your location."

https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641

HOWEVER - this is what the ACTUALLY did:

https://fbnewsroomus.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/full-trending-review-guidelines.pdf

Page 21 for "Injecting Topics"...

And now this here

"Its literally no accident that this issue comes up just before the Trump people will need social media support in the general election."

Hmmmm  why would this be of concern to people who KNOW that FB itself has claimed to literralyinfluence elections, both in turnout and in FB Page fundraising?

Oh wait, let's look at internal FB "questions for Mark" for some guidance here:



http://gizmodo.com/facebook-employees-asked-mark-zuckerberg-if-they-should-1771012990

Oh and how might Mark feel about Trump?

http://gizmodo.com/mark-zuckerberg-throws-shade-at-donald-trump-during-key-1770534129#_ga=1.30452089.778886705.1458001093

[Sentient]

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/digital-democracy/facebook-61-million-person-experiment-social-influence-political-mobilization#sthash.pAv0dq7n.dpuf

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v489/n7415/full/nature11421.html

[Adam White]

This is what they SAID they did:

How does Facebook determine what topics are trending?

"Trending shows you topics that have recently become popular on Facebook. The topics you see are based on a number of factors including engagement, timeliness, Pages you've liked and your location."

https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641

Based on a number of factors, including...

Not: based on a number of factors including and limited to....

I think it's unethical to massage or manage the trending stories feed without being open about it. Facebook users may not pay to use the service, but Facebook profits from them. As such, they have a right to be treated fairly.

There is a secondary issue here - whether or not this manipulation (if it did occur) was sanctioned by Facebook or whether it was just a common practice that happened, unbeknownst to the higher-ups.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[finehoe]

Consider all of this in light of the below... then make a decision.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v489/n7415/full/nature11421.html

It's quite a leap to infer that because messages to get-out-the-vote increases turnout, then messages-for-a-cause must convert people to that cause.

[Sentient]

This is what they SAID they did:

How does Facebook determine what topics are trending?

"Trending shows you topics that have recently become popular on Facebook. The topics you see are based on a number of factors including engagement, timeliness, Pages you've liked and your location."

https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641

Based on a number of factors, including...

Not: based on a number of factors including and limited to....

I think it's unethical to massage or manage the trending stories feed without being open about it. Facebook users may not pay to use the service, but Facebook profits from them. As such, they have a right to be treated fairly.

There is a secondary issue here - whether or not this manipulation (if it did occur) was sanctioned by Facebook or whether it was just a common practice that happened, unbeknownst to the higher-ups.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Adam. 

Would you prefer that Facebook allow troll armies to determine its feed?

And what do you think they are 'massaging'?

Credibility seems to have been the main determinant.

Wait what?  "Credibility seems to have been the main determinant."  I thought this was so LOL and NOTHING happened and they don't have a "direct source" and this was literally nothing etc.? 

Wait did they actually INJECT stories into trending that were NOT trending according to their algorithms?   And for what purpose?  It was random right?  It had no bias right? No point of view?

Continue to dissemble and obfuscate.  We can leave aside for the moment the subjective issue of credibility.

[Sentient]

Consider all of this in light of the below... then make a decision.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v489/n7415/full/nature11421.html

It's quite a leap to infer that because messages to get-out-the-vote increases turnout, then messages-for-a-cause must convert people to that cause.

The party notes your contribution to the cause Finehoe.  Carry on...

[Adam White]

This is what they SAID they did:

How does Facebook determine what topics are trending?

"Trending shows you topics that have recently become popular on Facebook. The topics you see are based on a number of factors including engagement, timeliness, Pages you've liked and your location."

https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641

Based on a number of factors, including...

Not: based on a number of factors including and limited to....

I think it's unethical to massage or manage the trending stories feed without being open about it. Facebook users may not pay to use the service, but Facebook profits from them. As such, they have a right to be treated fairly.

There is a secondary issue here - whether or not this manipulation (if it did occur) was sanctioned by Facebook or whether it was just a common practice that happened, unbeknownst to the higher-ups.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Adam. 

Would you prefer that Facebook allow troll armies to determine its feed?

And what do you think they are 'massaging'?

Credibility seems to have been the main determinant.

Hi Stephen

Of course I don't want troll armies to derail the feed. I would prefer the feed to stick to regular, trending news. As I mentioned before, I have got news stories from there before.

I don't know what they are massaging (or if they even are). My response was more general - as in, if they are massaging the feed to exclude certain viewpoints (and not being transparent about that fact), then it would be an issue for me.

I don't know if they bury news they don't like and I am not saying they do. I am simply stating that I wouldn't agree with such behavior.

This is totally anecdotal - but I find when I click on a topic that is trending, I tend to get related storied from the Guardian, Independent, Huffington Post, etc. So I don't know if they are possibly a) managing which related articles show in order to reflect a particular bias or b) choosing to display trending topics that are (based on the subject matter) more likely to link to certain news providers (like the Guardian, Indy, HuffPo, etc).

Or they could be basing it on my preferences - what I re-post, what I click on, who my friends are, etc.

News stories are one thing. The weird ones are where they show topics that are trending - like when they post something about something that has gone viral or maybe a petition that is becoming popular. Those sorts of things are certainly trending. But does Facebook maybe highlight certain things (like a petition to ban Donald Trump from the UK) and ignore another, more 'conservative' thing that's happening and trending (in order to not give it the oxygen of publicity)?

I'm not saying Facebook does this - it is an honest question. That's the sort of thing I'd like to find out.

[Sentient]

"I'm not saying Facebook does this - it is an honest question. That's the sort of thing I'd like to find out."

That's the sort of thing insider's are alleging takes place... which is what started this whole thread.  And a congressional investigation.

[finehoe]

After fifteen years of public lying and fabrications---including being caught in them every time, its hard to take anything these outrage clowns say very seriously.

And the dimwitted among us swallow it hook, line, and sinker every time.

[Sentient]

After fifteen years of public lying and fabrications---including being caught in them every time, its hard to take anything these outrage clowns say very seriously.

And the dimwitted among us swallow it hook, line, and sinker every time.

""Trending shows you topics that have recently become popular on Facebook"

Except when we show articles that we just want you to think became popular on Facebook.

[Sentient]

its also a lie, btw.

http://gizmodo.com/former-facebook-workers-we-routinely-suppressed-conser-1775461006