1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by RocketsLegend, May 9, 2016.

  1. Cohete Rojo

    Cohete Rojo Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2009
    Messages:
    10,344
    Likes Received:
    1,203
    This may have more to do with conservative "issues" than it does conservative "news". Which may mean that FB blocked sites such as Reuters, not necessarily conservative.

     
  2. tallanvor

    tallanvor Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2007
    Messages:
    16,961
    Likes Received:
    8,591
    People are debating whether this is a healthy practice for Facebook and if it alters their perception of them. People are also discussing the affect it has on the ignorance of the voting public. Nobody has advocated any legislation or legal action against Facebook (didnt read every post though).
     
    1 person likes this.
  3. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 1999
    Messages:
    34,059
    Likes Received:
    13,408
    Maybe some people buy Fox's fair and balanced claim, but they still understand that the content is curated by people. And that those people are using the judgement to decide what news is most significant to report. And they are producing primary source news The assumption with trending services is that it is only math and no one is using their judgement on what news is important -- what's important is the items that get the most clicks. And they don't produce anything; they're merely a distribution channel for news organizations like Fox. So even if people don't understand that Fox is partisan, I'd still say there is a fundamental difference in how people regard the two organizations.

    What about Trending on Twitter? Is that curated also?

    I don't think its obvious that Facebook would have curators at all. I know they have people that go in and censor p*rnography and other bad acts on people's feeds, but there's no reason to think that function would extend to trending. I know now because of functions in my own company that there is news story consolidation that needs humans to accomplish, but if not for that I'd be befuddled as to why curators would exist.

    And, its not clear to me that there is any gaming to be done. If trending shows what news stories gets the most clicks, simply producing stories isn't enough. You need to get people to click on it. If you succeed in that, aren't you legitimately trending? Is there some way to game that and get click rates you didn't earn? Maybe there's a part of this industry I'm ignorant of, but this sounds like an excuse.
     
  4. TheresTheDagger

    Joined:
    May 20, 2010
    Messages:
    10,099
    Likes Received:
    7,741
    Their is no unbiased "news" sources anymore. There probably never was to begin with.

    When you start with this idea as your premise, it becomes much easier to retain honest skepticism AND sort through the garbage that is the reality of today's "news" sources.
     
    cml750 likes this.
  5. gifford1967

    gifford1967 Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2003
    Messages:
    7,993
    Likes Received:
    3,806
    I have no doubt that FB did this. They are probably doing everything in their power to fight against their user base skewing further and further to the "olds". FB is already being abandoned by the youth, and having trending news that parallels whatever Fox is hyping everyday is just going to drive the youngsters away faster.
     
  6. NewRoxFan

    NewRoxFan Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2002
    Messages:
    53,802
    Likes Received:
    53,590
    Luckily the GOP Senate has found time in their really busy schedules to jump into the "Facebook is Unfair to Conservatives" issue...
     
    1 person likes this.
  7. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 1999
    Messages:
    34,059
    Likes Received:
    13,408
    I think they could use the trends tool to make a more effective echo chamber without censoring and curating. They can change the algorithm to segment what's trending depending on who you are. Well-to-do empty-nesters can see what is trending among the well-to-do empty-nester facebook segment. Black millenials can see what is trending among black millenials. That way, the olds won't make the young people feel uncomfortable anymore.
     
  8. Deji McGever

    Deji McGever יליד טקסני

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 1999
    Messages:
    4,012
    Likes Received:
    949
    Bigtexxx,

    Deciding what news makes the top of the cycle is never a perfect science, but weighing sources like CNN and NYT above the Drudge Report and Newsmax in that determination is not censorship. It's aggregation. When Facebook starts regularly featuring headlines from KCNA or even Mother Jones, I'll sympathize with your persecution complex.


    If you want to see censorship, try working as a creative director for a digital agency making 1000s of FB ads for video games every day. My old account manager once said that my ads were censored for featuring "underaged girls." It was a game for children using their own (family friendly) art assets.

    I also remember a dark day when hundreds of successful ads I made for MMOs were retroactively censored for "sexual content" when Facebook decided that cleavage was inappropriate, even if targeted to 18+ audiences.

    Again, this is a social media site that regularly provides most of the clickbait I see in my waking day in the first place. The newsfeed is probably one of the least offensive aspects of Facebook.
     
  9. Cold Hard

    Cold Hard Member

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2000
    Messages:
    1,847
    Likes Received:
    801
    I'm pretty sure that 99% of professional news and social media sites "suppress" certain stories or certain sources. That's what curation is.

    There's also a difference between an actual news article and propaganda. Breitbart tends to do a decent amount of the latter.
     
  10. RedRedemption

    RedRedemption Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2009
    Messages:
    32,464
    Likes Received:
    7,639
    But why would they do this?
    At the end of the day Facebook benefits from the youth demographic, they are going to cater to the youth demographic.
    PR only goes so far, and negative PR is irrelevant even if all the "olds" get disgusted and leave.
     
  11. Major

    Major Member

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 1999
    Messages:
    41,383
    Likes Received:
    15,808
    If trending stories are simply the ones that get the most clicks, then you create a bunch of fake clicks and suddenly you can make the story trend on facebook. Just create some software to do it or pay people on O-Desk or whatever. If you're trying to pull off some sort of scam, it would more than pay for itself if you could get your article listed as trending on FB. With the internet, there is always a way to game the system if you're just using algorithms. That's why Google is constantly changing it's search algorithms to fight SEO.
     
  12. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 1999
    Messages:
    34,059
    Likes Received:
    13,408
    Why -- for my own curiosity -- can the pay-per-click model of internet advertising be viable if you can make fake clicks? Couldn't Google pad their ad revenues? Couldn't North Korean hackers just run up everybody's ad spend just to mess with us? I guess my implicit assumption is that clicks can be audited. But, I don't know enough about the industry.
     
  13. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2002
    Messages:
    34,618
    Likes Received:
    33,557
    To be clear, North Korea would just literally have a warehouse of people clicking for 20 hours per day.
     
  14. Os Trigonum

    Os Trigonum Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2014
    Messages:
    72,464
    Likes Received:
    110,410
    never mind
     
    #74 Os Trigonum, Aug 24, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2018
  15. NewRoxFan

    NewRoxFan Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2002
    Messages:
    53,802
    Likes Received:
    53,590
    But the important question... does facebook have a safe filled with all those censured stories?
     
    FranchiseBlade likes this.
  16. Os Trigonum

    Os Trigonum Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2014
    Messages:
    72,464
    Likes Received:
    110,410
    related story

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/technology/inside-facebook-employees-political-bias.html

    more at the link
     
  17. Jturbofuel

    Jturbofuel Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2002
    Messages:
    5,166
    Likes Received:
    3,665
    If you go to Facebook for news you are more lost than you realize.
     
    NewRoxFan likes this.
  18. dobro1229

    dobro1229 Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2010
    Messages:
    23,888
    Likes Received:
    19,690
    Maybe they should just ban “news” all together than. Facebook is for funny videos of your kids, or pictures gloating the delicious meal you cooked last night. It should never have allowed itself to become your grandpa favorite news feed. It just begged for itself to become the subject of political corruption and ultimately become regulated as hell.
     
    FranchiseBlade likes this.
  19. NewRoxFan

    NewRoxFan Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2002
    Messages:
    53,802
    Likes Received:
    53,590
    LOL... the party of free enterprise...

     
  20. StupidMoniker

    StupidMoniker I lost a bet
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2001
    Messages:
    15,052
    Likes Received:
    2,091
    We should absolutely not nationalize Facebook and Twitter. They are private enterprises and should remain so. If conservatives don't like Facebook and Twitter, make an alternative and market it to conservatives (isn't that what Minds and Gab are supposed to be?). The very idea of turning these profitable companies into public utilities flies in the face of what these people are supposed to stand for. You have to stick to your principles, even to the detriment of your self-interest.
     
    cml750 likes this.

Share This Page

  • About ClutchFans

    Since 1996, ClutchFans has been loud and proud covering the Houston Rockets, helping set an industry standard for team fan sites. The forums have been a home for Houston sports fans as well as basketball fanatics around the globe.

  • Support ClutchFans!

    If you find that ClutchFans is a valuable resource for you, please consider becoming a Supporting Member. Supporting Members can upload photos and attachments directly to their posts, customize their user title and more. Gold Supporters see zero ads!


    Upgrade Now