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It has been blatantly clear something is up with their Trending algorithm when you notice there is a Trending: Hillary Clinton header on top of every single sha

It has been blatantly clear something is up with their Trending algorithm when you notice there is a Trending: Hillary Clinton header on top of every single shared Bernie Sanders article. Never once have I seen a Trending: Bernie Sander header.

fisherjeff 10y ago
Given Facebook's influence and the sheer size of their userbase, the potential long-term implications of this particular kind of manipulation are... unsettling.
- dba7dba 10y ago
  I am not surprised Facebook has been doing this. It's ironic. Silicon Valley is all about question the authorities. Ask why. And now we hear stories like these Orwellian like practices... This will be another interesting topic historians will examine years from now. What happens when an outsider/outcast/underdog group becomes the insiders/powerful. Do they act like tycoons in the past (using power to preserve itself) or keep true to the spirit of outsider/outcast that may lead to its demise? I vote for Silicon Valley powers becoming like the past tycoons.
  - alanwatts 10y ago
    For anyone interested in this shift in power, check out futurist Alvin Toffler's Powershift. His thesis is that the pinnacle of power throughout time as technology has evolved has shifted from brute strength, to money in the industrial age, and now finally to information in the post-industrial age which we live in now. http://www.amazon.com/Powershift-Knowledge-Wealth-Violence-Century/dp/0553292153#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1462824341731 http://www.amazon.com/Powershift-Knowledge-Wealth-Violence-C...
  - chillacy 10y ago
    I once watched a group of pigeons in a park fight for food. The biggest pigeon bullied all the other pigeons. I thought that was unfair... he was getting all the food. So I shooed him away. Immediately afterwards, one of the formerly bullied pigeons became the new bully. Power is a funny thing... and I suspect people aren't so different than other animals in this regard.
morgante 10y ago
I suspect this is more a result of the media's heavy pro-Clinton bias rather than any overt attempt by Facebook. Remember that the mainstream media is ultimately the primary driver of these algorithms.
- eanzenberg 10y ago
  Actually.. Hillary has received the most negative media articles out of any candidate, including Trump. http://www.vox.com/2016/4/15/11410160/hillary-clinton-media-bernie-sanders http://www.vox.com/2016/4/15/11410160/hillary-clinton-media-...
  - morgante 10y ago
    That's really a pretty useless analysis. By that metric, the media had an overwhelming bias towards Lincoln Chaffee. In fact, it directly supports the scenario the OP brought up. Frequently Bernie Sanders will bring something up and then the media focuses its article on Hillary's response (even if that article might sometimes be unflattering).
    - eanzenberg 10y ago
      Who's Lincoln Chaffee? What this shows is the media has a positive bias towards Kasich and Sanders, neither of which were received as such by voters. What it also shows is media bias doesn't always win votes or elections.
      - morgante 10y ago
        > Who's Lincoln Chaffee? Exactly. > What this shows is the media has a positive bias towards Kasich and Sanders, neither of which were received as such by voters. No, what it shows is that the media writes way more articles about Clinton, positive and negative. Imagine the media writes 2 articles about Sanders, one negative and one positive. And then it writes 20 about Clinton, 11 negative and 9 positive. Who is it biased in favor of?
basch 10y ago
how can you be sure those results arent specifically targeted at you and your habits?

fisherjeff 10y ago

Given Facebook's influence and the sheer size of their userbase, the potential long-term implications of this particular kind of manipulation are... unsettling.

dba7dba 10y ago
I am not surprised Facebook has been doing this. It's ironic. Silicon Valley is all about question the authorities. Ask why. And now we hear stories like these Orwellian like practices... This will be another interesting topic historians will examine years from now. What happens when an outsider/outcast/underdog group becomes the insiders/powerful. Do they act like tycoons in the past (using power to preserve itself) or keep true to the spirit of outsider/outcast that may lead to its demise? I vote for Silicon Valley powers becoming like the past tycoons.
- alanwatts 10y ago
  For anyone interested in this shift in power, check out futurist Alvin Toffler's Powershift. His thesis is that the pinnacle of power throughout time as technology has evolved has shifted from brute strength, to money in the industrial age, and now finally to information in the post-industrial age which we live in now. http://www.amazon.com/Powershift-Knowledge-Wealth-Violence-Century/dp/0553292153#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1462824341731 http://www.amazon.com/Powershift-Knowledge-Wealth-Violence-C...
- chillacy 10y ago
  I once watched a group of pigeons in a park fight for food. The biggest pigeon bullied all the other pigeons. I thought that was unfair... he was getting all the food. So I shooed him away. Immediately afterwards, one of the formerly bullied pigeons became the new bully. Power is a funny thing... and I suspect people aren't so different than other animals in this regard.

morgante 10y ago

I suspect this is more a result of the media's heavy pro-Clinton bias rather than any overt attempt by Facebook. Remember that the mainstream media is ultimately the primary driver of these algorithms.

eanzenberg 10y ago
Actually.. Hillary has received the most negative media articles out of any candidate, including Trump. http://www.vox.com/2016/4/15/11410160/hillary-clinton-media-bernie-sanders http://www.vox.com/2016/4/15/11410160/hillary-clinton-media-...
- morgante 10y ago
  That's really a pretty useless analysis. By that metric, the media had an overwhelming bias towards Lincoln Chaffee. In fact, it directly supports the scenario the OP brought up. Frequently Bernie Sanders will bring something up and then the media focuses its article on Hillary's response (even if that article might sometimes be unflattering).
  - eanzenberg 10y ago
    Who's Lincoln Chaffee? What this shows is the media has a positive bias towards Kasich and Sanders, neither of which were received as such by voters. What it also shows is media bias doesn't always win votes or elections.
    - morgante 10y ago
      > Who's Lincoln Chaffee? Exactly. > What this shows is the media has a positive bias towards Kasich and Sanders, neither of which were received as such by voters. No, what it shows is that the media writes way more articles about Clinton, positive and negative. Imagine the media writes 2 articles about Sanders, one negative and one positive. And then it writes 20 about Clinton, 11 negative and 9 positive. Who is it biased in favor of?

basch 10y ago

how can you be sure those results arent specifically targeted at you and your habits?