4 ms·

Also, has this senator asked the same of CNN/MSNBC/Fox/etc?

cft 10y ago
The expectation of FB is very different. A normal user would assume that the ranking is based on a news link popularity: sharing, clicks or some other user metric.
- techthroway443 10y ago
  Yep, and they came out with a report to let normal users know that's not how it works.
  - tristanj 10y ago
    Which report is this? I've seen the Facebook press release, I've seen Tom Stocky's post, but I've never seen this report. Source? And the biggest issue I have, is that as far as I know, from January 2014 to present, Facebook's help page was written in a way to mislead users on how trending topics actually work [1]. From reading that help description, most users, including me, imagined Trending topics to work as /u/cft described. Yet that page has no mention that every single trending article on Facebook is curated by a human. How is that not an enormous oversight? [1] https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641 https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641 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. > On a computer, the topics are grouped into 5 categories: All News, Politics, Science and Technology, Sports and Entertainment.
- botterworkshop 10y ago
  I disagree. A normal user would assume their network would influence trending news. What if a larger proportion of Facebook users are younger, which typically leans left, and therefore left news trends more? Oh, wait it is that way...
- pj_mukh 10y ago
  Most Fox news viewers fervently believe Fox news is fair and balanced. FYI. AFAIK, masquerading as bias-less is not illegal.
  - specialist 10y ago
    Both lying and obfuscation are completely legal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Akre#Whistleblower_lawsuit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Akre#Whistleblower_lawsui... This article helped me to better understand some of what's going on: "Agnotology ... is the study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnotology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnotology
- jonathankoren 10y ago
  And it is.
billytetrud 10y ago
Cft might have a point, if facebook is essentially tricking people into thinking content is unbiased, that might be considered fraud.
- epimetheus 10y ago
  You mean like Fox news, "Fair and Balanced?"
  - Wintamute 10y ago
    Facebook is trying to become a defacto medium for inter-personal communication globally. It's more akin to a telephone company not handing out phone numbers to people it deems "undesirable". Fox is one-way media. Quite different.
    - tanker 10y ago
      I disagree. I like the analogy of a magazine or newspaper publishing letters to the editor. There is a two way aspect, but clearly the editors choose what to publish.
      - slackstation 10y ago
        No, the newspaper or magazine has clear editorial. It's very clear that this is what Fox News or The New York Times or Wall Street Journal is saying. People think that Facebook is a place where their friends, and family post things. By extension, they think that Facebook trends are just "what's popular" not, what Facebook as a company is saying or endorsing. No one holds Facebook responsible for a topic that is trending. Actually, I take that back, a bunch of people do but, they are dismissed out of hand as idiots. Facebook really doesn't want to be in the publishing of ideas business. Their responsibility would be higher. The air shouldn't have an opinion on the sound traveling through it. Facebook has the means to manipulate ideas at scale. They have researched it. We are just supposed to blindly trust them because of a vaguely worded Facebook post? A post where to respond, I have to log in and identify myself? I mean, it's hard to not to see this as Orwellian or just plain stupid. Other than choosing (and then doubling down on) PHP, I don't see Facebook as run by stupid people. Either they think this thing will just blow over and no one will care. This much trust in something that isn't transparent is just bad for democracy. Facebook isn't the TV station, it's the airwaves. They have to be held to different standards.
mc32 10y ago
It's not the same because neither one of those is essentially the only global news network whereas FB, and vkontakte to a much smaller degree, is the only social network with news which has a global virtually monopolistic shop.

cft 10y ago

The expectation of FB is very different. A normal user would assume that the ranking is based on a news link popularity: sharing, clicks or some other user metric.

techthroway443 10y ago
Yep, and they came out with a report to let normal users know that's not how it works.
- tristanj 10y ago
  Which report is this? I've seen the Facebook press release, I've seen Tom Stocky's post, but I've never seen this report. Source? And the biggest issue I have, is that as far as I know, from January 2014 to present, Facebook's help page was written in a way to mislead users on how trending topics actually work [1]. From reading that help description, most users, including me, imagined Trending topics to work as /u/cft described. Yet that page has no mention that every single trending article on Facebook is curated by a human. How is that not an enormous oversight? [1] https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641 https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641 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. > On a computer, the topics are grouped into 5 categories: All News, Politics, Science and Technology, Sports and Entertainment.
botterworkshop 10y ago
I disagree. A normal user would assume their network would influence trending news. What if a larger proportion of Facebook users are younger, which typically leans left, and therefore left news trends more? Oh, wait it is that way...
pj_mukh 10y ago
Most Fox news viewers fervently believe Fox news is fair and balanced. FYI. AFAIK, masquerading as bias-less is not illegal.
- specialist 10y ago
  Both lying and obfuscation are completely legal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Akre#Whistleblower_lawsuit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Akre#Whistleblower_lawsui... This article helped me to better understand some of what's going on: "Agnotology ... is the study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnotology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnotology
jonathankoren 10y ago
And it is.

billytetrud 10y ago

Cft might have a point, if facebook is essentially tricking people into thinking content is unbiased, that might be considered fraud.

epimetheus 10y ago
You mean like Fox news, "Fair and Balanced?"
- Wintamute 10y ago
  Facebook is trying to become a defacto medium for inter-personal communication globally. It's more akin to a telephone company not handing out phone numbers to people it deems "undesirable". Fox is one-way media. Quite different.
  - tanker 10y ago
    I disagree. I like the analogy of a magazine or newspaper publishing letters to the editor. There is a two way aspect, but clearly the editors choose what to publish.
    - slackstation 10y ago
      No, the newspaper or magazine has clear editorial. It's very clear that this is what Fox News or The New York Times or Wall Street Journal is saying. People think that Facebook is a place where their friends, and family post things. By extension, they think that Facebook trends are just "what's popular" not, what Facebook as a company is saying or endorsing. No one holds Facebook responsible for a topic that is trending. Actually, I take that back, a bunch of people do but, they are dismissed out of hand as idiots. Facebook really doesn't want to be in the publishing of ideas business. Their responsibility would be higher. The air shouldn't have an opinion on the sound traveling through it. Facebook has the means to manipulate ideas at scale. They have researched it. We are just supposed to blindly trust them because of a vaguely worded Facebook post? A post where to respond, I have to log in and identify myself? I mean, it's hard to not to see this as Orwellian or just plain stupid. Other than choosing (and then doubling down on) PHP, I don't see Facebook as run by stupid people. Either they think this thing will just blow over and no one will care. This much trust in something that isn't transparent is just bad for democracy. Facebook isn't the TV station, it's the airwaves. They have to be held to different standards.

mc32 10y ago

It's not the same because neither one of those is essentially the only global news network whereas FB, and vkontakte to a much smaller degree, is the only social network with news which has a global virtually monopolistic shop.