5 ms·

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 metr

by 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.

by 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.