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For those interested in breaking free from the Facebook trending news headlines, I wrote an open source extension to replace them with stories from real news so

by morninj 10y ago

For those interested in breaking free from the Facebook trending news headlines, I wrote an open source extension to replace them with stories from real news sources (or any RSS feed): http://www.fluffblocker.com/ http://www.fluffblocker.com/

devishard 10y ago
For those interested in breaking free from Facebook trending news headlines, why not quit Facebook?
- morninj 10y ago
  I like to use Facebook for several reasons, but I want to hide the silly headlines--hence this project.
- beamatronic 10y ago
  Because food pictures
mikekchar 10y ago
Not trying to take away from your extension, which I'm sure is very useful for people who are interested in that kind of thing. I just find it a bit interesting that the article seemed (from my point of view) to imply that the problem with the Facebook trending news headlines is that it is exactly the same as the news headlines from traditional news outlets: it is curated content that is consciously or unconsciously organized to appeal to a particular mindset. My take-away from the article (which I admit was also my pre-existing bias, so perhaps I injected it) is that the news is essentially a propaganda machine. It reflects the conscious and unconscious biases of the curators and attempts to present a consistent world view. The sad part is how unaware the readership is. From one of the quotes the the author included, people become more extreme in their views when surrounded by others who have the same views. This leads to polarization on every topic -- an us vs. them attitude. With such an attitude no substantial changes can happen. For example, if Trump wins the nomination, how many liberal thinking people would vote for an independent, risking splitting the vote and handing the country to Trump? If Clinton wins the nomination, how many conservative thinking people will allow the Clinton dynasty (the spouse of a former president!) to win the day? In the end the status quo prevails. So it just seems a bit ironic that your extension, which allows you to dial in your bias even further, is mentioned here. Possibly (if you don't already have it) you can add an option to turn off the trending news headlines altogether :-)

by morninj 10y ago

devishard 10y ago

For those interested in breaking free from Facebook trending news headlines, why not quit Facebook?

morninj 10y ago
I like to use Facebook for several reasons, but I want to hide the silly headlines--hence this project.
beamatronic 10y ago
Because food pictures

mikekchar 10y ago

Not trying to take away from your extension, which I'm sure is very useful for people who are interested in that kind of thing. I just find it a bit interesting that the article seemed (from my point of view) to imply that the problem with the Facebook trending news headlines is that it is exactly the same as the news headlines from traditional news outlets: it is curated content that is consciously or unconsciously organized to appeal to a particular mindset. My take-away from the article (which I admit was also my pre-existing bias, so perhaps I injected it) is that the news is essentially a propaganda machine. It reflects the conscious and unconscious biases of the curators and attempts to present a consistent world view. The sad part is how unaware the readership is. From one of the quotes the the author included, people become more extreme in their views when surrounded by others who have the same views. This leads to polarization on every topic -- an us vs. them attitude. With such an attitude no substantial changes can happen. For example, if Trump wins the nomination, how many liberal thinking people would vote for an independent, risking splitting the vote and handing the country to Trump? If Clinton wins the nomination, how many conservative thinking people will allow the Clinton dynasty (the spouse of a former president!) to win the day? In the end the status quo prevails. So it just seems a bit ironic that your extension, which allows you to dial in your bias even further, is mentioned here. Possibly (if you don't already have it) you can add an option to turn off the trending news headlines altogether :-)