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"Display in timeline" is a zero sum game. Eventually someone's post is shown, and others' aren't. That's effectively the same as "promoting his on content more

"Display in timeline" is a zero sum game. Eventually someone's post is shown, and others' aren't. That's effectively the same as "promoting his on content more aggressively." How to even prove it was done? The effect could be small enough to turn an election but not large enough to be reliably measured from the outside.

Vinnl 9y ago
> How to even prove it was done? The effect could be small enough to turn an election but not large enough to be reliably measured from the outside. Facebook is still a company with many employees, and I'm quite sure even Mark Zuckerberg can't simply go rummaging in the code to favour himself. In other words, there will have to be (quite some) people in the know about this, which makes it likely to leak. ("Requiring many people to be in the know" is basically what convinces me of the impossibility of pretty much every conspiracy theory.)
- 5trokerac3 9y ago
  As if they haven't already implemented that sort of mechanism for their advertisers.
- zzalpha 9y ago
  In other words, there will have to be (quite some) people in the know about this, which makes it likely to leak. And yet it was a decade before we knew Volkswagen was cheating on emissions tests. It's amazing what a few unscrupulous engineers and some careful information sharing can do...
  - Vinnl 9y ago
    Hmm, that's a good counterpoint I hadn't thought of. Guess I'll have to find a way to refine my conspiracy-detection sensors...
  - BrandoElFollito 9y ago
    This is a good point. One of the reasons for the difference could be that the VW tests software was manageable by a few people, then embedded. The timeline optimization one is likely to be handled by way more people. Just a wild guess.
yorwba 9y ago
He could even do it completely above-board, by paying himself for the advertising. That this effectively makes his campaign budget infinite will let him out-bid any competitors.

Vinnl 9y ago

> How to even prove it was done? The effect could be small enough to turn an election but not large enough to be reliably measured from the outside. Facebook is still a company with many employees, and I'm quite sure even Mark Zuckerberg can't simply go rummaging in the code to favour himself. In other words, there will have to be (quite some) people in the know about this, which makes it likely to leak. ("Requiring many people to be in the know" is basically what convinces me of the impossibility of pretty much every conspiracy theory.)

5trokerac3 9y ago
As if they haven't already implemented that sort of mechanism for their advertisers.
zzalpha 9y ago
In other words, there will have to be (quite some) people in the know about this, which makes it likely to leak. And yet it was a decade before we knew Volkswagen was cheating on emissions tests. It's amazing what a few unscrupulous engineers and some careful information sharing can do...
- Vinnl 9y ago
  Hmm, that's a good counterpoint I hadn't thought of. Guess I'll have to find a way to refine my conspiracy-detection sensors...
- BrandoElFollito 9y ago
  This is a good point. One of the reasons for the difference could be that the VW tests software was manageable by a few people, then embedded. The timeline optimization one is likely to be handled by way more people. Just a wild guess.

yorwba 9y ago

He could even do it completely above-board, by paying himself for the advertising. That this effectively makes his campaign budget infinite will let him out-bid any competitors.