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It's gotta feel bad for the local reporters that are literally risking their lives reporting news in Cambodia, to then have their views go down 80%. Because F

by lithos 9y ago

It's gotta feel bad for the local reporters that are literally risking their lives reporting news in Cambodia, to then have their views go down 80%. Because Facebook decided to experiment and implement the Timeline feature. Facebook is barely even tied to the fate or all that concerned, since it's only 18million users.

tryingagainbro 9y ago
>>because Facebook decided to experiment and implement the Timeline feature That's to increase ad revenue, make no mistake about it. Like Google's algorithm and display changes...buy ads to be on top of the page
3131s 9y ago
This article was published three weeks ago, so it doesn't mention the recent forced dissolution of the main opposition party in Cambodia, the CNRP. That has pretty much landed Cambodia unequivocally in the category of dictatorship, though most younger Cambodians would tell you it was never anything else. I also believe I know who the unnamed Cambodian blogger quoted in the article is. She is known for discussing progressive issues and has well-deserved popularity among young Cambodian people, but apparently circulation of her posts and videos took a huge hit after these changes in the algorithm. It is a little ironic that the Cambodia Daily is having its "second life" online -- they were so embittered by the impact of online journalism on traditional print journalism that there was an editorial policy against even posting links or URLs in any article on their website. Of course, I'm not cheering for their demise, given the need for a free press here. I know a number of people who work at the Phnom Penh Post, the other big Cambodian newspaper, who have plainly said in recent weeks that they can't / won't write anything critical of the government. The political climate is feeling more and more volatile here by the moment. In the days before the CNRP was dissolved, we even had military police going through every stairwell of every tiny alley, including my own, on some made-up pretense but really as a cheap intimidation tactic. As the election approaches there will be squads of heavily armed military police posted on nearly every corner of many districts in Phnom Penh.
dqpb 9y ago
So do you think that once a service has a certain number of users it should cease all changes?
- lithos 9y ago
  Is it fine to have "Mass Scale socio-political experiments on countries that are a slight socio-political shift from civil war"? That is pretty much what a major foreign third party news distribution platform did, while having very little skin in the game. Move Fast and Break Stuff, is ethically and morally unsound when the end result is making it easier to silence, jail, and execute the press.

by lithos 9y ago

tryingagainbro 9y ago

>>because Facebook decided to experiment and implement the Timeline feature That's to increase ad revenue, make no mistake about it. Like Google's algorithm and display changes...buy ads to be on top of the page

3131s 9y ago

This article was published three weeks ago, so it doesn't mention the recent forced dissolution of the main opposition party in Cambodia, the CNRP. That has pretty much landed Cambodia unequivocally in the category of dictatorship, though most younger Cambodians would tell you it was never anything else. I also believe I know who the unnamed Cambodian blogger quoted in the article is. She is known for discussing progressive issues and has well-deserved popularity among young Cambodian people, but apparently circulation of her posts and videos took a huge hit after these changes in the algorithm. It is a little ironic that the Cambodia Daily is having its "second life" online -- they were so embittered by the impact of online journalism on traditional print journalism that there was an editorial policy against even posting links or URLs in any article on their website. Of course, I'm not cheering for their demise, given the need for a free press here. I know a number of people who work at the Phnom Penh Post, the other big Cambodian newspaper, who have plainly said in recent weeks that they can't / won't write anything critical of the government. The political climate is feeling more and more volatile here by the moment. In the days before the CNRP was dissolved, we even had military police going through every stairwell of every tiny alley, including my own, on some made-up pretense but really as a cheap intimidation tactic. As the election approaches there will be squads of heavily armed military police posted on nearly every corner of many districts in Phnom Penh.

dqpb 9y ago

So do you think that once a service has a certain number of users it should cease all changes?

lithos 9y ago
Is it fine to have "Mass Scale socio-political experiments on countries that are a slight socio-political shift from civil war"? That is pretty much what a major foreign third party news distribution platform did, while having very little skin in the game. Move Fast and Break Stuff, is ethically and morally unsound when the end result is making it easier to silence, jail, and execute the press.