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No ads = no potential to manipulate people simply with enough money; I don't care for the arguments that this can have oversight to prevent this, there will be

by loceng 9y ago

No ads = no potential to manipulate people simply with enough money; I don't care for the arguments that this can have oversight to prevent this, there will be ways around it.

pmorici 9y ago
I don't understand why you think ads has anything to do with it. Much of the content on Facebook is user generated or at least posted by users from a third party source. Removing ads doesn't change that.
- loceng 9y ago
  Ads is an easy and cheap method of adding fuel to the fire. I also wasn't trying to argue that removing ads exclusively solves the problems.
  - KMag 9y ago
    In that case, "no potential" was poor phrasing. Ads aren't the only mechanism of social influence for sale on the open market to anyone with enough money.
    - loceng 9y ago
      Yes, you're right. I need to stop commenting for now, I'm not in a good place - not analyzing as deeply as I normally would or like to. Commenting is a distraction from the chronic pain I have, though it also at times will break my thought processes. It's a tough place to be. Some days are better than others.
      - KMag 9y ago
        I'm sorry to hear of your pain and hope you find some relief.
dredmorbius 9y ago
Ads provide some of the capability, but by no means all of it. The engagement objectives of the ad seller (Facebook, here) means that highly-divisive or inflammetory content, which generates pageviews, or increases time-on-site, may be promoted over more socially beneficial material.
KMag 9y ago
I think "no potential" is way over-selling the case. For these purposes, I think targeted astroturfing is probably more cost-effective than ads, and wouldn't be prevented by Facebook dropping ads altogether. I enjoy the thought of an alternate universe where the most common social network is a p2p federated open-source system without ads, just running on alternative firmware in people's WiFi routers. However, that universe would still have astroturfing, and it would likely be harder to detect.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

by loceng 9y ago

No ads = no potential to manipulate people simply with enough money; I don't care for the arguments that this can have oversight to prevent this, there will be ways around it.

pmorici 9y ago

I don't understand why you think ads has anything to do with it. Much of the content on Facebook is user generated or at least posted by users from a third party source. Removing ads doesn't change that.

loceng 9y ago
Ads is an easy and cheap method of adding fuel to the fire. I also wasn't trying to argue that removing ads exclusively solves the problems.
- KMag 9y ago
  In that case, "no potential" was poor phrasing. Ads aren't the only mechanism of social influence for sale on the open market to anyone with enough money.
  - loceng 9y ago
    Yes, you're right. I need to stop commenting for now, I'm not in a good place - not analyzing as deeply as I normally would or like to. Commenting is a distraction from the chronic pain I have, though it also at times will break my thought processes. It's a tough place to be. Some days are better than others.
    - KMag 9y ago
      I'm sorry to hear of your pain and hope you find some relief.

dredmorbius 9y ago

Ads provide some of the capability, but by no means all of it. The engagement objectives of the ad seller (Facebook, here) means that highly-divisive or inflammetory content, which generates pageviews, or increases time-on-site, may be promoted over more socially beneficial material.

KMag 9y ago

I think "no potential" is way over-selling the case. For these purposes, I think targeted astroturfing is probably more cost-effective than ads, and wouldn't be prevented by Facebook dropping ads altogether. I enjoy the thought of an alternate universe where the most common social network is a p2p federated open-source system without ads, just running on alternative firmware in people's WiFi routers. However, that universe would still have astroturfing, and it would likely be harder to detect.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]