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It's pretty laughable for Facebook to claim they're neutral when they performed and published[1] research about how tweaking their algorithm can affect the mood
by AlexandrB 6y ago
It's pretty laughable for Facebook to claim they're neutral when they performed and published[1] research about how tweaking their algorithm can affect the mood of their users.
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/everything-we-know-about-facebooks-secret-mood-manipulation-experiment/373648/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/every...
- 1propionyl 6y agoEven if they hadn't done that, it would still be a laughable claim prima facie. There's something of an analogue to the observer effect: that the mere observation of a phenomenon changes the phenomenon. Facebook can be viewed as an instrument for observing the world around us. But it is one that, through being used by millions of people and personalizing/ranking/filtering/aggregating, affects change on the world. Or to be a little more precise, it structures the way that its users affect the world. Which is something of a distinction without much difference, consequentially.