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This is the biggest issue, and hopefully will gain more eyeballs. This isn't a fair fight of the rational vs irrational in open discourse. Facebook has intent
by COGlory 6y ago
This is the biggest issue, and hopefully will gain more eyeballs.
This isn't a fair fight of the rational vs irrational in open discourse.
Facebook has intentionally stacked the deck in favor of the irrational and amplified them artificially because it's correlative with "engagement".
This isn't an organic outcome that just happens to be mediated by Facebook because it's the agora of our times. This is an unintended (I hope) side effect of a business model that intentionally skirts the line between inflammatory and violent because it also happens to be where maximum profit resides. And it was intentional, strategic, and extremely powerful.
- laretluval 6y agoEngaging content spreads even if it isn't boosted. That's what engaging means. Facebook's algorithms might amplify the dynamic, but by how much?
- COGlory 6y agoWe don't know, and we may never. But we do know it's not a fair fight. The amount of psychologists and scientists Facebook actively employs is absolutely staggering [0]. The most educated person in a western country, with expendable income, hobbies, and endless sources of pleasure stands no chance. Someone in Ethiopia who is actually feeling the stresses of conflict and poverty? This isn't some accidental outcome of Facebook. Every data point suggests Facebook designed their system from the ground up to maximize it. [0] https://www.glassdoor.com/Jobs/Facebook-psychology-Jobs-EI_IE40772.0,8_KO9,19.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Jobs/Facebook-psychology-Jobs-EI_I...
- laretluval 6y agoThe fact that they're trying to optimize doesn't mean that it's effective. Psychologists don't know much.