5 ms·

Interesting how they reiterate over and over how right-wing media proliferates on the platform but imply that centrist/liberal propaganda does not. Is there ev

Interesting how they reiterate over and over how right-wing media proliferates on the platform but imply that centrist/liberal propaganda does not. Is there evidence of this?

johnward 6y ago
I'm not sure where they get their data but this list is usually like %70 conservative media figures. https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10 https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10
agloeregrets 6y ago
For what it is worth, it’s been shown that the most popular and most shared posts for years have been basically 80% extreme conservative ones. See here: https://twitter.com/facebookstop10?s=21 https://twitter.com/facebookstop10?s=21 That said, this is no defense of left wing propaganda. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, just that by the numbers Facebook is mostly right wing users and that extreme right wing material is more popular. Interestingly the popular right-wing material tends to be non-party related. Probably because sharing extreme right viewpoints on a generally conservative site is how you get clicks. It’s profitable, even if your organization has no horse in the race.
- luckylion 6y ago
  > by the numbers Facebook is mostly right wing users and that extreme right wing material is more popular. Is that the case, or is it just that the extreme right wing posts get more traction than other posts. Like, are the extreme right wing posts more popular than all other posts combined, or are they getting e.g. on average 10 likes where other posts only get 7? The source on Twitter seems to only look at pages (i.e. curated content), not what people share. Since they're doing it manually according to the bio, the sample must be pretty small.
ForHackernews 6y ago
Yes, there is at least some anecdotal evidence: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/how-macedonia-became-a-global-hub-for-pro-trump-misinfo#.fu2okXaeKo https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/how-mace... > Earlier in the year, some in Veles experimented with left-leaning or pro–Bernie Sanders content, but nothing performed as well on Facebook as Trump content. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/24/facebook-clickbait-political-news-sites-us-election-trump https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/24/facebook-... https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake-news/ https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake-news/
Miner49er 6y ago
Article about it, with some data backing it up: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/how-facebook-became-the-social-media-home-of-the-right https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/how-facebook-became-... They censor anti-racists: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/04/24/facebook-while-black-zucked-users-say-they-get-blocked-racism-discussion/2859593002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/04/24/facebook-whil... AFAIK their new News tab has far-right publications like Breitbart, but no leftist publications.
- ppod 6y ago
  "White men are so fragile," she fired off, " Not everyone would see that as anti-racism
- dx87 6y ago
  Looks like that "anti-racist" is upset that she can't post racist and sexist things about white men. Not exactly the example I'd give to show that FB is censoring liberals.
  - legolas2412 6y ago
    The fact that you are getting downvoted tells me a lot. Censorship is going to never be fine, even if they pinky swear it will be used only on nazis.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- alehul 6y ago
  Please don't use a term like "anti-racist" for someone who says "Whites are $NegativeAdjective." It's really disingenuous rhetoric.
joejohnson 6y ago
why the downvotes for asking this question?
josefresco 6y ago
Yes: https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10 https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10 US conservative content consistently dominates these rankings. Facebook is now primarily a US right-wing/conservative propaganda platform.

Interesting how they reiterate over and over how right-wing media proliferates on the platform but imply that centrist/liberal propaganda does not. Is there evidence of this?

johnward 6y ago

I'm not sure where they get their data but this list is usually like %70 conservative media figures. https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10 https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10

agloeregrets 6y ago

For what it is worth, it’s been shown that the most popular and most shared posts for years have been basically 80% extreme conservative ones. See here: https://twitter.com/facebookstop10?s=21 https://twitter.com/facebookstop10?s=21 That said, this is no defense of left wing propaganda. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, just that by the numbers Facebook is mostly right wing users and that extreme right wing material is more popular. Interestingly the popular right-wing material tends to be non-party related. Probably because sharing extreme right viewpoints on a generally conservative site is how you get clicks. It’s profitable, even if your organization has no horse in the race.

luckylion 6y ago
> by the numbers Facebook is mostly right wing users and that extreme right wing material is more popular. Is that the case, or is it just that the extreme right wing posts get more traction than other posts. Like, are the extreme right wing posts more popular than all other posts combined, or are they getting e.g. on average 10 likes where other posts only get 7? The source on Twitter seems to only look at pages (i.e. curated content), not what people share. Since they're doing it manually according to the bio, the sample must be pretty small.

ForHackernews 6y ago

Yes, there is at least some anecdotal evidence: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/how-macedonia-became-a-global-hub-for-pro-trump-misinfo#.fu2okXaeKo https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/how-mace... > Earlier in the year, some in Veles experimented with left-leaning or pro–Bernie Sanders content, but nothing performed as well on Facebook as Trump content. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/24/facebook-clickbait-political-news-sites-us-election-trump https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/24/facebook-... https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake-news/ https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake-news/

Miner49er 6y ago

Article about it, with some data backing it up: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/how-facebook-became-the-social-media-home-of-the-right https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/how-facebook-became-... They censor anti-racists: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/04/24/facebook-while-black-zucked-users-say-they-get-blocked-racism-discussion/2859593002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/04/24/facebook-whil... AFAIK their new News tab has far-right publications like Breitbart, but no leftist publications.

ppod 6y ago
"White men are so fragile," she fired off, " Not everyone would see that as anti-racism
dx87 6y ago
Looks like that "anti-racist" is upset that she can't post racist and sexist things about white men. Not exactly the example I'd give to show that FB is censoring liberals.
- legolas2412 6y ago
  The fact that you are getting downvoted tells me a lot. Censorship is going to never be fine, even if they pinky swear it will be used only on nazis.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
alehul 6y ago
Please don't use a term like "anti-racist" for someone who says "Whites are $NegativeAdjective." It's really disingenuous rhetoric.

joejohnson 6y ago

why the downvotes for asking this question?

josefresco 6y ago

Yes: https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10 https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10 US conservative content consistently dominates these rankings. Facebook is now primarily a US right-wing/conservative propaganda platform.