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I highly recommend watching the Senate hearing from today, and I'm a person who normally can't stand these things. This was totally different from any other hea
by kentonv 5y ago
I highly recommend watching the Senate hearing from today, and I'm a person who normally can't stand these things. This was totally different from any other hearing I've seen -- little grandstanding, no partisan bickering, no evading of questions. Most of the Senators seemed genuinely interested in what Frances had to say, and she gave meaningful insights backed by real data.
A lot of what she's saying is stuff that has been generally known in the tech industry for some time -- that algorithmic content ranking amplifies division and outrage. But the detail she gave about actual research quantifying it goes way deeper than I think most of us were aware of.
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2021/10/protecting%20kids%20online:%20testimony%20from%20a%20facebook%20whistleblower https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2021/10/protecting%20kids%20...
- zestyping 5y agoStrongly agree. She is doing this in a way that no one has really done (certainly not at this level of skill) before: explaining the systemic issues, giving clear and direct answers, keeping the conflict away from the personal, and most of all delivering criticism with empathy and compassion for all involved.
- htrp 5y agoThats future Senator Francds Haugen to you
- sillysaurusx 5y agoJust wanted to thank you for the comment. You weren't kidding; everything she says seems data driven. I especially liked her observation (around ~1h) that FB can determine the real age of users by "working backwards" and doing cohort analyses.