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Facebook algorithm was mistakenly elevating harmful content for last six months

29 points by minimaxir 5y ago

uberman 5y ago
".. the technical issue was first introduced in 2019 but didn’t create a noticeable impact until October 2021... was fixed in March 2022 " It does not seem plausible to me that a two year old bug acknowledged at least six months ago and given the highest possible priority was just fixed. Coincidently, the bug was introduced prior to the US presidential election and they now promise it had no impact (for reasons) until after the election and January 6th fallout. I'm skeptical.
dTal 5y ago
Can the damage this caused to society be quantified? Should we let it slide because it's hard to measure? What if I made a website that deliberately set out to sow division and undermine people's mental health, in exactly the same way as Facebook ostensibly does accidentally? Is that allowed? Supposing some people commit suicide because of that? Supposing I know I had that effect, and conceal it? Still legal? How many people in Facebook's infamous A/B sentiment tests committed suicide? Facebook surely knows - does anyone else? Facebook is a problem. So is every company that plays god with our social discourse.
YossarianFrPrez 5y ago
The reason engineering students are taught about Therac-25 is to prevent things like this.
winternett 5y ago
I have never seen a worse UI than current Facebook on desktop. I don't know what the mobile app does because I haven't used it since 2015, but I've never observed a more mis-managed and manipulated UI than Facebook on desktop... I'm totally lost every time I want to find a page I was on before, or how to find simple controls, FaceBook groups are overrun by scam posts and off-topic items. I'm really beginning to feel like they're trying to beach the whale to encourage people to join Metaverse, but the confidence is already lost... They should just acquire LinkedIn and make the whole experience corporate from now on, There's no real way of going back to the "cool" factor after all of these years of hobbling it so much.
- kalupa 5y ago
  Not sure Microsoft would be all that willing to give up LinkedIn ... I could be wrong though
throwmeariver1 5y ago
The "Oopps... software bug, nothing we could have done." gets pretty old and it's not only facebook. How is it possible that a system that is build to reduce harm and protect your own community can run haywire for over two years. Is there no oversight or at least a check every month, it's always companies that proud themselves with their data analysis capabilities.
musicale 5y ago
I'm shocked (shocked!) to find that Facebook would be elevating harmful content in a way that increases engagement and advertising revenue.

29 points by minimaxir 5y ago

".. the technical issue was first introduced in 2019 but didn’t create a noticeable impact until October 2021... was fixed in March 2022 " It does not seem plausible to me that a two year old bug acknowledged at least six months ago and given the highest possible priority was just fixed. Coincidently, the bug was introduced prior to the US presidential election and they now promise it had no impact (for reasons) until after the election and January 6th fallout. I'm skeptical.

dTal 5y ago

Can the damage this caused to society be quantified? Should we let it slide because it's hard to measure? What if I made a website that deliberately set out to sow division and undermine people's mental health, in exactly the same way as Facebook ostensibly does accidentally? Is that allowed? Supposing some people commit suicide because of that? Supposing I know I had that effect, and conceal it? Still legal? How many people in Facebook's infamous A/B sentiment tests committed suicide? Facebook surely knows - does anyone else? Facebook is a problem. So is every company that plays god with our social discourse.

YossarianFrPrez 5y ago

The reason engineering students are taught about Therac-25 is to prevent things like this.

winternett 5y ago

I have never seen a worse UI than current Facebook on desktop. I don't know what the mobile app does because I haven't used it since 2015, but I've never observed a more mis-managed and manipulated UI than Facebook on desktop... I'm totally lost every time I want to find a page I was on before, or how to find simple controls, FaceBook groups are overrun by scam posts and off-topic items. I'm really beginning to feel like they're trying to beach the whale to encourage people to join Metaverse, but the confidence is already lost... They should just acquire LinkedIn and make the whole experience corporate from now on, There's no real way of going back to the "cool" factor after all of these years of hobbling it so much.

kalupa 5y ago
Not sure Microsoft would be all that willing to give up LinkedIn ... I could be wrong though

throwmeariver1 5y ago

The "Oopps... software bug, nothing we could have done." gets pretty old and it's not only facebook. How is it possible that a system that is build to reduce harm and protect your own community can run haywire for over two years. Is there no oversight or at least a check every month, it's always companies that proud themselves with their data analysis capabilities.

musicale 5y ago

I'm shocked (shocked!) to find that Facebook would be elevating harmful content in a way that increases engagement and advertising revenue.