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Zuckerberg Promises to Double Amount of Content You Didn’t Ask for on Facebook

19 points by elsewhen 4y ago

themodelplumber 4y ago
> we think it's one of the most effective and important ways to help creators reach more people Points like these stand out to me. You can frame this (gestures at changes that involve showing new-to-you stuff) as a fail for users in some ways, particularly users who liked it back-when, but changes of this nature will always be a potential win for creators. Whether the same changes may also be a win for consumers is up in the air to some degree, but it does tend to signify user interest if a creator is coming out on top. The overall model still fits so it's not like some huge deviation--FB and Insta have always shown you, and done, and believed in, and persisted with, stuff you didn't ask for. There are two sides to that coin however. Back when it was more like an RSS feed there were really obvious discovery problems at all levels.
warning26 4y ago
But don't worry! The A/B testing has shown that users engage more with all the random crap we shove onto the feed, and therefore they love it! If product leads could just stop with their belief that engagement == good ux, most websites would be a lot better.
- akomtu 4y ago
  In fact, all they need to do is a little like/dislike button in the corner, without any feedback: users would click it when they see something wrong and the backend would correlate it to which part of the UX angers users. However, the number one thing FB would have discovered is that users hate ads and "engaging" content shoved down their feed.
  - q-big 4y ago
    > users hate [...] "engaging" content shoved down their feed. I don't think I really understand your argument: if the users hate the content, it is in my opinion not "engaging".
    - akomtu 4y ago
      FB tries to show posts that invoke the strongest emotional response to engage the user, and usually that emotion is anger or fear.
egberts1 4y ago
Double of nothing is still nothing. I’ve been kicked off of Facebook for having an account of 13 years without giving it a phone number. Then they ask for my phone number, which of course, I refused but not before I had download all my backups. Poof! double of nothing is still nothing.
PebblesHD 4y ago
The problem for me is I don’t want AI recommended content, I want content my friends are recommending. I don’t mean just training the AI on the stuff my friends like, they all have their own interests and private stuff that I’m not likely to want to see, but the stuff they choose to share with me I generally do want. The article mentions the growth in content from people followed is in DMs and ‘reels’, so instead if forcing random stuff into my feed, why not add a way to integrate these sorts of experiences, friends sharing content etc.
kurupt213 4y ago
You don’t have to visit meta at all. Just stop. It’s like the world needs an intervention

19 points by elsewhen 4y ago

> we think it's one of the most effective and important ways to help creators reach more people Points like these stand out to me. You can frame this (gestures at changes that involve showing new-to-you stuff) as a fail for users in some ways, particularly users who liked it back-when, but changes of this nature will always be a potential win for creators. Whether the same changes may also be a win for consumers is up in the air to some degree, but it does tend to signify user interest if a creator is coming out on top. The overall model still fits so it's not like some huge deviation--FB and Insta have always shown you, and done, and believed in, and persisted with, stuff you didn't ask for. There are two sides to that coin however. Back when it was more like an RSS feed there were really obvious discovery problems at all levels.

warning26 4y ago

But don't worry! The A/B testing has shown that users engage more with all the random crap we shove onto the feed, and therefore they love it! If product leads could just stop with their belief that engagement == good ux, most websites would be a lot better.

akomtu 4y ago
In fact, all they need to do is a little like/dislike button in the corner, without any feedback: users would click it when they see something wrong and the backend would correlate it to which part of the UX angers users. However, the number one thing FB would have discovered is that users hate ads and "engaging" content shoved down their feed.
- q-big 4y ago
  > users hate [...] "engaging" content shoved down their feed. I don't think I really understand your argument: if the users hate the content, it is in my opinion not "engaging".
  - akomtu 4y ago
    FB tries to show posts that invoke the strongest emotional response to engage the user, and usually that emotion is anger or fear.

egberts1 4y ago

Double of nothing is still nothing. I’ve been kicked off of Facebook for having an account of 13 years without giving it a phone number. Then they ask for my phone number, which of course, I refused but not before I had download all my backups. Poof! double of nothing is still nothing.

PebblesHD 4y ago

The problem for me is I don’t want AI recommended content, I want content my friends are recommending. I don’t mean just training the AI on the stuff my friends like, they all have their own interests and private stuff that I’m not likely to want to see, but the stuff they choose to share with me I generally do want. The article mentions the growth in content from people followed is in DMs and ‘reels’, so instead if forcing random stuff into my feed, why not add a way to integrate these sorts of experiences, friends sharing content etc.

kurupt213 4y ago

You don’t have to visit meta at all. Just stop. It’s like the world needs an intervention