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As Data Overflows Online, Researchers Grapple With Ethics

• kylelibra 12y ago
  Professor Hancock who authored the study has his PhD according to his faculty info on Cornell's web site: http://infosci.cornell.edu/faculty/jeffrey-hancock http://infosci.cornell.edu/faculty/jeffrey-hancock Why does the article keep referring to him as Professor instead of Doctor?
  • gwillen 12y ago
    In the United States, Professor is a correct formal title for a university professor with a PhD.
• walterbell 12y ago
  July 2014 conversation on "social audits" of algorithms, at Harvard's Berkman Center: http://civic.mit.edu/blog/natematias/uncovering-algorithms-looking-inside-the-facebook-news-feed http://civic.mit.edu/blog/natematias/uncovering-algorithms-l... Edit: Historical visions of the boundaries between emerging science and ethics: Some Thoughts on Ethics and Science Fiction, http://spectacle.org/396/scifi/pavlac.html http://spectacle.org/396/scifi/pavlac.html
• dwaltrip 12y ago
  While some would say the risks of the Facebook study were obvious, Professor Hancock said the researchers did not realize that manipulating the news feed, even modestly, would make some people feel violated. I have to call bullshit on this. The whole point of the study was to see how their emotional state would be affected. Prior to this, no one would have expected to be "experimented" on while using a consumer web product.
  • yid 12y ago
    You don't have to "call bullshit". The text you quote can be better understood as saying that facebook should have known that if users found out they were being manipulated, they would feel violated. This is indeed what happened.