6 ms·

Facebook cannot act in your best interest

96 points by ckuhl 8y ago

pib0ss 8y ago
I don't think federated social networks (GNU social, diaspora ... etc) will solve this problem. In their case they are not in your best interest due to the time that will be wasted. I think "social" interaction should be left in real life where it can influence people in a positive fashion. IMO the Internet is really only good for disseminating information and for certain utilities it provides.
- ckuhl 8y ago
  I would disagree that federated social networks would face the same pressure to increase time spent on their sites. By the nature of federation, a sort of marketplace of social sites would allow people to move to whatever serves them best (for whatever their definition of best is). So if a member of the fediverse starts feeding someone unenjoyable content, they could leave.
  - braderhart 8y ago
    Exactly.. creative uses of federated and decentralized social networks, especially using tools like blockchain, will allow us to filter our content and provide us with avenues for ad-free networks. Rich people shouldn't be able to propagandize poor people with advertising in exchange for educational tools. We are still exploiting the poor and are a racist colonialist nation that facilitates generational wealth and land ownership based on past exploits and transgressions.
- haolez 8y ago
  I disagree. I believe that the biggest blocker for federated social networks would be the lack of "good" censorship for things like spam, terrorism propaganda, child porn, etc. I don't want to use a social network and have to deal with that in my timeline.
  - jstanley 8y ago
    Then just don't subscribe to people who post things you don't want to read.
adrr 8y ago
It runs under the wrong assumption when it comes to digital advertising. Advertisers care about engagement. Its not about adding more ads or increasing view time, its about delivering ads that are more relevant to the user so advertisers pay more.
- hossbeast 8y ago
  And to deliver greater engagement, Facebook must collect and sell more personal data
jrauser 8y ago
The article says that to make more money, FB must "acquire more users and show more advertisements to existing users". There is a third option, which is to show higher efficiency (higher CTR) advertising to existing customers. This, of course, does not invalidate the main thrust of the article's argument, as the way to increase advertising efficiency is to accumulate and exploit ever more data about its users. Recent events suggest that this is not in users best interest, as FB has proven an untrustworthy custodian of user data.
ryan-allen 8y ago
I have 'tuned' my Facebook feed with the 'unfollow' option, by employing the following narcissistic rule: if it makes me angry, upset, or any other negative emotion, for any reason at all, that person or thing gets an unfollow from me. My feed is now composed of synthesizer groups, funny dogs and funny birds. I get a lot of positive things from my feed, and a lot of relevant advertising for things I'm interested in. It doesn't matter if it's your sister, your best friend, or your mum, just unfollow. They don't know about it (unless they ask if you 'saw their post'), and you can improve your experience.
- SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
  Serious question... do you understand the issues with “the bubble”? Because you are proudly explaining you’ve made one.
  - swyx 8y ago
    if you are going to live in a bubble anyway, you might as well have one that doesnt upset you all the time?
    - SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
      Fair point. But considering the overall damage it does to block off well put together condiractory opinion, I see it as: if I’m going to choose to step on a nail it’s going to be a small one. But, if you’re cutting out reddit-quality “discussion”, well, I get that.
      - ryan-allen 8y ago
        Yep, I aim to get my news from places other than social networks. As they say in Australia, I couldn't give a rat's arse what other people think about current events, I'll take my news from various reputable sources, not the 'wisdom of the masses'.
  - ryan-allen 8y ago
arbie 8y ago
It is particularly rich to see a "human-computer interaction" tag on a post where the body uses nearly-invisible thin grey font on a white background.
- jabot 8y ago
  Firefox reader mode. I activated it after 15 seconds...
hgdsraj 8y ago
I usually see people comment on the font and scoff as it's generally not aweful, but that font color just looks terrible and unreadable on my screen. Is it a really light grey for everyone or just me?
brylie 8y ago
This is a good opportunity to join and/or recommend friends to join decentralized networks, like Mastadon: https://joinmastodon.org/ https://joinmastodon.org/ https://instances.social/ https://instances.social/

96 points by ckuhl 8y ago

I don't think federated social networks (GNU social, diaspora ... etc) will solve this problem. In their case they are not in your best interest due to the time that will be wasted. I think "social" interaction should be left in real life where it can influence people in a positive fashion. IMO the Internet is really only good for disseminating information and for certain utilities it provides.

ckuhl 8y ago
I would disagree that federated social networks would face the same pressure to increase time spent on their sites. By the nature of federation, a sort of marketplace of social sites would allow people to move to whatever serves them best (for whatever their definition of best is). So if a member of the fediverse starts feeding someone unenjoyable content, they could leave.
- braderhart 8y ago
  Exactly.. creative uses of federated and decentralized social networks, especially using tools like blockchain, will allow us to filter our content and provide us with avenues for ad-free networks. Rich people shouldn't be able to propagandize poor people with advertising in exchange for educational tools. We are still exploiting the poor and are a racist colonialist nation that facilitates generational wealth and land ownership based on past exploits and transgressions.
haolez 8y ago
I disagree. I believe that the biggest blocker for federated social networks would be the lack of "good" censorship for things like spam, terrorism propaganda, child porn, etc. I don't want to use a social network and have to deal with that in my timeline.
- jstanley 8y ago
  Then just don't subscribe to people who post things you don't want to read.

adrr 8y ago

It runs under the wrong assumption when it comes to digital advertising. Advertisers care about engagement. Its not about adding more ads or increasing view time, its about delivering ads that are more relevant to the user so advertisers pay more.

hossbeast 8y ago
And to deliver greater engagement, Facebook must collect and sell more personal data

jrauser 8y ago

The article says that to make more money, FB must "acquire more users and show more advertisements to existing users". There is a third option, which is to show higher efficiency (higher CTR) advertising to existing customers. This, of course, does not invalidate the main thrust of the article's argument, as the way to increase advertising efficiency is to accumulate and exploit ever more data about its users. Recent events suggest that this is not in users best interest, as FB has proven an untrustworthy custodian of user data.

ryan-allen 8y ago

I have 'tuned' my Facebook feed with the 'unfollow' option, by employing the following narcissistic rule: if it makes me angry, upset, or any other negative emotion, for any reason at all, that person or thing gets an unfollow from me. My feed is now composed of synthesizer groups, funny dogs and funny birds. I get a lot of positive things from my feed, and a lot of relevant advertising for things I'm interested in. It doesn't matter if it's your sister, your best friend, or your mum, just unfollow. They don't know about it (unless they ask if you 'saw their post'), and you can improve your experience.

SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
Serious question... do you understand the issues with “the bubble”? Because you are proudly explaining you’ve made one.
- swyx 8y ago
  if you are going to live in a bubble anyway, you might as well have one that doesnt upset you all the time?
  - SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
    Fair point. But considering the overall damage it does to block off well put together condiractory opinion, I see it as: if I’m going to choose to step on a nail it’s going to be a small one. But, if you’re cutting out reddit-quality “discussion”, well, I get that.
    - ryan-allen 8y ago
      Yep, I aim to get my news from places other than social networks. As they say in Australia, I couldn't give a rat's arse what other people think about current events, I'll take my news from various reputable sources, not the 'wisdom of the masses'.
- ryan-allen 8y ago

arbie 8y ago

It is particularly rich to see a "human-computer interaction" tag on a post where the body uses nearly-invisible thin grey font on a white background.

jabot 8y ago
Firefox reader mode. I activated it after 15 seconds...

hgdsraj 8y ago

I usually see people comment on the font and scoff as it's generally not aweful, but that font color just looks terrible and unreadable on my screen. Is it a really light grey for everyone or just me?

brylie 8y ago

This is a good opportunity to join and/or recommend friends to join decentralized networks, like Mastadon: https://joinmastodon.org/ https://joinmastodon.org/ https://instances.social/ https://instances.social/