Mark Zuckerberg has recently come under pressure for facebook sharing/selling data. Also there are concerns from some people about facebook being used to affect the recent american election. What are your thoughts/concerns on the issue.

Should we really expect a free app to not use our data to sell advertisements? The business model is to use our data to sell ads, is that not ok?

Suppose the media platform is being used to share 'fake news' stories from people looking to influence other people opinions, is it the responsiblity of the media company to vet stories for 'truthfulness' before they get shared? I'm not aware of other media platforms, for instance I see ads in the newspaperor on tv that make claims that could be untrue, and that is ok. Even long form ads such as infomercials appear on tv are usually hawking snake oils, yet we don't blame the tv stations. 

What are your thoughts?

The biggest part of the FB thing, to me, is that Cambridge Analytica (as far as I know; reports seem somewhat confusing) exploited a security flaw to get data from friends-of-friends. So if your FB friend filled out a survey or whatever, CA accessed his friends list and has YOUR data even though you did not consent to it.

FB heard about this breach in 2014 or 2015 and decided not to tell anybody what had happened.

Otherwise, I'm really not sure how I feel about this. The part of me that is libertarian says marketplace of ideas and let people say whatever they want, it's up to us to be smart enough to filter out what's legitimate and what isn't -- but then again such an attitude would not have led to seat belt laws related to this newfangled automotive technology (and I think we can all agree that it's been a good productive law) and maybe things do need to change.

They don't sell data; they trade it. It's a nuance, but it's still an important distinction.

I have no problem with the amount of data Facebook has access to. Outside of instances like Cambridge Analytica, everything is voluntarily provided by users.

I'm one of those weirdos that's never had a Facebook account. Fuck 'em.

Apr 15, 2018 4:22:22 GMT Kilgore said:

I'm one of those weirdos that's never had a Facebook account. Fuck 'em.

I think the people who have Facebook and stay glued to it 24/7 are the weird ones. It ain't nothing but mind control political propaganda and mass marketing tool and these people who fall into it are straight up sucker ass marks. 

Apr 15, 2018 10:52:58 GMT shinobimusashi said:

Apr 15, 2018 4:22:22 GMT Kilgore said:

I'm one of those weirdos that's never had a Facebook account. Fuck 'em.

I think the people who have Facebook and stay glued to it 24/7 are the weird ones. It ain't nothing but mind control political propaganda and mass marketing tool and these people who fall into it are straight up sucker ass marks. 

I’d love to hear more about this ... please elaborate?

After opm and equifax this seems tame by comparison. But as someone who never had much of a social media presence... insert black guy meme here.

Love the Facebook mind control foil hat paranoia. I reckon it is because of the positive reinforcement bio feedback loop. Or a foil hat. Arguably your real life friendships and this message board work with the same endorphin triggering happiness that social media does. None of the above is controlling minds. Mind control is myth.

The whole notion of mind control reminds me of how good video games are designed.  With rewards and challenges.  There is no malice or ill intent.  Until malice can be proven it isn't mind control. It's just catering to how the brain works.  How we learn and what we enjoy. 

Facebook is a tool. Use it how you wish. Don't expect privacy anywhere. Google. Store cards and rewards groups, this board, Netflix searches etc.

Apr 15, 2018 16:32:39 GMT theend said:

Love the Facebook mind control foil hat paranoia. I reckon it is because of the positive reinforcement bio feedback loop. Or a foil hat. Arguably your real life friendships and this message board work with the same endorphin triggering happiness that social media does. None of the above is controlling minds. Mind control is myth.

The whole notion of mind control reminds me of how good video games are designed.  With rewards and challenges.  There is malice or ill intent.  Until malice can be proven it isn't mind control. It's just catering to how the brain works.  How we learn and what we enjoy. 

Facebook is a tool. Use it how you wish. Don't expect privacy anywhere. Google. Store cards and rewards groups, this board, Netflix searches etc.

That is exactly how I feel.

I think Facebook makes algorithmic choices which make it disingenuous to say it’s just a social media site and we should hold the people that post responsible for the content and not the sites host. Since Facebook decides everything you see and don’t see on their site from your friends, I think it has some culpability in how many people see demonstrably false stories.

I mean I really don’t care about any of that stuff. But when Facebook weights posts to influence exposure to certain posts, I think it should hold some responsibility.

Apr 15, 2018 4:22:22 GMT Kilgore said:

I'm one of those weirdos that's never had a Facebook account. Fuck 'em.

Same. Never had one either. 

Not having an account won't even keep you private apparently, they've been installing cookies on people who have just gone to a website that has a Facebook like or share button.

The whole thing is totally fucked but what can you do? The scariest thing to me is how I've had ads start appearing in my feed just based on conversations that I've had - not even just off other websites I've visited.

Apr 16, 2018 1:59:49 GMT @admin said:

Not having an account won't even keep you private apparently, they've been installing cookies on people who have just gone to a website that has a Facebook like or share button.

The whole thing is totally fucked but what can you do? The scariest thing to me is how I've had ads start appearing in my feed just based on conversations that I've had - not even just off other websites I've visited.

That latter part has been happening to me more and more recently. Super unsettling.

Apr 16, 2018 2:23:14 GMT 🤯 said:

Apr 16, 2018 1:59:49 GMT @admin said:

Not having an account won't even keep you private apparently, they've been installing cookies on people who have just gone to a website that has a Facebook like or share button.

The whole thing is totally fucked but what can you do? The scariest thing to me is how I've had ads start appearing in my feed just based on conversations that I've had - not even just off other websites I've visited.

That latter part has been happening to me more and more recently. Super unsettling.

I need more details about this. Do you guys have an Alexa, or something like that? Or do you think it's happening from your phone or laptop/tablet? Thankfully I haven't experienced this yet.

Apr 16, 2018 3:23:26 GMT Kilgore said:

Apr 16, 2018 2:23:14 GMT 🤯 said:

That latter part has been happening to me more and more recently. Super unsettling.

I need more details about this. Do you guys have an Alexa, or something like that? Or do you think it's happening from your phone or laptop/tablet? Thankfully I haven't experienced this yet.

Yep just my phone. I had someone come to my desk at work and talk about going to the supermarket to buy Ben & Jerry's icecream for a birthday party we were organising - very next day I had their ads in my newsfeed.

Apr 16, 2018 4:24:37 GMT @admin said:

Apr 16, 2018 3:23:26 GMT Kilgore said:

I need more details about this. Do you guys have an Alexa, or something like that? Or do you think it's happening from your phone or laptop/tablet? Thankfully I haven't experienced this yet.

Yep just my phone. I had someone come to my desk at work and talk about going to the supermarket to buy Ben & Jerry's icecream for a birthday party we were organising - very next day I had their ads in my newsfeed.

Goddamn. 

Apr 16, 2018 4:24:37 GMT @admin said:

Apr 16, 2018 3:23:26 GMT Kilgore said:

I need more details about this. Do you guys have an Alexa, or something like that? Or do you think it's happening from your phone or laptop/tablet? Thankfully I haven't experienced this yet.

Yep just my phone. I had someone come to my desk at work and talk about going to the supermarket to buy Ben & Jerry's icecream for a birthday party we were organising - very next day I had their ads in my newsfeed.

Yup, just like this.

Phone was in my pocket, not in use. I was outside talking to someone about what it's like to raise chickens and what all is involved with it. They talked about their coop. Next morning in my email I had flash sale ads from Home Depot for chicken coops in my inbox.

I've had other less obvious examples, but that one really stood out based on uniqueness of topic and timing.

I hadn't noticed any volkswagen beetles on the road. Then I got interested in buying one. Then I started noticing them on every road trip I took and in town.

I always assumed there was some privacy shadiness happening, it's the internet. I did give up on facebook though, not because of this or because i'm just so fucking cool and alternative to the rest of society. I just realized that I kind of like humanity less and less when i see the shit people post about. I've had to unfriend so many people because they are either a right wing nut job, an over the top social justice warrior liberal, or just otherwise an annoying asshole. So I parted with company with facebook as part of my new years resolution this year.

I'm not important enough or pretty enough for anyone to want to share my personal info. So I really don't care

Apr 16, 2018 22:02:47 GMT Mistress said:

I'm not important enough or pretty enough for anyone to want to share my personal info. So I really don't care

You've gotta be prettier than a Volkswagen Beetle.

Apr 17, 2018 2:24:42 GMT 🤯 said:

Apr 16, 2018 22:02:47 GMT Mistress said:

I'm not important enough or pretty enough for anyone to want to share my personal info. So I really don't care

You've gotta be prettier than a Volkswagen Beetle.

What color?

I think it's incredibly arrogant to think anything I or anyone else puts on Facebook is worth a dime, nor does anyone really care. My data isn't interesting, nor is it private if I intend to share it daily on Facebook, or Instagram or any other platform.

Your spending habits are tracked by your bank, your purchases with large retailers who utilize rewards cards, your mobile phone, your internet, your Netflix, everything about you is collected and assessed in a bid to tailor a more personalized experience. The information obtained here is more true than what you've cherry-picked to put on social media.

Personally, people are paranoid about information from their Facebook getting into the wrong hands, imagine if we where talking about PornHub instead.

The biggest issue with Facebook is the bubble it creates.

A filter bubble is a state of intellectual isolation[1] that can result from personalized searches when a website algorithm selectively guesses what information a user would like to see based on information about the user, such as location, past click-behavior and search history.[2][3][4] As a result, users become separated from information that disagrees with their viewpoints, effectively isolating them in their own cultural or ideological bubbles.

Which was what I was getting at, though some research disputes their impact.

Apr 26, 2018 2:15:04 GMT mikec said:

Which was what I was getting at, though some research disputes their impact

Even outside the influence of algorithms, on social media you'll like the pages you agree with, follow and befriend the people you like and relate to, follow the pages - whether political or social commentary, music, the arts, etc - that you support. Or follow the lead of friends you consider influential. Even without Zuckerberg's math problems, you're creating a feed of information entirely tailored to your (yes) narrow-minded POV. This feed of information is constant and infinite and for many it feeds a social or political narrative or thought process. And in turn, it supports and agrees with every opinion, like, dislike or thought they've ever had.

The problem is, so many young people today, their entire view of the world is through their social media account. And when presented with something outside of their bubble, they can't process or comprehend a differing opinion, becoming a fuel in this increasingly 'offended' culture.