Isn’t it ironic that Facebook’s initial strength was its ability to prevent trolling by requiring a valid college email address from a participant institution?
Facebook once saw itself in the business of connecting people together, rather than their main goal now of maximum data harvest from a maximally addicted user base..
Their methods have changed as well, from a large collection of algorithms keyed to user metrics and maintained by software engineers and data scientists to even larger machine learning models, crafted and tweaked by those same professionals, but learning independently and behaving in ways that are no longer programmatically comprehensible to humans.
But, why? I mean, who cares what they do with accreted clicks, likes, posts, etc., ..right?
Turns out that data is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Not because it can be used for spying, but because it can be used for nudging, and nudging people in their millions – especially when they don’t care enough to notice it – can make a lot of money for retailers..
It can also change elections.
With all the bad press Facebook is recieving lately it is tempting to assume that they have done their worst, been found out and it’s time to move on; I think Facebook’s worst impacts on society are yet to come.
Do a search along the lines of “how much does your phone know about you” and then imagine how you would feel about ALL of that going to Facebook in real time, to be chewed on by machine learning models for insight on your current state of mind beyond what even the creepiest marketers could come up with – beyond what ANY human mind could come up with.
Now, nobody would ever allow that kind of access, and attempts to grab it would surely trigger the long dreaded intervention of the FCC, FTC, etc.. ..but, what if Facebook could do all that ON YOUR PHONE? ..or at least on the next generation of phones that are in the pipelines?
Zuck’s betting that his users will que up for this in Meta..:-)
I wish I could remember where I saw this (paraphrasing): if an enemy were to create a weapon to destroy this country, pitting one neighbor against another, Facebook would match the spec.
NeuralCapsule over 2 years ago
Isn’t it ironic that Facebook’s initial strength was its ability to prevent trolling by requiring a valid college email address from a participant institution?
Facebook once saw itself in the business of connecting people together, rather than their main goal now of maximum data harvest from a maximally addicted user base..
Their methods have changed as well, from a large collection of algorithms keyed to user metrics and maintained by software engineers and data scientists to even larger machine learning models, crafted and tweaked by those same professionals, but learning independently and behaving in ways that are no longer programmatically comprehensible to humans.
But, why? I mean, who cares what they do with accreted clicks, likes, posts, etc., ..right?
Turns out that data is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Not because it can be used for spying, but because it can be used for nudging, and nudging people in their millions – especially when they don’t care enough to notice it – can make a lot of money for retailers..
It can also change elections.
With all the bad press Facebook is recieving lately it is tempting to assume that they have done their worst, been found out and it’s time to move on; I think Facebook’s worst impacts on society are yet to come.
Do a search along the lines of “how much does your phone know about you” and then imagine how you would feel about ALL of that going to Facebook in real time, to be chewed on by machine learning models for insight on your current state of mind beyond what even the creepiest marketers could come up with – beyond what ANY human mind could come up with.
Now, nobody would ever allow that kind of access, and attempts to grab it would surely trigger the long dreaded intervention of the FCC, FTC, etc.. ..but, what if Facebook could do all that ON YOUR PHONE? ..or at least on the next generation of phones that are in the pipelines?
Zuck’s betting that his users will que up for this in Meta..:-)
gmadoll789 Premium Member over 2 years ago
Anonymity on the internet acts like alcohol – it lowers inhibitions. Apparently quite a lot.
Kirk Sinclair over 2 years ago
I wish I could remember where I saw this (paraphrasing): if an enemy were to create a weapon to destroy this country, pitting one neighbor against another, Facebook would match the spec.
Radish the wordsmith over 2 years ago
It generates revenue, it also encourages the lowest common denominator.
rossevrymn over 2 years ago
A better depiction would be orange, caveman-looking people and normal people……………….right-wing populist comments always welcome:
sandflea over 2 years ago
Isn’t tribalism great?
randolini Premium Member over 2 years ago
Happiness is not being on social media, not being propagandized by corporate media and staying away from the Trump cult of morons.