http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/29/facebook-users-emotions-news-feeds
Trying to control the emotions of its users O_O, that's evil James Bond villain territory.
From here on out: avid Facebook-users will have prove that their opinions are genuine.
There's also the question whether Facebook could manipulate elections, that raises the question about whether avid Facebook users should still have a vote.
This isn't a new thing. Other companys like google filter their results for you in a similar way (but just with different purpose).
There was a nice idea floating around, that the web 2.0 is encapsulating people in bubbles with self-repeating information in such a way that you will somehow only see what you want and get a disturbed view on reality.
Interesting experiment. Using it to make people more happy would, in my opinion, be a good thing. Using it to basically be a shit stirrer of mahoosive proportions is just a bit evil.
Make people happy win win.
Make people think they are happy but the world around them is falling apart. Sounds kinda dictatorish to me. Ah well it's for science so I say we do it!
thought control... for sale to the highest bidder.
facebook/google/youtube/etc (they are all the same) already have all of your data and identity, next step is to give you the illusion that you have free choice and free will online through "customisation" features and a "tailored experience". Then they sell the ability to control what you think to whomever pays the most... a corporation, a government entity, a political group, a religious group, etc...
Facebook's only mistake is to be too obvious about it in this move.
Facebook's only mistake is to be too obvious about it in this move
Well obvious to people who have a grasp of technology...
There are allot of people for whom Facebook is the Internet. Those people are absolutely oblivious to the vibrant culture outside their bubble.
Facebook does this emotional manipulation to keep the cattle inside the garden so they have a monopoly on add delivery.
With all the information aggregation they will eventually be able to make this people spend what little money they have on valueless "digital goods", turning them into a proletariat without means or representation.
At this Point Facebook will become the puppet of the power in charge and then they will be forced to use their manipulation powers to use as an uprising prevention technology. (Not unlike some Mainstream media outlets today)
They will have to create an alternate reality that will diverge with ever increasing speed from the actual reality (more lies to cover up previous lies, has exponential growth)
With increasing divergence the inconsistencies will grow as well & eventually even the most naive people will realize the what's up. (if it's build on lies it’ll falter like a house of cards)
The elites are baking a powder cake. The big fallout could be prevented if the elites could bring them self’s to share the wealth & the power, but unfortunately that isn't in their nature.
So the only thing left to do is prepare so you can get out of doge when it blows, and then restart the cycle.
It seems that we are doomed to repeat this cycle until somebody finds the great equalizer. A decade ago i thought that the internet was it, but it turns out that it wasn't. Next (probably false) hope is maybe genetic improvements or brain implants.
Honestly I could care less about this "news feed" experiment. It was an anonymous mass experiment that would not of worked if they let anyone in on it. after they were done they let everyone know that they did it, which was smart because if someone later found out and broke the news and wasn't with facebook it would of looked worse than what it was. Nobody was hurt or irreparable damaged by this, so shut up and deal with it. Do you think cable companies don't do this shit with commercials/shows on TV? Or google doing this sort of thing with ads on websites? Mass experimentation studies are commonplace but are kept secret because if someone knew about them it would break the experiment.
Broadcast TV doing "evil" stuff isn't excuse for Facebook to do the same
We have limited resources & intellectual capital... Should we spend it on finding out how to manipulate people or maybe finding better systems to govern our self’s.
How about researching how to do frustration-free teaching of math & science.
Every bad decision is a missed opportunity for a good decision.
Cool, maybe this will be the death of facebook. Someone hurry up and build the next social network. Your running out of time. Boy is the time ripe.
im not worried i have my fucking emotions under control not like some pussy ass cry babies that are worried about this.
lol, always the troll. I stopped caring about social networks when they are went cookie cutter. You take what we give you and shut up attitude. Kill it with fire, hurry.
anyone manipulated by this sort of thing must be a weak minded sheep anyway and are hopeless. The fact that nobody noticed it until facebook announced the whole thing is proof enough that it really wasn't that big of a deal. Im pretty sure someone would notice something was up if facebook was actually doing something particularly evil. How do you know for sure this experiment was done with evil intentions? It was a simple case study in the field of psychology to find out if people like good things and hate bad things. People like you are blowing it out of proportion.
Well, everyone on Facebook already agreed to participate in any social experiments (it's in the user agreement thingy) and perhaps Facebook only tried to do the right thing...
And the scientists behind the project said it was scary...
I hate facebook with a passion. And it annoys me when people around me have to check it every 5-bloody-minutes. Its almost drone like to watch... i dont understand how people enjoy it.
Every month or so when i log in to have a quick look around for events, parties etc; i have about 20 friends requests from people i don't even know... who are friends with my friends... what i dont understand is, why add me as a friend when you dont even f*cking know me. I actually classify it as a compulsion/addiction... to see that there is somebody you dont know but you better add them to your giant hoarding list of friends anyway because you know them via a 1 person connection.
People also get annoyed at me when i don't reply to messages or instantly accept their friends requests... 1. if you wanna tell me something, text me or wait to tell me in person, its never anything important anyway. 2. i don't go on facebook every minute of the day so don't get pissed off if i don't accept your friend request which means absolutely nothing.
Also what facebook is doing... am i meant to be surprised?