First, by encouraging people to get news from all different sources in the same place, Facebook leveled the playing field among publishers.
Second, whereas human editors used to be trained to select and emphasize stories based on their news value, Facebook’s news feed algorithm optimized for clicks, views, likes, and shares.
This move isn’t to repair the damage done to democracy, but rather to limit the damage done to its users.
Om Malik explains why Facebook will not be changing, it is not in its DNA. This is epitomised by the spamming of two-factor authentication users and the skimming of VPN data only adds to this. As Malik explains:
Even with the personal adjustments to the feed in response to issues with fake news and manipulation, this is akin to the spin by the tobacco industry in the 70’s to hide the effect of smoking.
Here then are some things that have also left me thinking this month …
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For the past few years I have written both a December newsletter, as well as a summary of the whole year (see 2016 and 2017). As Decemeber’s highlights are included within the summary, I decided to just do one.
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