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Did Facebook fuel political polarization during the 2020 election? It’s complicated.
(arstechnica.com)
this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
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Technology
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"Yes" really isn't complicated.
Yeah, doesn't seem complicated to me at all. Their algorithm is programmed to keep people angry, engaged, and convinced 100% that their opinion is right. (no matter what that opinion is.)
Keeps people clicking on shitty ads and buying stupid crap.
Sure it is. Is it Meta's algorithm, is it user reach, is it paid ads, is it channels, is it memes, is it leaning, is it...
Meta is participating in a pretty big study with actual researchers here. I'm no Meta fan, and this is partly for PR I'm sure, but this is a really good thing that more social media companies should do.
Those seem like "how" or "why" questions to me. More complicated. The big one is "how do we prevent" and I bet we won't get an honest answer from big social themselves. That's why there should be independent public research.