People can make all kinds of arguments both positive as well as against Facebook for the kind of work that the company tends to do on a more or less regular basis, however, it is important to note that there is a very pertinent concern that the company is a bit too soft on various right wing elements.
The fact that the Cambridge Analytica scandal, one of the biggest disasters that Facebook has ever been embroiled in, resulted in the Free World getting its first demagogue in several generations is definitely a bad sign, but Facebook keeps trying to suggest that the problem is with how people perceive it rather than within the platform itself.
The thing that everyone should note here is that Facebook acquired an analytics tools called CrowdTangle and employed an independent team that would use this tool and uncover the problems that Facebook is currently facing. It appears that the team hired to do the job perhaps did a little too well, because they have been dismantled and the use of the tool has been discontinued.
The problem with CrowdTangle is that it can be used by journalists who can compile the data as they see fit. One example of this can be seen with the Twitter account called FacebooksTop10. This Twitter account reveals the posts that get interacted with the most on the platform, and they have revealed that for the most part the platform is highly right wing since its aging audience mostly only interacts with posts from Donald Trump, Ben Shapiro and other prominent right wing figures who are well known for espousing highly divisive and incendiary rhetoric with racist and misogynistic undertones.
Facebook might actually want to clean up its platform, but the most important thing for the social media company continues to be maintaining its image. This is rather ironic considering its image is so poor and things like this only serve to make it even worse, but Facebook clearly does not want it getting out that it has turned into a hub for boomer right wingers as this would make its already decreasing younger user base start preferring alternate platforms which they have started doing recently. Facebook might want to clean up its platform, but at the expense of its own self image.
H/T: NYT.
Read next: Facebook: Game changer or a privacy risk to its users?
The fact that the Cambridge Analytica scandal, one of the biggest disasters that Facebook has ever been embroiled in, resulted in the Free World getting its first demagogue in several generations is definitely a bad sign, but Facebook keeps trying to suggest that the problem is with how people perceive it rather than within the platform itself.
The thing that everyone should note here is that Facebook acquired an analytics tools called CrowdTangle and employed an independent team that would use this tool and uncover the problems that Facebook is currently facing. It appears that the team hired to do the job perhaps did a little too well, because they have been dismantled and the use of the tool has been discontinued.
The problem with CrowdTangle is that it can be used by journalists who can compile the data as they see fit. One example of this can be seen with the Twitter account called FacebooksTop10. This Twitter account reveals the posts that get interacted with the most on the platform, and they have revealed that for the most part the platform is highly right wing since its aging audience mostly only interacts with posts from Donald Trump, Ben Shapiro and other prominent right wing figures who are well known for espousing highly divisive and incendiary rhetoric with racist and misogynistic undertones.
Facebook might actually want to clean up its platform, but the most important thing for the social media company continues to be maintaining its image. This is rather ironic considering its image is so poor and things like this only serve to make it even worse, but Facebook clearly does not want it getting out that it has turned into a hub for boomer right wingers as this would make its already decreasing younger user base start preferring alternate platforms which they have started doing recently. Facebook might want to clean up its platform, but at the expense of its own self image.
H/T: NYT.
Read next: Facebook: Game changer or a privacy risk to its users?
