In what is being described as an interesting turn of events, Facebook has reportedly started to remove its support from Meta's own misinformation detecting tool called CrowdTangle.
And these are clear hints that tech analysts believe could pave the way for Meta completely eliminate the tool as a whole
Researchers have been making use of the tool to help try and track down the spread of those stories that are viral as well as those spreading disinformation.
While the news comes to us through anonymous sources, leading media outlet Bloomberg says it has suspected reports how the tool could be shut down altogether by Meta.
So what would actually happen if we saw CrowdTangle being pulled out completely? Well, for starters, it would put an end to the access that people have to help determine which posts are producing high engagement in terms of right-wing Facebook sources.
There have always been plenty of debates centering around a simple fact. And that was related to how so many sources stated results that were in complete opposition to that shown by Facebook’s actual results.
We saw an article published last year by the New York Times that highlighted how the company has been forced to deal with internal wars related to data published and how much or how little data needs to be made public.
At that time, the owner of CrowdTangle stated that more data needs to be made public for increased transparency but he soon left the firm a few months later.
To better understand the situation, you need to realize which types of data are being tracked by Crowdtangle. Well, being a public tool, it provides insights taken from the Facebook app and provides them to a number of stakeholders.
These include publishers, fact-checking entities, researchers, and some media journalists as well who require such data on a routine basis.
They also go on to report what are the happening news and trends in the world of social media. The app does this by taking the public from certain places and making it public so they can be discovered and reached more easily. However, the firm mentioned that it never tracked content present on normal profiles on Facebook.
A good example would be how the feature is able to determine which link posts performed at the top of their game on Facebook in the past 24 hours in a certain country.
Now, Facebook has always been in a dilemma because while the stats may be correct, they tend to feel the data doesn’t show the complete picture. For instance, CrowdTangle may be revealing the posts that got the most engagement but it failed to represent what most users end up seeing on the app.
Therefore, the company claims that it would be better to showcase the posts with the highest reach but CrowdTangle fails to show such information in a direct manner.
As you can see, the two entities were butting heads. And it makes sense as to why Meta might want to pull the plug on it altogether. Previously, rumors ran about how Meta wanted to remove the tool in February but didn’t due to the Digital Services Act by the EU.
But now that has passed, we’re hearing speculations about how Facebook has already given out orders to its engineers for the removal process. This comes in line with how a spokesperson from Facebook has revealed to Bloomberg how we could see it being active until the mid-term elections of 2022.
The Facebook spokesperson also mentioned how Meta had a number of other more valuable offerings for its researchers and it would be unveiling them soon.
Read next: Does Meta Really Follow Its Own Advice? New Annual Report By The Oversight Board Says it All
And these are clear hints that tech analysts believe could pave the way for Meta completely eliminate the tool as a whole
Researchers have been making use of the tool to help try and track down the spread of those stories that are viral as well as those spreading disinformation.
While the news comes to us through anonymous sources, leading media outlet Bloomberg says it has suspected reports how the tool could be shut down altogether by Meta.
So what would actually happen if we saw CrowdTangle being pulled out completely? Well, for starters, it would put an end to the access that people have to help determine which posts are producing high engagement in terms of right-wing Facebook sources.
There have always been plenty of debates centering around a simple fact. And that was related to how so many sources stated results that were in complete opposition to that shown by Facebook’s actual results.
We saw an article published last year by the New York Times that highlighted how the company has been forced to deal with internal wars related to data published and how much or how little data needs to be made public.
At that time, the owner of CrowdTangle stated that more data needs to be made public for increased transparency but he soon left the firm a few months later.
To better understand the situation, you need to realize which types of data are being tracked by Crowdtangle. Well, being a public tool, it provides insights taken from the Facebook app and provides them to a number of stakeholders.
These include publishers, fact-checking entities, researchers, and some media journalists as well who require such data on a routine basis.
They also go on to report what are the happening news and trends in the world of social media. The app does this by taking the public from certain places and making it public so they can be discovered and reached more easily. However, the firm mentioned that it never tracked content present on normal profiles on Facebook.
A good example would be how the feature is able to determine which link posts performed at the top of their game on Facebook in the past 24 hours in a certain country.
Now, Facebook has always been in a dilemma because while the stats may be correct, they tend to feel the data doesn’t show the complete picture. For instance, CrowdTangle may be revealing the posts that got the most engagement but it failed to represent what most users end up seeing on the app.
Therefore, the company claims that it would be better to showcase the posts with the highest reach but CrowdTangle fails to show such information in a direct manner.
As you can see, the two entities were butting heads. And it makes sense as to why Meta might want to pull the plug on it altogether. Previously, rumors ran about how Meta wanted to remove the tool in February but didn’t due to the Digital Services Act by the EU.
But now that has passed, we’re hearing speculations about how Facebook has already given out orders to its engineers for the removal process. This comes in line with how a spokesperson from Facebook has revealed to Bloomberg how we could see it being active until the mid-term elections of 2022.
The Facebook spokesperson also mentioned how Meta had a number of other more valuable offerings for its researchers and it would be unveiling them soon.
Read next: Does Meta Really Follow Its Own Advice? New Annual Report By The Oversight Board Says it All