Posted on 09/15/2021 4:36:29 PM PDT by American Number 181269513
In the fall of 2018, Jonah Peretti, chief executive of online publisher BuzzFeed, emailed a top official at Facebook Inc. The most divisive content that publishers produced was going viral on the platform, he said, creating an incentive to produce more of it.
He pointed to the success of a BuzzFeed post titled “21 Things That Almost All White People are Guilty of Saying,” which received 13,000 shares and 16,000 comments on Facebook, many from people criticizing BuzzFeed for writing it, and arguing with each other about race. Other content the company produced, from news videos to articles on self-care and animals, had trouble breaking through, he said.
Mr. Peretti blamed a major overhaul Facebook had given to its News Feed algorithm earlier that year to boost “meaningful social interactions,” or MSI, between friends and family, according to internal Facebook documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal that quote the email.
BuzzFeed built its business on making content that would go viral on Facebook and other social media, so it had a vested interest in any algorithm changes that hurt its distribution. Still, Mr. Peretti’s email touched a nerve.
Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said the aim of the algorithm change was to strengthen bonds between users and to improve their well-being. Facebook would encourage people to interact more with friends and family and spend less time passively consuming professionally produced content, which research suggested was harmful to their mental health.
Within the company, though, staffers warned the change was having the opposite effect, the documents show. It was making Facebook’s platform an angrier place.
Company researchers discovered that publishers and political parties were reorienting their posts toward outrage and sensationalism. That tactic produced high levels of comments and reactions that translated into success on Facebook.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
No way a bunch of millennial jerkwaters can get this right.
If you go to Facebook pages devoted to the residents of cities, they are loaded with racism and violence. Of course Facebook could care less if blacks post violent videos and express racism toward Asians.
“Healthier” my eye.
Bkmk
The law of requisite variety.
Hi.
Doesn’t Baraq H. 0bama have part of your moniker?
5.56mm
Had to look that up. Interesting.
Everybody gets angry real easily these days.
Let ‘em keep on and it’ll get so hot they’ll all torch each other over there.
Facewhatnow?
A “healthier” place, suuuure. The divide is so wide between us and them it’s crazy. What the F does the left know about “healthier”?
Zuck is very quick to block posts and give people 30 days in FB jail for the silliest of reasons.
But if you post a vile meme with the worst gutter language possible you are A-OK in his sight.
I’m way past 30 days. The only thing the said was a painting of the crucifixion of Jesus was too violent. It only showed his feet.
Silencing opposing views to the communist party talking points doesn’t sound healthy.
My Facebook feed is strangely filled with liberal and animal rights suggestions. This backfires on them because the comments are all people tearing down their arguments.
Imagine something so evil and pervasive that it openly admits to a policy of manipulating people’s social interactions.
oh well Asians as a voting block keep voting for a party that protects these thugs and racists and also a party that is for discriminating against them in college acceptance etc.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.