Pope Francis . Haim . An inspirational Little League coach . You ’ve likely seen these history on Facebook today , along with glass buckets and your friends ’ babies . I know that because they ’re sit atop the social mesh ’s “ trending ” list . What ’s not there at all ? Ferguson . Welcome to Facebookworld , where everything ’s wonderful all of the time .
There ’s been no small amount of handwringing about Facebook ’s character in news , which is another way of saying Facebook ’s function in how we shape our own personal versions of the universe . With so much pain in the reality — much of it intertwined with a curious second in Missouri — it ’s rightly worrisome that Facebook would rather show us reheated Instagram photos and Viral Nova use than event unfold in Ferguson . Or Iraq . Or anywhere that might force critical thought . Rome is burning , and Facebook want to have intercourse if we wish the fiddler .
So how did we get here ? And mayhap more importantly … should we even like ?
Your Filtered Feed
So what does the algorithm pluck out of the ether ? Facebook keeps that largely secretive , since it ’s the engine that drives a multi - billion - dollar sign business . But there are a few clear parameter . Ars dives a bit deeperinto this , but in short Facebook will demonstrably show you :
What you ’ve asked it to , implicitly , through your history of wish and sharing and point out and clicking .
The particular your friends have like and deal and commented and clicked on .
ad .
Things that make you happy .
Any compounding of the above that include video recording .
Probably an Upworthy post ?
More ads .
As it sour out , the things we are Liking and share and comment and clicking on are n’t breaking tidings update . They ’re not politically charged analyses . They ’re not things we discord with . They ’re the easily digestible lists , the affair only 90 kids would know . All Facebook does is provide the world ’s biggest chamber ; we ’re the ones who fill it with echo .
And you know what ? That ’s probably ok .
Lust For Like
So no , Facebook is not the place to go for your conventions to be challenged . It is not good at news . Facebook is a serial of mirrors that shows you cascade version of what you already know to be true in your heart and soul , even if it ’s false .
That ’s not idealistic . But it ’s also not apocalyptic . In fact , it ’s odd that we would have expected anything else .
Facebook ’s object lens is to connect you to people ; the more connected you find , the longer you stay on the land site . The longer you stay on the site , the more ads you see . The more ad you see , the more likely it is that you may accidentally click one . That ’s why we do n’t see rabble-rousing topics — and yes , many of your friends differ with you about Ferguson — in our feed . If we desire to pick a fight , we ’d be on Twitter .
To await your News Feed to make you feel anything more than warm and fuzzy is like expecting Cheetos to build sinew mass . In an ideal world , certain . But junk food , like Facebook ’s algorithm , survive without agency ; it simply wants to be consumed .
And even if Facebook did suddenly adjudicate it had a social responsibility to surface stories it deem important , you ’d ply into the opposite issue . significant to whom ? Whose take do you get to see ? And does argue about it — or gibe with it — on Facebook ever do anything but more firmly entrench you in your item of purview ?
Meanwhile , there are other places to get word . Some of them have the same problems of ego - reinforcement ; I largely agree withThe Nation , and would never turn over for The Weekly Standard . But there ’s no shortage of option that exist outside of your News Feed to read about thing that count . That we ’ve come to depend on Facebook as a news ticker is on us , not the algorithm .
Facebook shows us the worldly concern through pink wine - colored glasses , certain . But the material problem is that we decided to wear out them in the first place .
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