Facebook Manipulation

[billisonboard]

Granted I visited it almost never but i just deactivated my Facebook account. Anyone else close theirs?
www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/29/facebook-users-emotions-news-feeds

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I read this story a couple of days ago - it didn't influence me to de-activate my account, and I'm not even convinced the story is true.

I've seen several postings on F/B talking about it in the last couple of days, and most don't believe it's real either.

Maybe the article itself is "the test" - to see how people react/respond to the claims.

[Deleted]

I 'take a break' now and again. Much easier to do that there and here. Your account just stays as it is, all you have to do is sign in again to reactivate it. 

[billisonboard]

Jul 2, 2014 14:41:08 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

I read this story a couple of days ago - it didn't influence me to de-activate my account, and I'm not even convinced the story is true.

I've seen several postings on F/B talking about it in the last couple of days, and most don't believe it's real either.

Maybe the article itself is "the test" - to see how people react/respond to the claims.

I guess people need to believe what they need to believe. I wonder if every article published by this organization for the past 100 years is a sham or just this one?

Anywho, here is a link to the article:
m.pnas.org/content/111/24/8788

[ken a.k.a OMK]

SL, yes it's true. FB ran the test and justifies it, and everything they do, on their long policy that none of us read. They know that people can't live without them. Not like we will deactivate our accounts and find another place to stay in touch.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I'm also not as "attached" to F/B as a lot of people. (Though I do have 2 accts) - one with some peeps from here and my "real" account - for family/friends.

I can go days or even weeks without checking it, and don't read/look at every post - most are feeds from people I'm playing some of the game apps with - others are pics posted by friends/relatives.

I tend to ignore most of the other drivel some people spend all day posting about (one SIL in particular). I think she lives on F/B from the moment she wakes up til she finally crashes at night.

She also believes anything and everything she reads - so maybe the level of your activity there gets flagged by F/B - which is also a possibility.

[Angel!]

Without caring enough to look at the study link...I wonder how they judged on how their manipulations affected people.  Maybe they only selected people that post multiple times/day and then judge by their postings.  I post once every 6 months & log in maybe 1 time/wk, so I'm sure I wasn't a worthwhile subject.

[Jaguar]

Jul 2, 2014 14:37:15 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Granted I visited it almost never but i just deactivated my Facebook account. Anyone else close theirs?
www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/29/facebook-users-emotions-news-feeds

I did in January 2013 and I had such a damn headache, I had difficult captcha after difficult captcha. I think I had about 6 or 7 in a row with do you really want to close your Facebook account question.

It was horrible.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I'm on Facebook every day from 9am to 11pm.... I administer a busy Facebook page for a non-profit organization. Of course, most of the posts I encounter are cat-related.  Facebook is a huge fundraising tool for us ... so I have absolutely no plans to close my account.

[billisonboard]

Jul 2, 2014 15:40:25 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Without caring enough to look at the study link...I wonder how they judged on how their manipulations affected people.  Maybe they only selected people that post multiple times/day and then judge by their postings.  I post once every 6 months & log in maybe 1 time/wk, so I'm sure I wasn't a worthwhile subject.

They selectively feed people more positive or more negative content and then analyzed what each group posted on the same basis of positive or negative. So they feed some people shit for a week to see if it made them feel shitty, without them knowing of course.

[billisonboard]

Jul 2, 2014 16:38:16 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

I'm on Facebook every day from 9am to 11pm.... I administer a busy Facebook page for a non-profit organization. Of course, most of the posts I encounter are cat-related.  Facebook is a huge fundraising tool for us ... so I have absolutely no plans to close my account.

Wonder if they would be willing to manipulate users so they would give you more money? Wouldn't that be cool?

[Deleted]

Wow. Talk about opiates for the masses. That is scary.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Jul 2, 2014 16:58:10 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jul 2, 2014 16:38:16 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

I'm on Facebook every day from 9am to 11pm.... I administer a busy Facebook page for a non-profit organization. Of course, most of the posts I encounter are cat-related.  Facebook is a huge fundraising tool for us ... so I have absolutely no plans to close my account.

Wonder if they would be willing to manipulate users so they would give you more money? Wouldn't that be cool?

THAT's why we post cute kitten pictures all day long (grin) =^..^=

[billisonboard]

Jul 2, 2014 17:03:21 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

Jul 2, 2014 16:58:10 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Wonder if they would be willing to manipulate users so they would give you more money? Wouldn't that be cool?

THAT's why we post cute kitten pictures all day long (grin) =^..^=

But that is simply passive. Facebook is learning how to force feed content to users to emotionally manipulate them. Would you be willing to given them, say, ten percent of your funds raised if they set up a system which manipulated users to aid you in fund raising? Remember, there are other organizations out there competing for those same dollars.

[Virgil Showlion]

Jul 2, 2014 14:41:08 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

I read this story a couple of days ago - it didn't influence me to de-activate my account, and I'm not even convinced the story is true.

I've seen several postings on F/B talking about it in the last couple of days, and most don't believe it's real either.

Maybe the article itself is "the test" - to see how people react/respond to the claims.

The Guardian is as reputable as any mainstream news source. They most definitely aren't a satirical site.

They cite at least a dozen critics and academics in this article.

Why are you skeptical of the claim?

[goldensam]

Jul 2, 2014 16:38:16 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

I'm on Facebook every day from 9am to 11pm.... I administer a busy Facebook page for a non-profit organization. Of course, most of the posts I encounter are cat-related.  Facebook is a huge fundraising tool for us ... so I have absolutely no plans to close my account.

Facebook has been a wonderful tool for the rescue community.  My network has grown exponentially and our group is able to do so much more than before. 

[thyme4change]

If Facebook manipulated my feed to make me feel something, then there is some reason they wanted me to feel bored out of my frickin' skull.  Facebook is dead.  No one is there any more.  

[Deleted]

An acquaintance emailed me on FB today that she's having trouble meeting her quota and font I looove 31 ( I dont) and want to help her out (I don't) ... Talk about facebook manipulation....

[Virgil Showlion]

The methodology of the study is just as questionable as the ethics of it.

They manipulate the content of the feeds and then measure how the content of responding feeds changes as a result. Well News Flash for you, Cornell: If you manipulate users' feeds to contain "My dog died." and "My car is on the fritz.", the returned comments just might pertain to those topics regardless of whether users' emotions have changed. Even if I don't give a toot that your dog died, I'm probably going to reply, "Oh that's so sad." instead of "I just finished eating a lollipop." when it shows up on my feed.

If we observe the same phenomenon for feeds pushing positive comments about dogs or feeds pushing negative comments about cats, are we going to conclude that reply statements such as "Yes, I love my dogs too." and "Yes, cats can be a hassle sometimes." means that Facebook has predictably influenced users' opinions? Or has it simply set the topic of conversation, the same way any of us do when we start a thread on a particular topic?

I call 'bunkum' on the methodology of the study. Never mind the creepiness.

Facebook users deserve what they get ISFAIC.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Wow! I totally agree with Virgil on this one!!

I have a Facebook acoount that my kids label "creepy" because it is so barebones and so impersonal. I log on MAYBE every 2 months. I'm just not that in to bragging or whining which is what the majority of stuff on Facebook is. I signed up only so I could be a member of a non-profit Facebook group. So, no manipulation here.

But, if Facebook does have power over one or some members' emotions, is the site liable if it drives someone to suicide or murder or some other such extreme response? Will there be a "Facebook defense" in our courtrooms sometime in the near future?

[nutty]

I just deleted mine, I have had one friend send me a text. LOL

Edited to add: I think there is a difference between deactivation and deletion, I did the deletion. It wasn't difficult, if you do sign back in (and I did to check what happens) you get the box of confirm deletion request. If you say no I believe you have to do it again. It took about a minute.

[Deleted]

The study concluded: "Emotions expressed by friends, via online social networks, influence our own moods...

Seriously? This is news to anyone? I hide the negative people's comments all the time for just this reason. Anyway, I have the main people who's posts I see all the time and I still see them. I must not have been part of the experiment.

[bean29]

Hmm, Idk, you people must have different type of relatives and friends than I do. 

My family in NC, FL, East Coast, WI and IL were having a conversation on FB re:  having a family tree/sharing research accessible to all.

I posted some pics of DH's naturalizatin c 1994 for my niece in another state.  I was looking for them b/c her BF was Naturalized earlier this month.  I got a nearly immediate reply.  I posted pics I scaned of a BIL/SIL and DN from 2001?  I had my husband's aunt and some of my Aunts comment on it, and DH's best friend's wife and his SIL told me something I did not know about his Brother's Naturalization.

I Messaged Pics to two SIL's.

I posted pics of My Husband's Brother's family in GA last week.  They and their friends responded.

My DN's wife Posted my Great Niece has ChickenPox.  She had at least 6 replies last night and her post was no more than an hour old.

My Cousin posted a newspaper article of his latest tractor pull event. 

DD's friends are on a HS trip to Germany.  I have been following their trip.  They sent an instagram pic of a Dog that looks just like my Dog, except he has a tail.  I told her on FB nothing beats that pic and she liked my comment to let me know she read the comment.

DD Posted a pick of the festival she was working at saying she was bored.  DS's best friend replied and a covo ensured on that.


Saturday night I saw that DS's GF posted on of those feed type pics of some huge Dogs and it said  "Cutest Dog ever".  So I posted a pic of DS, GF and my Dog and said this is the Cutest Dog Ever.    That got a bunch of Likes including some of her relatives.    She was "home" but DS was still at work.  I got an immediate "like" and a comment.

I think Facebook is about connectivity.

Yes, I do have a few friends that seem to wine a lot and be looking for at the very least emotional and possibly  financial support.  I am fine with providing emotional suport. It does not cost anything, and some of these people do have some very adverse things going on in their lives.   One friend and one niece recently posted somewhat alarming comments.  I just try to be verbally supportive.  The only ones we financially support are immediate family and even then we are careful that we are not being manipulated.

I also logged in to Target's Cartwheel this weekend to score some savings and used my FB login, I do not need 20 kazillion login ID's and Passwords to keep track of so I am fine with them posting something to my FB feed. 


ETA:  I get that this was about the emotional manipulation but so many people said there was nothing going on on FB so they had no qualms about deleting their account.  I give more wieght to comments from family and close friends.  Acquaintances. pfft.  I am unsure of their sincerity, so if it is positive I take it, and negative - well who really cares.  We did have another thread about FB manipulating the order you see stuff on your feed.  Someone said I could control that at the top of my feed.  I mostly view FB on my phone to kill time, and I don't see how to do it on my phone - but I did figure out how to hide posts I don't want to see like videos that start as soon as you scroll past- so thanks for the tips.

[billisonboard]

Jul 14, 2014 11:32:56 GMT -5 bean29 said:

...
I think Facebook is about connectivity.

...

You are focused on how you use Facebook. Did you look at how Facebook uses you? The study is potentially the first step. Seeing that no one really seems to be bothered much by their emotional manipulation, there shouldn't be any impediment to them using similar techniques in services they sell to other companies.

But what the hay, how are those Great Niece's chickenpox?

[bean29]

Jul 14, 2014 11:46:38 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jul 14, 2014 11:32:56 GMT -5 bean29 said:

...
I think Facebook is about connectivity.

...

You are focused on how you use Facebook. Did you look at how Facebook uses you? The study is potentially the first step. Seeing that no one really seems to be bothered much by their emotional manipulation, there shouldn't be any impediment to them using similar techniques in services they sell to other companies.

But what the hay, how are those Great Niece's chickenpox?

I get that, and only time will tell how we all will respond to their manipulation of us.  For now, the risk/inconvenience is worth it.  It may change in the future.  FB is not the only game in town.  Young people are using instagram and Twitter, and someone else will always be ready to jump in for $$.  So FB has to maintain the good will of their users too.  Advertising is something we have to put up with in order to take advatage of the features we like.  Honestly I don't pay much attention to the ads.  It is not what I am there for.

[billisonboard]

Jul 14, 2014 12:24:13 GMT -5 bean29 said:

Jul 14, 2014 11:46:38 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

You are focused on how you use Facebook. Did you look at how Facebook uses you? The study is potentially the first step. Seeing that no one really seems to be bothered much by their emotional manipulation, there shouldn't be any impediment to them using similar techniques in services they sell to other companies.

But what the hay, how are those Great Niece's chickenpox?

I get that, and only time will tell how we all will respond to their manipulation of us.  For now, the risk/inconvenience is worth it.  It may change in the future.  FB is not the only game in town.  Young people are using instagram and Twitter, and someone else will always be ready to jump in for $$.  So FB has to maintain the good will of their users too.  Advertising is something we have to put up with in order to take advatage of the features we like.  Honestly I don't pay much attention to the ads.  It is not what I am there for.

They manipulated content, not ads.

[bean29]

Everything's about money.  They are studying how to manipulate your emotions so that their advertisers will pay them more $$ to get access to you and have you in a receptive ($$ spending) frame of mind.

I read the article last week, my browser won't let me look at your link.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I usually give my homepage there a cursory glance once or twice a day - just to check & see if any new family photos have been posted.

A couple of weeks ago, for example, I got to see several pics of my niece a& her H/S graduation ceremony.

A brother is in the Dominican Republic right now, so he's posting pics of his holiday and the scenery.

Most of the drivel that many people on my Friends list (or friends of theirs) post, I just skim over or scroll right past.

I don't pay any attention to ads or "newsfeeds". Facebook is whatever you make of it.

I do have one SIL whose entire existence seems to revolve around Facebook. She posts from the moment she wakes up, right through the day - usually giving a running play-by-play account of every darn thing she's doing at any given time of the day. ((Yawn!))