A report from a team at Facebook that was first published in a scientific journal earlier this month reveals that the social network ran secret psychological experiments on 600,000 users without their awareness.
The report, published in the Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, stated that back in January 2012, Facebook changed those users' news feeds to highlight either positive or negative posts from their friends. The paper stated:
When positive expressions were reduced, people produced fewer positive posts and more negative posts; when negative expressions were reduced, the opposite pattern occurred. These results indicate that emotions expressed by others on Facebook influence our own emotions, constituting experimental evidence for massive-scale contagion via social networks.
Facebook's Data Use Policy does give the company broad access to conduct these kinds of experiments, stating that users agree to "data analysis, testing, research and service improvement" when they sign up to use the social network. The paper does state that a machine was used to handle this experiment and no personal data from those 600,000 users was accessed.
If you are a Facebook user, how do you feel about the fact that it's possible your news feed could be manipulated in this way by the company for research?
Source: The Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences via AV Club
Reader comments
Facebook ran secret psychological experiments on users
Pages
Just put them in jail. They have absolutely no interest in people s well being therefore they are not entitled to run any sort of psychological testing.
Posted via CB10
Where's the like button for this article?
Posted via CB10
Don't care! Never had an account with these losers!
That is why I never trusted these douchebags!
Cartman says: Screw you guys I'm going home!
Who owns What's App again?
Posted via CB10
Die Facebook die.. burn in hell Facebook..
Posted via CB10 on my love Z30 with BlackBerry 10.
I chose to leave Facebook because I simply did not like the direction I perceived they were heading with availability and use of my information. This, for me, simply reinforces that belief and confirms my previous decision. Sign up and they can, and will, do whatever they want in their own interests, and there is certainly no "win - win" result that I can find.
Crazy
ChannelX C000D3759 We promote channels
Mine is always set to Most Recent, so doubt I was one of those affected
Posted via CB10
People don't understand the seriousness of what they do when they click accept to face track. I'm glad I don't have it
I flick!
Just another reason that I deleted my Facebook account years ago.
Posted by a Proud NRA Supporter!
Facebook on BB10 is shit
This is why I deleted everything on my Facebook and then the entire account. Reddit does it for me. Thanks FB. Here's my middle finger to you.
I want privacy...
I want to communicate in writing over the information highway...
You can't have both, dumb dumbs
Posted via my fancy BB10 pager thingy
It doesn't bother me at all.
It was unethical. For the simple reason the changed people's moods and emotions on purpose. Not talking about changing an a logarithm to give people what they want.
If you're posting negatively you aren't as happy. It effects your mood. Like people who don't watch the news because it's always negative and depresses them.
Posted via CB10
If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.
Adolf Hitler
Enough said, sheep
Posted via CB10
Another form of Big Brother. Crawling up your Ass, and controlling the mass of sheep, ,,,,,,,bahaha
Posted via CB10
Never tried it, except now I don't get people who use it.
Posted via CB10
Some live and breathe their social networks. There's always a possibility of manipulation ; who you follow, who you friend, and what you say. Everyone manipulates. Know that going in...
Appreciate the help
Since the Nuremberg trials and Tuskegee experiments, social scientists and others doing psychological and sociological research are required to conduct research using the highest ethical standards--including informed consent.
Manipulating people without their knowledge or consent...
...disgusting.
Posted via CB10
As part of my doctoral research, I do--and have done--
Posted via CB10
Apologies. Posted before complete.
Posted via CB10
People lock their doors, use safety deposit boxes and wear seat belts yet they post all sorts of traceable and tractable personal data on the Web. Interesting study in the human condition to say the least.
Crazy stuff!
Posted via BlackBerry Z30
Just curious? How many people are NOT on Facebook? And by that I mean you don't have a profile.
I closed my Facebook account probably close to ten years ago now and haven't looked back.
Posted via CB10
Never tried it, I still don't see the benefit.
Posted via CB10
Gave up face book years ago. Felt it was too creepy back then!
Nothings free
Posted via CB10
Feeling like a damn Lab rat! I work in clinical research and the first deontological condition required by a SCIENTIFIC research is to inform the people involved.
Am no user of Facesh*t, and people who agree blindly with this are no more than Lab rats. Even less.
Facebook is harvesting your privacy and making money- BIG money- with it, now they claim scientific recognition-BOGUS!
Posted via CB10
We can summarize all these arguments to a single statement - "if you don't like what Facebook is doing to your (supposedly) private life, don't use it"...
Posted via CB10
CrackBerry is currently running a Super Duper Secret Study to see how people react to a story about how people react when they find out that FaceBook ran a study, conducted by robots, to see how people react to positive or negative posts by people on their Facebook accounts.
No robots were harmed in either reactionary study.
Posted via CB10
Not using the fb or tw. First thing, I'm deleting such apps at first on new mobile. Recommending to do the same.
Posted via CrackBerry App
People claim that Facebook are not drugging people....not physically but psychologically.
Create a product that provides the same addictive quality of drugs. Then you have a winner.
Advertising, Big Corporations, Social Media , On line Casino, Fashion ..This is nothing new.
All designed to make money....
' The closer you look, the less you see.' - Now you see me
Posted via CB10
That's why I barely use facebook.
does it better!
One more reason for not having a facebook account
Powered by BB
I was under the impression that Facebook doesn't run, but simply IS a secret psychological experiment on users...
Another reason that I don't Facebook.
Posted via CBQ10
The should have at least told the people afterwards, and gave them a choice not to use their data. Maybe half the people said it's no problem and they still would have had tons of results, with consent of the people who participated.
But I can imagine that Facebook users didn't read the terms of conditions that they agreed to, which I'm sure something sneaky like this has been implemented.
I think only English / American people have to worry that they were the guinea pigs though. I don't think the software was targeted at any other languages.
Posted via CB10 on my Z10
Just going on the Internet your privacy is violated, your Internet provider knows about every website you visited,all the porn, crackberry etc. so facebook is no different. I'm of the mindset that who cares, if someone wants to know that I watch porn and into BlackBerry phones , I got no problem with that. If you want to keep something private,don't shout it out to the world i.e. the Internet
Posted via CB10
I use FaceBook as a social experiment and do so under a pseudonym and imaginary persona. I consider it a creative writing exercise.
Posted via CB10 on BlackBerry Q5
I think Facebook might be out on a limb here when it comes to ethical side of things. On the legal side of things it's not as straight forward as Facebook might think it is. Each country has it's own set of rules and laws that Facebook has to abide to and in which no contract can circumnavigate. There is also the question of who has the moral high ground, the customer who hasn't read all the fin print in a vag and obscure document and who has had no influence in its wording. Not only that but a document / agreement that has been changed several times without warning. Or Facebook who feels they have the commercial right to do as they like with there customers personal information, privacy concerns, security and how information is manipulated and presented. Thus I leave it up to you the reader to decide what is right.
Posted via CB10
I think it's kinda cool actually.
Interesting research.
Also it's a bit late to be complaining about the intrusiveness of fb and what not, if one is a user of fb. Don't forget we are the chattel, fb is the landlord.
Posted via the inimitable Z10 handheld system.
Fb is built for data mining :)
Posted via CB10
Prefer "Built for BlackBerry". Period.
Zzzzwiped from a Zedevice....
Engaging social media of any form, always comes at some price. Google is a prime example. Want more convenience? You just have to give them a ton of information about what you do, when you do it, and how you do it. Viola!...Google can now help you because Google now knows you better than you think.
They have proved how strong the influence of social networking is. The methods the used are offensive but legal in this case.
Posted via CB10
I'm only using Facebook for promoting.. never use it for personal stuff am real Information about myself :D
Wenn du das Weinen verlernt hast, bist du bereits tot (Sayumi Whisp)
Google is forcing YouTube users to use Google +, Facebook is conducting experiments on its users. In short privacy and consent on the net died a long time ago
Posted via CB10
I think it sickening it bad enough the government check our inboxes etc so basically nothing on facebook is private anymore when parts of it should be. I think if this carries on the world's gonna fight back
Posted via CB10
It's things like this which made me drop facebook a while back. Never have I regretted leaving facebook.
Posted via CB10 on Z10STL100-3/10.2.1.2228
Screwed over. Lol. Just kidding. Who gives a crap
Rkelly on his Zed10
It should not be aloud.... Very creepy
This is why I stay out if social media...I know I can't get away from being in some corporations data base but the fewer that I'm involved with the better. I would want anyone collecting data on me and manipulating my feeds and posts period. I prefer to stay away from sites like that. Being tracked and studied through my cell phone and credit card is enough for me...I don't need Facebook and other social media sites studying me.
Posted via CB10
That's a pretty big breach of privacy if you ask me. Sure, social media isn't private I know that but the host running a secret psychological experiment without consent in my view is over stepping. Time to close my Facebook account. If people want to reach me they can do it the old fashioned way. Call me.
Posted from my Z30 on CB10
Agreed
Posted via CB10
Facebook is garbage. It's the government's ultimate means to invade peoples' privacy, data mining at its best and for the most part a total waste of one's precious time. Amen.
Q10 on T-Mobile
I'm less surprised that Facebook is using people as mice in an experiment and more on the findings.
Does that mean that when we see others express themselves a certain way we also feel more at ease to express those same feeling. For example, if someone opened up to me and told me about their fears I would be more inclined to tell them about mine. If they are talking about a great vacation they took, I'd also talk about my vacations. If you're in a room of people and they are talking about a terrible day they are having you are less likely to tell them about how you are having the time of your life and just won $300 on the lotto.
Or does that mean that others' comments change our mood. Seeing positive comments makes us feel positive, and negative comments makes us feel negative. My two cents.
They could do this but the BlackBerry 10 user base is too small for a native app....facepalm
I don't care if other people want a bb10 device I wanted one and that's all that matters.
If you are still a Facebook or Google user you pretty much deserve what you get at this point.
Posted via CB10
Haha i'm not sure how it's a psych experiment if an IRB hasn't approved it. Wouldn't that be a breach of APA ethics?
Posted from my BlackBerry Q10 on AT&T
Good point lol!
I don't care if other people want a bb10 device I wanted one and that's all that matters.
Good point. Though in principle the data can still be legitimate scientifically so long as it's gathered under commonly accepted empirical methodology. Even so, it will always have a taint if they didn't follow clinical conventions. Similar example is the scientific experiments done in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia et al. Good data, inadmissible in most academic contexts because it wasn't gathered using conventions which most scientists would find acceptable.
Posted via the inimitable Z10 handheld system.
It's funny that so many go headlong as sheeple do. But sad at the same time because many will not wake up.
I see many on here saying, "give me Google, give me Facebook, give me cloud service...", not realizing information can be manipulated and used for many purposes. And I'm speaking about those at the top of the heap doing it.
I've said this before that if blackberry sold out their security for gain and there were no other smartphone replacement of equal/greater security, I'd use a non smartphone.
Frustrating on the front line when headquarters won't support...
O-O
Posted via CB10
I have deleted facebook who needs google's crap??
Posted via CB10
Facebook is not owned by Google afaik, but Google + is, probably not even an inch better, left alone miles...
Zzzzwiped from a Zedevice....
I'm so happy I don't use Facebook! Does anyone really think they're giving away server space for free? Users pay for it with their data.
Posted via CB10
STFU! I think that's a terrible thing to do! It is incredibly invasive. And just down right wrong.
Ojani Noa
I feel like a Guinea Pig after using Facebook!
Posted via CB10... and my awesome Z10
Deleted all my data and account a couple of years ago. Got tired of Fuckerberg and his privacy policies.
Posted via CB10
Would you please put privacy in inverted commas in any FB related context , "..."
:-)
Zzzzwiped from a Zedevice....
I find it hilarious that so many of you "don't use Facebook". Laughable, even.
Swiping and flicking like I'm stuck in a bag of mosquitoes!
So.... with their awareness.
Posted via CB10
What exactly would constitute a "positive" post or a "negative" post? How can a "machine" differentiate the two!??
Wait to not allow access to your friend's posts..based on positive or negative..if you were one of the "random" selected users.
Posted via CB10
Sheeple (people who behave like sheep) can be fed anything...
Governments do it, companies do it...why would FB be different?
Doesn't affect me...never had FB and never will...but kinda feel sorry for the herd...
...forever BlackBerry...
Not on Facebook! How happy I am.
Posted via CB10
Don't use to so don't really care. Haven't logged in for 10 months or more.. Twitter only for me.
...oh, and stop sending me Obama ads if you want me to stay positive in my posts!!
Posted via Z10
All the more reason to make BBM a social media platform. I'm ready to leave facebook behind. Maybe link Facebook friends to BBM at first, and slowly market and transition them over.
Posted via Z10
How to "unlike" publication of such "research"? This is even worse than researchgate.net's spamming techniques sponsored by Bill Gates.
Posted via BlackBerry Z30
Correlation does not equal causation. I think people post fewer positive posts when others do is simply being sensitive to others feelings and not rubbing their noses in how happy you are. Their conclusions are flawed in my opinion.
Posted via CB10
Good observation. A pointless test.
Posted via CB10
Haha I actually deleted the FB app.. I so don't like it.. BBM is where it ad bruh
Posted via CB10 via my BlackBerry Z10 ;)
Facebook is a piece of crap for idiots. Like apple phones
Posted via CB10
I think one could say the entire Internet and connectivity is a psychological experiment.
Posted via CB10
That's why I've never used that useless crap
Posted via CB10
what is facebook?
Posted via CB10
What a joke are those teams at FB! That was an unnecessary spending of resources! Only a fool would conduct an experiment (a manipulation) and do a research just to discover the obvious. Zuckerberg, you really like spending money!
Beside that, such a conduct of FB merits a thorough research by legal authorities. No user should be manipulated. No manipulation may be justified by the broad interpretation of the FB's Data Use Policy. If it does contain terms that give FB the possibility to conduct such manipulations, in that case those terms are not legally valid nor acceptable by many countries.
The whole FB is a kind of experiment which, among its many goals, aims to discover how much and what information will people be willing to share online. With its like-button, comment and post options, games and applications literally pushes (manipulates) people to interact, to participate in various communication and to express themselves. Many think that isn't dangerous nor it won't harm them, but a bit of caution is recommended.
Why would someone create a social network? Where does all the money come from? Is it really from sales? Revenues from advertising? I don't know anybody who has spent a cent on FB or because of an add at FB.
It's quite interesting, actually very strange, that a student who first developed a frivolous website, then a website for students, gained suddenly enormous investments and his company attained an unimaginable market value considering that no adequate income can be generated from users of the website.
I quit FB a year ago.
Posted via CB10
Would never get past a university ethics committee. (scumbag facebook)
Posted via CB10
Whoa! There is something suspicious about this report. If it were true, it would mean that Facebook blatantly violated basic ethical guidelines for any research on human subjects. That means no IRB. That means no credible peer-reviewed scientific journal would publish it. Either this is untrue, or I suspect somebody is going to lose their job. Like the editor of the journal, at the very least. Just more FB drama, which is why I have never felt the need to use it.
It's published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. A prestigious journal. Wondering about the ethics and how this got published. I guess it's all about the page clicks even at PNAS.
Posted via CB10
They discovered that fb is just another way to manipulate the masses, just as they've been doing with the media. I'm sure the government loves this and I wouldn't be surprised if they funded it.
BB Proud
Facebook itself IS a psychological experiment.
Posted via CB10
If on facebook. You are pathetic. If off, you have a life and happy. Thats how I see it
Posted via CB10
Well if you use Facebook that is your own fault. As simple as that
Posted via CB10
Whatsapp anyone!!
Posted via CB10 running on Q10SQN100-3/10.2.1.3175
I just deleted facebook!
Posted via CB10
In this day and age, are we really surprised at the antics Facebook, Google and the like get up to? This is one of the primary reasons I limit my use of these giants of industry. Like any industry that has a controlling interest in anything, they begin to do what they like regardless of the outcome or even legality of it. They have the lawyers that make the huge salaries for a reason, to keep their asses out of slings like this. Look at the oil industry. The old adage has never been truer, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely".
Posted via CB10 on my Q10
I'm surprised more people aren't upset about the ramifications of a manipulation like this. Facebook effectively made someone's life more or less happy on purpose, for a theory that is already well proven by monitoring rather than influencing.
What if some of these users were depressed heading towards depression, or worse, only to get helped along? Facebook would not have known these things and at this scale, likely affected some people very seriously. Very unethical.
Posted via CB10
A famous president once said "The Masses Are Asses"
Posted via CB10
@javivw... Who said that??must have been a French Pres right?
Ass as in donkey?
Zzzzwiped from a Zedevice....
Herd mentality, these sorts of social actions have been around as long as vigilante groups, now referred to as group think. Only one sheep has a bell, the rest only follow the bell, that's group think at its finest. These are experiments to explore the options on how to get the herd to follow the bell, even if it's over a cliff.
Posted via CB10
F
Posted via CB10
You were all just participants in mr.john callaham's social experiment.. he posed a simple question and wanted to see how off topic the conversation would go. Immigration, presidents? Lol..
I don't trust what'sapp anymore because I'm positive FB does spy on its users.. in winnipeg they intercepted a conversation between gang members and made a drug bust with fb transcript submitted as evidence. Bottom line is what ppl have already stated.. don't make known what you can't afford others to know.. digital imprints last forever, even when you click delete and think they're gone..
It's not a "tumah"
@c_cowboy...+10 and a whole lot more!!!
What if one person just start feeling down, depressed and commit suicide, just because facebook remove the positive comments in facebook and let the negatives? Maybe it would not happen to a person with a healthy mental health, but what about somebody with psychological problems?
God Bless You!
Won't make a difference Facebook hate it or love it, will continue to take liberties because it can!
Posted via CB10
Unsettling..
Posted via CB10
I for one don't use facebook much at all, I don't spend more than a few minutes on the site so i'm not exposed to such nonsense. :)
Plus, I always keep it set (have to keep resetting it also) to Most Recent instead of the defaults. So I saw no activity two years ago. :D
Posted via CrackBerry 10 (CB10) application using my BlackBerry Q10.
Never used the stupid site. Can't be bothered.
Posted by the indomitable Zed Ten.
That is why I do not "like" Facebook, bunch of nonsense with people's news feed.
Posted via CB10 on the BB Z10
Kim Jong Un secretly owns the eff book! Urrbody delete your eff books & ONLY use BBM from now on. Don't say the Dr. never warned you.
Posted via CB10 on my Q10
that's nothing new
Posted via CB10
I couldn't care less.
I deactivated my account 2 months ago, mostly due to privacy concerns
Posted via CB10
I use Facebook to keep in touch with friends who I don't get to see very often or receive information on events I may be interested in bit I don't put important info on there. There are things nor even my friends should know far less strangers
Posted via CB10
I don't use facebook. I don't care.
You will care, once they manage to covertly manipulate public opinion and drive people into suicide. Sure you have friends using FB.
That public opinion things been happening for centuries, but not that subtly, I guess.
Can we be sure this is not gonna be used against us when the next great collapse comes? 1928? 1939? 20xx?
Pasted via CB chen
@Prem,...2008???
I meant the times of more serious crises when there's riots in the street, guns fired and the (super)markets are empty...
2008 was financially disastrous, but society itself pretty much stayed calm. No Third World war, food shortages, coup d'etat, etc., at least not here in "the West".
Sure, some stocked up on guns, canned foods, silver coins, gold bars, built bunkers and bought gas masks ... ;-) had to LOL while typing this
Zzzzwiped from a Zedevice....
@Prem...I hope it never comes to that.
I feel just GREAT!
Posted via CB10
This test was run by Cpt. Obvious, obviously.
They can't manipulate something you don't post...
Posted via CB10
Actually that's exactly what they did - manipulated news feeds, and negative/ positive posts by users' friends.
Legislation should mandate banning of the word free and use of an explicit and clear statement that your personal information will be monitized. No fine print.
Posted via CB10
Need to fight deep lobbyist pockets.
Not likely to happen. But we get warnings for just about anything by our nanny governments (alcohol, calories, smokes, speeding, ... )
Pasted via CB chen
@Prem...STD's
:-)
Happily married and lovin' it... (+her, of course)
Zzzzwiped from a Zedevice....
Who even uses it anymore? Ya we all have 1 but how often do u use it?
Posted Via This Thing They Call The BlackBerry Z30
I don't use Facebook. If I want to make a point or speak to people I do it face to face...oh wait...
Posted via CB10
I have been saying it for years.
I ONLY BBM!
All these social media type apps and sites are great if things were kept honest. Obviously there not so I am sticking to my secure bbm and that's it.
OK and Crackberry lol
Posted via CB10
We should get paid for being guinea pigs.
Demobigen (Powered by Blackberry® Q10)
Guinea Pigs are historically among the lowest wage earners. You should aim higher.
+1
Posted via CB10
This is the exact reason I have avoided Facebook my entire life. People look at me like I'm nuts when I tell them I've never had an account.
That aside, I know many companies out there hoover up your data (e.g. Google), but to voluntarily give it away always struck me as odd.
There have been many positives provided by Facebook in terms of networking and mobilizing people out there, but it's situations such as this that make me wonder just how worth it is it?
Experimenting with news feeds today, but what of tomorrow? Psychological tests such as these (or any experiment on a human) carried out at universities require ethical approval; there is no oversight committee at Facebook. Who knows what may happen next? With over 1.2 billion people connected, what further social experiments may be carried out?
Phuck dat mess yo
Posted via CB10
Another reason why I'm not disappointed I canceled my face book account.
Posted via my Z10.
It won't be a problem for me, since the BB10 app has my news feed really messed up already ;)
Posted via CB10
Isn't that Fakebook?
Posted via CB10
I got the feeling that my fb was changed in a way. My reaction? I got peessed off and deleted my FB account forever...
Posted via CB10
Thumbs up! Some of us did that a few years ago.
Posted via CB10
If you are not paying, you are the product.
Posted via CB10
+1
Posted via CB10
Effin Edward Bernays spook squad.
Posted via CB10
doesnt surprise me, thought doesn't make it right. that's some impressive power they hold over a large % of the worlds population. Censorship at it's best. While I trust that Facebooks interest is purely monetary - I wouldn't trust other governments and organizations with more sinister motives if they had control of this information flow.
It's all about oil
United States media knows this while they spew the propaganda daily from the white house.
Posted via CB10
If you are blaming Facebook for the way you feel or the mood you are in, I would suggest you have bigger issues to handle. Our state of being is not a result of some outside action or force. However, people these days seem to love blaming everyone but themselves for the way their lives are. This is an interesting study, would like to know more.
Okay mclovin it's ok to f with people isn't it?
Posted via CB10
Maybe they discovered what an idiot my sister in law is...
Posted via CB10
+1
Ah, I don't really care...
Well that would explain a lot!
To me, "research" means observation, not experimentation. When you manipulate people's feelings without their knowledge, that's just wrong. This shows a blatant disregard for their user base. How many people got domestically abused because Facebook put someone in a bad mood? In 600,000 users, statistically you have quite a few people with mental health issues who undoubtedly did not react well to this experiment. Facebook should be ashamed of themselves for taking such a broad interpretation of the EULA and TOS with no regard to the offline implications of their actions
When I read the blog post, I thought: "Any reported suicides yet?" Probably no technology to track that yet. Or they probably will, once the friends post it on their wall.
This is pretty macabre. Could they manipulate someone to that extend?
Pasted via CB chen
@Prem...Take it easy!!!
Thanks.
Just wanted to flesh out a scenario to see how far this could be taken. :-)
Zzzzwiped from a Zedevice....
Just a random thought (please understand that this is simply a thought) If Suckerburg can do this w/ FB, what can the puppet masters do w/ the news.....
BleedBlk-
Posted via CB10
What FB has done here is simply wrong. However nothing new under the sun.. government of what we think are free countries do this every time with the "official" news channels, TVs, Radios etc..
What is scary is that people do not realize this!!!
Posted via CB10
Government learned a long time ago the power of media and how to control it. They have been involved in its entirety. They are present in every form.
Posted via CB10
And you're surprised?
Posted via CB10
Zero surprises here. Glad I ditched fb years ago.
Posted from my Z10 via CB10
Same here! There's lots of us who've realised the sheer time wastage and stupidity of Facebook.
Posted via CB10
So, people sign up for fb Google and other free stuff shouldn't expect private social contact. That is why BlackBerry service communications are supposed to be secure and should be adopted by more folks
And apps cost a dollar or two.
Pasted via CB chen
Not surprised. Everything you can post on Facebook doesn't belong to you anymore.. it is in the agreement when you create your account. So....
Posted via CB10
So, people sign up for free stuff like fb Google t
Hardly a surprise
I don't like it
STA100-5 White Z30 ,Tmobile, USA
Can BlackBerry do that on channels?
Posted via CB10
Meh. Do what they want, I don't use FB enough to care...
Although, it would be nice to see social media sites like this, ask for participation prior to doing experiments like this.
But we all hit "I Agree" so it is what it is.
Posted via CB10
Reminds me of the human centiPad episode of South Park. No one bothers to read those things and this is what we get for it.
Z10
Same! Lmao
Posted via CB10
I think that the better question to ask is not "how do you feel about Facebook doing this", rather the implications of the findings. This just confirms that social media can easily be used to manipulate the public. Thank you for showing us that Facebook.
Posted via CrackBerry App
It's 1984 in a subtle, enhanced manner. Through the Telescreen in your pocket. Not just surveillance, but manipulation on top (not blatantly obvious frontal propaganda like in the book).
Guess what, Gov'ts and party peeps all over the world will be interested in this technology, to manipulate public opinion or polls.
Scary stuff, if you ask me. They could filter and seed anything into it.
Pasted via CB chen
Ministry of Truth in action...
Wait till you can buy this as a service. Of course, not publicly.
Pasted via CB chen
Indeed, indeed...
Posted via CrackBerry App
@Prem ...beats nuking them!!!
I quit using Facebook a few months ago after repeatedly having my account banned for posting facts.
Posted via CB10
Could you elaborate on that?
Probably some non- P.C. compliant opinion... ? (P.C. is garbage, I believe, goes against the right to freedom of expression, unless it's a direct verbal attack, of course)
Pasted via CB chen
It is wrong.
Posted via CB10
Doesn't matter. Most people who care no longer care what Facebook knows.
Posted via Z10 10.2.1.2141
They probably wouldn't get much information from me because I haven't posted on my Facebook wall for months.
Posted via the super amazing BlackBerry Q10
Closed mine 2 years ago. Never looked back. FB is a social disease.
Z30 Vivo Brasil
Permanently removed/deleted mine 3 years ago. Agree with you, a social disease with no cure. Maybe BBM Video for all would help - doubt that. Facebook has turned people into narcissistic, depressed, pitiful people. I used to be on there wondering why my life wasn't as good as all these other people - but it's a lie. So I got off Facebook and am building myself a real life.
Posted via CB10
+1000
Posted via CB10
Never fb never will. Mr. zuckerberg wants illegal aliens to gain citizenship. I hope this company fails big time.
Posted via CB10
What the heck does this have to do with anything posted here? Also, your comment makes you look pretty stupid.
Posted via CrackBerry App
Actually, the comment speaks to the larger issue of Zuckerberg's values. He is on record making statements about various issues. From those statements we can deduce many things about Zuckerberg. Anyone who calls their users "dumb fucks" has convinced me that 1) I don't want to be a user of his product and 2) s/he is not someone I would trust or want to be around.
So you might consider the deeper implications to the meaning of a statement before you start calling people stupid.
OT: When it comes to Facebook, call me the 7up kid: Never had it, never will.
Posted via CB10
Nope, just stating a fact. FB is a data mining company that has been caught in the past for some misdeeds. This company supports against what is already the law of the land and what most of my country citizens want enforcement not bogus amnesty. Based on your reaction obviously you're one of those supporters for their desire for illegal activity to continue and flourish.
Posted via CB10
Data mining vs. Amnesty for illegal immigrants... Data mining vs. Amnesty for illegal immigrants... Yeah, still has nothing to do with each other and you still look like a fool.
Posted via CrackBerry App
Immigrants built many a country, be it "illegals" or conventional immigration. I don't have issues with it, Amnesty should be given on a case by case basis. You don't want to give it out blindly ,it will send a bad message that it would be ok to do it "illegally" ,in a perfect world we would live with no boundaries, settle where we wish. I don't like proponents using the term "illegal" too much. Many "Immigrants" arrived and decimated the natives" illegally" we are ALL immigrants. One could argue the economic impact of "illegal immigration " on both sides of fence. There are both negative and positive things to be achieved by integration.
Posted via CB10
Words of reason. Thank you.
Posted via CrackBerry App
America is a not a nation of immigrants.
America is a nation of citizens.
Motorola V3xx -> Nokia E63 -> Nokia N900 -> Nokia N9 -> BlackBerry Z10
Word got out of amnesty becoming more of a reality and take a look at the result. Our border with Mexico is getting crashed big time. Your assertion about having open borders is truly a utopian fantasy. You are one of those that want to weaken the USA. I disagree with what you are desiring and prepared to fight against it.
Our president is truly desperate from all the horrendous scandals and this is another way to gain supporters for his failed regime. Get them them on welfare and hooked for life while our VA is put into a secondary position! Shame on you!
Posted via CB10
Unless you are Native American (a.k.a., American Indian) you are an immigrant or a child of immigrants. So relax. There enough bad stuff Facebook has done that is worth talking about without going off topic on your silly anti-immigration rants. It is ignorant people like you who have weakened the US, not people who want to reform the broken immigration system.
Posted via CB10
+1000
"Classic" better be called "Bold Q20" or "Bold 10"
Maxim my parents came from Russia (mother) and China (father who actually is Russian) fleeing communism via Brazil. It took them almost ten years to get accepted to the USA. My parents have an incredible honorable history and never once they broke any law. They as law abiding citizens waited in line like any civil person. This is the type of immigrant that built the USA and makes the USA strong. My father before he recently passed was a successful professional with degrees from the University of Hong Kong and New York University and the University of Southern California. He never lived off the system. Wake up Mr. maxim and open your eyes for a change.
Posted via CB10
You do recognize the fact that immigration in those days was not as stringent, in those days the US opened its doors to ALL, "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Posted via CB10
Don't be foolish.
Immigration was very stringent for a long time in the United States. The "tired and poor" stuff was the beginning of wave after wave of immigrants diluting the established culture.
Motorola V3xx -> Nokia E63 -> Nokia N900 -> Nokia N9 -> BlackBerry Z10
Really? Revise your information!
Posted via CB10
The 1917 Immigration Act would have made your buddy there illegible for entry into the US given his ancestry . It was repealed in 1943, Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943. The Luce-Celler Act of 1946 ended discrimination against Asian Indians and Filipinos, who were accorded the right to naturalization, and allowed a quota of 100 immigrants per year. In 1952 it was formally enacted by the Mc Carran Walter Act .Just think if everyone thought as you and your bud are thinking, he wouldn't have the privilege there of spewing nonsense.
Posted via CB10
Further to this those "quotas" were removed in 1965. By the introduction of the 1965 Immigration Act.allowing for millions to enter, If one knows the history of those immigration policies it was based more on Ethnic trailings rather than ones merit. So the point he is making truly is nonsensical
Posted via CB10
You call "in those days" waiting 10 years an easy process?
Posted via CB10
You call "immigration in those days" waiting 10 years an easy process?
Posted via CB10
I suggest you brush up on your American history.
You do realize that there is mass misinformation as to who really is on welfare right? Do some home work. Anyhow I do agree ,this isn't the forum for such a topic.
Posted via CB10
@crack...Beautiful Babies???
Jojo Yes,for example. ;-)))
Posted via CB10
It shows a pattern of thought. So, yes, it is relevant. It shows his general level of contempt for society in general. A far better solution for migrants is for corporations like FB et al to stop exploiting their countries so those that feel compelled to migrate can have a good life in their own home. Think I am crazy? Read "war is a racket"
Posted via CB10
Exactly fltri. The nations need to rid their horrendous corruption and let their citizens thrive and not having to come here to take advantage of us. I agree that we should help in this realm but I do not want to keep sending them money that will only get absorbed by the corrupters. We need to hold these nations accountable for their actions while not offering/giving blanket amnesty to their citizens.
Posted via CB10
What FB did and continues to do is very wrong but by reading some comments here I can see why they were tempted to do the experiment.
Posted via CB10
Well glad ur not in power haha :D
Posted via CB10
They took our jorbs!!
Posted via CB10. Over my carrier's data connection due to "Limited WiFi"
I'm not surprised by the actions of Facebook or their results. Should they have done it? I wonder if they checked back on those test subjects and made sure that there was no negative outcome to their lives? Probably not.
Tim Smith from my Z10 on Rogers
That wouldn't make a difference. You are like the company you keep. If most of your friends are generally positive, chances are you are more of a positive person and vice-versa. So, if you are following a bunch of mopy, depressed people, the likes of which probably need some emotional help to begin with, I seriously doubt that an experiment such as this is going to make much of a difference in their well-being. Do you think anyone was possibly getting so sad because of this experiment that they were going to need some professional help? If they were, this experiment was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
Nifty Foods! C003262E5
Companies usually manipulate their "products" as they please.
Aside from the moral issue, what's notable is that they ran an experiment to confirm the bleeding obvious. People happier if others are being nice to them shock. People less happy if they're not. Amazing results. Truly amazing.
Posted via CB10
Um, I don't know if we're reading different articles, but this has nothing to do with people being nice TO you or mean TO you... It's not like facebook was forcing friends to be mean or nice to you. The experiment was that they would show more "positive posts" on the top or more "negative posts" on top of the newsfeed. When I say positive post, it doesn't mean directed toward the subject, just someone saying "I'm happy today!" and a negative post would be someone posting "I'm so sad today :-("
The point of the experiment is that most people would in turn follow the same mood as what they see. Basically, our own moods are influenced by those around us...
Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10
Yes, and as I say, that is bleeding obvious.
"if others are being nice to them" Ok, play it off, but it wasn't what you meant originally. But alright that's fine. :-)
I don't think people should put their personal information on the Internet to begin with.. but too each their own ;)
Posted via CB10
I Agree with you. Too much information is digital these days. We've seen what happens when the wrong people get hold of that information.
Just imagine what FB with do now that they have all those phone numbers from Whatsapp
Posted via CB10
I love it when it turns out I've been right all along. "When something's offered for free, what's being sold is you."
Thumb-flicked from my Z30 via CB10
Basic principles.....Nothing in life is" Free"
Posted via CB10
Isn't that the truth!
Posted via CB10
You ain't wrong there mate.
Z10STL100-2/10.2.1.3175
Death is, but it will cost you your life.
(Or ask Jesus ;-) )
Pasted via CB chen
Oh damn!
Swiped via CB10 with my T-Mobile USA (Only T-Mo rep still pushing ) new BlackBerry Z30 (STA100-5), son! The Thor's Hammer of phones! Member of "Club Z30 "..... the most exclusive club in mobile. Once you go BlackBerry, everything else is wack-berry! #longestsignatureeverthatishortenedabit
It doesn't surprise me so it doesn't bother me. Facebook is a social experiment in itself. If people want to allow their emotions to be affected by a website, then they shouldn't mind them to be manipulated by a company.
Personally, I rather just let Crackberry mess with my emotions.
Posted via CB10
+1
Good luck FB, your about or almost irrelevant in my universe of friends besides useless pony ride pictures !
Z30 : posted via CB10 app
Lol that's funny.
Z10 leaked
It is funny but I hope that we understand the seriousness of this and the ramifications. These Social sites are invading ones rights to privacy. I don't and won't ever use any of them. They are doing it with users inadvertently giving up their rights by clicking accept to Users Terms and Conditions
Posted via CB10
How can anything you post on an open forum be private? The old saying still stands. If you don't want the world to know, don't say or write it anywhere.
Right on but ethically Facebook is not right
Posted via CB10
Agree. Hence why I never use it. I do not understand why anyone would want to know about where I'm having dinner. It's always been a strange concept to me.
Ethically? What are the ethics? They're doing harmless behavior research. I believe this research is actually pretty useful. It shows a relationship between your posts and how others react to them.
On the money making side of things, this info is useful to keep their users happy. Imagine that you have a few posts in your feed that happen all at the same time. One post is very positive, one is very negative, and one is somewhere in-between. If this research shows that users tend to be happier reading the positive posts first rather than last or vice-versa, then they've just bettered their product for their benefit and yours.
Any product you use is a relationship of mutual benefit between you and the company that makes that product. If you stop finding benefit and become unhappy with it in any way, you go somewhere else and the company loses money. Therefore, it's a win-win if they can make their product better for you by studying you using their product. It's different if they are only benefiting their selves. I don't see how this research is exclusively beneficial.
Nifty Foods! C003262E5
So based on your logic of simplifying things, m&m's can replace a couple of pieces with happy pills and make the client happy every time they eat it and they make more money, and since it's a mutual agreement where both ends are happy then no harm done!!!
Facebook conducting research is unethical, unless you are explicitly applying to be part of that research!! And not simply "agree to all" which includes sentences like " by agreeing to the above we now own your soul " etc...
Facebook needs to be shut down or slapped hard for the continuous attacks on privacy and ethics.
Q10 On Steroids running on pure Awesomeness
Your analogy doesn't make sense. Facebook is not drugging anyone. Merely studying behavior of people who use the product. It's public domain. Don't like it? Don't use it. While the terms and conditions have become a way for companies to get more information out of people than ever, this isn't new. The means are just easier. In this instance Facebook literally realized happy posts feed more happy posts. And negative posts feed more negative posts. Your analogy means that Facebook needs to chemically alter the user to obtain the same results. Not the same bro. Not the same.
Posted via CB10
Correction, Facebook is not public domain. Public domain means all information is free and open, Facebook on the other hand is not, there are restrictions imposed by both party's concerning who, when, were and how much is open and what is not.
True.
Posted via CB10
They are not drugging you, but they are manipulating your news feed and trying to manipulate your feeling and view on the world with that news feed, and studying how you process and react to that manipulated view... nope, can't really call that ethical....
Posted via CB10
Since the Tuskegee Experiments and the Nuremberg Trials, credible researchers never approach ANY research as insignificant.
Marketing researchers are often on the ethical razor's edge, working at companies without review boards to ensure they do no harm. Doesn't make it right.
Posted via CB10
Seems like a pretty harmless way to conduct some interesting research to me, too.
It's not like they let it go on for months and months.
Posted via CB10
It's a public site with private thoughts and personal info, nobody subscribed to be part of a lab experiment. Who gave them the authority? You did by clicking accept,what I'm saying is that the users have to start thinking. Watch what is posted. I'm sure that many must now be aware that employers look at FB to see what's posted there to ascertain if you are employable.
Posted via CB10
Yes, many employers do just that, but many do it in a different mind set than you might think. While some of the wilder and more illegal posts and pictures that people post can have a negative impact on your employment, many employers look to see if potential employees have a thriving social and family life. If all you show is the business side and no play, some places may not hire you based on the fear that work is all you have. And people like that behave less ideally with other employees. The things that employers find can easily go the other way but it's not the only outcome for employability. There are two sides to the this argument, but the one where people say it's all Facebook's fault and their unethical need to take a good look in the mirror. It's a public social site until you make it otherwise. No one reads the T's and C's and posts every facet of their lives on there, somehow oblivious to the fact that anyone can read or view your stuff. If it's on there, it's public domain people. And unethical? Sure, but I wouldn't call a lot of what I've seen posted on FB ethical either. At least this research seems to actually have good merit and intentions possibly toward the social ramifications of social media sites these days, or even how sad it is that this is the way most people choose to interact.
Posted via CB10
Darling did you understand? They MANIPULATED data, to get a reaction, that is illegal immoral and unethical. And being an employer NO we don't look at FB for the reasons you are suggesting.
Posted via CB10
This.
Posted via CB10
I agree with cracbrry fan!
I think most data protection laws do not cover privacy protection when they have been reduced to statistics or even made anonymous.
Whilst I do not like what they are doing, I do agree that, once u post something online you can't expect to be afforded privacy anymore.
Posted via CB10
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