Facebook's Fake News Dilemma: The Question of Gatekeepers

Facebook's resistance to filtering news on its own is understandable. After all, the creation of Gatekeepers (editors/an editorial staff for media articles) will put them in a new ring - and with their profits driven by Facebook advertising and post-boosting, it doesn't make sense for them to antagonize their paying users.

But the problem of whether or not a gatekeeper system will be abused is a moot point, because Facebook as it is right now is being abused, whether they like to admit it or not. It's easy to say, though, that perhaps news outlets themselves should form up their own vetting committees. But they won't do that, either. And they won't do it for similar reasons as Facebook's.

And so we inch deeper into a post-truth world.

Article: http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/12/2/13812818/facebook-fake-news-think-before-you-share

Curation as the answer to fake news

While I do have some concerns about exactly how Facebook will determine who is a confirmed source, I think this simply points out the need for curation in today's info-overload world.

"Sources tell Business Insider that the new feature, called Collections, will serve up stories and media from sources chosen by Facebook. The social media titan has been courting entertainment and media companies in the last few weeks to create content for the new section. Early partners have been told that their created content will be inserted directly into users' News Feed, giving it a much broader reach."

https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/02/facebook-could-fight-fake-news-with-curated-articles/

Twitterbots. Duh.

What surprises me is that there is a big hullabaloo over this. It's obvious that twitterbots, fake news sites, and fake Facebook accounts would be the new tools of propaganda. The question is, what will Facebook, Google, and Twitter really do about it?

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/20/twitter-bots-rampant-during-election/

Facebook and Fake News, Part 2

Interesting quote (with links):

Given the renewed post-election scrutiny of Facebook’s persistently troubled relationship with news sharing, these moves are good PR. But they also represent steps away from the site’s insistence that it’s a platform, not a media company—a stance that protects it from regulation or prosecution for content shared by users.

http://time.com/4577809/mark-zuckerberg-fake-news-controls-facebook/

Facebook and Fake News

The latest Zuckerberg dilemma:

"We take misinformation seriously," writes Zuckerberg. "We've been working on this problem for a long time and we take this responsibility seriously. We've made significant progress, but there is more work to be done."
"We believe in giving people a voice, which means erring on the side of letting people share what they want whenever possible," he adds. "We need to be careful not to discourage sharing of opinions or mistakenly restricting accurate content."

I don't envy his situation, but really, at some point, you just have to draw the line. My personal stand is, once they do roll out their rules, they better have proper enforcement and very, very clear guidelines.

http://www.techradar.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-has-a-plan-to-banish-fake-news-from-facebook

Facebook's issues with ad data

Having worked in online businesses or online marketing and sales departments, I've personally found online activity measurement to be the weak link - not in the fact of what they should be, as I agree that clicks, viewing time, end-to-end video play are important - but in how that data is acquired.

Saying that clients/users should do more with the data after it's been found to have some serious issues is besides the point. A full accuracy check is necessary to keep the trust, as it were.

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/16/facebook-finds-more-exaggerated-ad-data/

Facebook Addresses Fake News Websites Where It Hurts

As with Google, it seems that Facebook will now penalize fake news sites by denying them advertising dollars.

http://time.com/4570923/google-facebook-fake-news-websites-advertising-revenue/

Photo from http://www.picserver.org/a/advertising.html

Facebook Turning the Tables

http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-is-again-putting-the-computer-network-industry-to-shame-2016-11

It looks like Facebook is set to challenge certain industry norms again with its new Backpack second-generation computer switch. If anything, it seems that Zuckerberg has good reason to smile these days, as these developments will certainly help Facebook itself push out more content.

 Photo from Reuters.

Article - Is Facebook still cool?

Is Facebook still cool?

Facebook is the reigning king of the hill. This year, the social networking giant celebrated its first decade. Will it survive its next decade or will become another footnote in Internet history?

 
Social Media – In the Beginning?
Social media, or the idea of the online community, didn’t start with the current generation. It predated the Internet, if you take into account Bulleting Board Systems (BBS). What Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all the others did was put a friendly face to the concept.
In the past, the concept of online communities was a geeky, nerdy thing. It was, on one hand, intimidating, almost creepy, and on the other, an object of ridicule.
What social media networks did, in effect, was make to it look and feel cool. Ordinary people found social media networks cool, and brought it out into the open.

Read more at the Philippine Online Chronicle