Writing on the wall
2 years, 9 months ago

Writing on the wall

The Hindu  

A lot can happen in a year. In January 2021, when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg presented the social media giant’s fourth-quarter earnings, he said he plans to increase privacy-focused features, blend social commerce with messaging applications, and build the next computing platform. Facebook waning Though Facebook does not share data about the number of active users app wise, its core platform’s appeal has been falling across demographics since 2018 following the Cambridge Analytica election meddling scandal. “While Facebook remains the leading social media brand in America, it is being wounded on multiple fronts, as every demographic has their own reasons for spending less time there.” While the appeal for the social network’s app was waning, its acquired platforms Instagram and WhatsApp continued to see growth and increased user activities. Instead, Lena Pietsch, Facebook’s Director of Policy Communications, issued a lengthy statement disputing Huagen’s revelations of the company’s own research, and rejected the claim that the social network furthered political polarisation.

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History of this topic

"Completely shocked": What Lauren Greenfield learned following LA teens and their phones for a year
2 months, 3 weeks ago

"Completely shocked": What Lauren Greenfield learned following LA teens and their phones for a year

Salon  

Lauren Greenfield and I both know quite a bit about what it means to be steeped in the world of teens and internet culture, albeit for different reasons. So in that kind of spread, I think the way young people use social media completely changed." That's kind of where they end up, at the end saying, “We just need to …

Court document claims Meta knowingly designed its platforms to hook kids, reports say
1 year ago

Court document claims Meta knowingly designed its platforms to hook kids, reports say

Associated Press  

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook parent Meta Platforms deliberately engineered its social platforms to hook kids and knew — but never disclosed — it had received millions of complaints about underage users on Instagram but only disabled a fraction of those accounts, according to a newly unsealed legal complaint described in reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York …

States sue Meta for harming young people's mental health, collecting data on children
1 year, 2 months ago

States sue Meta for harming young people's mental health, collecting data on children

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ …

Facebook Used By Quarter Of World’s Population Daily In December: Report
1 year, 10 months ago

Facebook Used By Quarter Of World’s Population Daily In December: Report

ABP News  

Facebook added an average of two billion users in December who used the site daily — about a quarter of the world's population. As per a report by BBC, Facebook’s parent company Meta said that the number of users on the site daily increased by 4 per cent from a year earlier, adding users even in Europe, the US, and …

Keep It Real or Lose Gen Z
1 year, 11 months ago

Keep It Real or Lose Gen Z

Wired  

In 2023, social media will change, with young users increasingly pushing for more meaningful online interactions. Young people are becoming disillusioned with the legacy experience, whether it’s Instagram’s jumbled content feed of suggested posts and influencer-driven culture; the divisive and combative nature of interactions on Twitter; or ever-changing features that don’t prioritize the user experience—a criticism voiced by some of …

Can alternative apps revolutionise social media and fix its problems?
1 year, 11 months ago

Can alternative apps revolutionise social media and fix its problems?

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 03, 2023 14:39 IST Quitting or reducing social media use could be a great New Year’s resolution. This business model is the main driver of the most well-known social media problems: the deteriorating impact on mental health and its addictive potential, data privacy issues, the spread of misinformation, and the formation of echo chambers, where users are …

Op-Ed: It’s too late to envision a future without Facebook — or at least the world it built
2 years, 10 months ago

Op-Ed: It’s too late to envision a future without Facebook — or at least the world it built

LA Times  

The world’s biggest social media site might be tanking. Earlier this month, Facebook shared that it lost a million daily users for the first time in its history, which led to a loss of nearly $240 billion — a quarter of the company’s value. Last week Google announced similar protection for Android phones, which is likely to cost Meta, Facebook’s …

U.S. lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to address social media addiction
2 years, 10 months ago

U.S. lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to address social media addiction

The Hindu  

Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and Cynthia Lummis, a Republican, introduced a bill aimed at addressing addiction to social media platforms like Meta Platform's Facebook or Twitter. A Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, made a big splash last year with documents showing that subsidiary Instagram was harmful to teenagers while others have alleged that social media platforms spread dangerous misinformation about …

Facebook loses users for the first time EVER: Zuckerberg blames TikTok boom
2 years, 10 months ago

Facebook loses users for the first time EVER: Zuckerberg blames TikTok boom

Daily Mail  

Facebook lost daily users for the first time in its 18-year history which CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes was caused by the TikTok boom Facebook lost daily users for the first time in its 18-year history in the final quarter of 2021, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes was caused by the TikTok boom. The social media giant's devastating earnings report on …

Facebook whistleblower fears the metaverse
3 years, 1 month ago

Facebook whistleblower fears the metaverse

The Hindu  

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen said she fears the impact of the metaverse that the social media giant has rebranded to focus on delivering, saying the futuristic virtual reality world would force people to give up more of their personal information, be addicting and give the embattled company another monopoly in the online world. In an interview with The Associated Press …

'Where does the buck stop?': UK lawmakers grill Facebook over online safety
3 years, 1 month ago

'Where does the buck stop?': UK lawmakers grill Facebook over online safety

Firstpost  

Representatives from Google, Twitter and TikTok also will be questioned by members of a parliamentary committee scrutinizing the British government’s draft online safety legislation London: British lawmakers grilled Facebook on Thursday over how it handles online safety as European countries move to rein in the power of social media companies, with the tech giant’s head of safety saying the company …

Why am I still on Facebook? (opinion)
3 years, 1 month ago

Why am I still on Facebook? (opinion)

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book “OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.” Follow her on Twitter. CNN — As damning information about Facebook leaves the company increasingly besieged by accusations that it does far too little to prevent misinformation, radicalization, human trafficking, girls’ low self-esteem, hate …

Facebook Papers: 6 big takeaways
3 years, 1 month ago

Facebook Papers: 6 big takeaways

CNN  

CNN Business — Facebook is no stranger to the limelight. In response to these documents a Facebook spokesperson told CNN, “The responsibility for the violence that occurred on January 6 lies with those who attacked our Capitol and those who encouraged them.” Global lack of support Internal Facebook documents and research shared as part of Haugen’s disclosures highlight gaps in …

Facebook papers: Huge trove of documents released from inside social network, showing struggle to keep control
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook papers: Huge trove of documents released from inside social network, showing struggle to keep control

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A huge trove of documents from inside Facebook has been released, showing the …

People or profit? Facebook papers show deep conflict within
3 years, 2 months ago

People or profit? Facebook papers show deep conflict within

Associated Press  

Facebook the company is losing control of Facebook the product — not to mention the last shreds of its carefully crafted, decade-old image as a benevolent company just wanting to connect the world. “A curated selection out of millions of documents at Facebook can in no way be used to draw fair conclusions about us,” Facebook tweeted from its public …

October 25, 2021 internal Facebook documents revealed
3 years, 2 months ago

October 25, 2021 internal Facebook documents revealed

CNN  

While Facebook has repeatedly come under fire over the past few years for its role in disseminating misinformation, especially related to the 2016 election, the last two months have been especially turbulent as a whistleblower and top officials have been called to testify in front of Congress following the release of leaked internal research and documents. Spread of misinformation In …

Five Key Takeaways From the Leaked Facebook Documents
3 years, 2 months ago

Five Key Takeaways From the Leaked Facebook Documents

Bloomberg  

Facebook has been struggling to attract younger users for more than a decade, and some senior employees are alarmed over the company’s inability to keep teens engaged. The documents provide rare, vivid insight into ways Facebook, under the guidance of Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, created a Silicon Valley social media behemoth that -- while frequently posting lavish sales and …

Facebook will fuel more unrest, whistle-blower tells UK lawmakers
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook will fuel more unrest, whistle-blower tells UK lawmakers

Al Jazeera  

The social media giant needs to stop its algorithms from pushing divisive content, Frances Haugen tells British politicians. Facebook Inc will fuel more violent unrest around the world unless it stops its algorithms from pushing extreme and divisive content, whistle-blower Frances Haugen has told a British parliamentary committee. The world’s biggest social network has rejected the charges, with CEO Mark …

Just what are the ‘Facebook Papers’? An explainer
3 years, 2 months ago

Just what are the ‘Facebook Papers’? An explainer

LA Times  

The “Facebook Papers” project represents a unique collaboration among 17 American news organizations, including the Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and CNN. Journalists from a variety of newsrooms, large and small, worked together to gain access to thousands of pages of internal company documents obtained by Frances Haugen, the former Facebook product manager-turned-whistleblower. That date …

Amid the Capitol riot, Facebook faced its own insurrection
3 years, 2 months ago

Amid the Capitol riot, Facebook faced its own insurrection

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — As supporters of Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th, battling police and forcing lawmakers into hiding, an insurrection of a different kind was taking place inside the world’s largest social media company. At the same time, frustration inside Facebook erupted over what some saw as the company’s halting and inconsistent response to rising extremism in …

Amid the Capitol riot, Facebook faced its own insurrection
3 years, 2 months ago

Amid the Capitol riot, Facebook faced its own insurrection

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — As supporters of Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th, battling police and forcing lawmakers into hiding, an insurrection of a different kind was taking place inside the world’s largest social media company. At the same time, frustration inside Facebook erupted over what some saw as the company’s halting and often reversed response to rising extremism …

How many users does Facebook have? The company struggles to figure it out
3 years, 2 months ago

How many users does Facebook have? The company struggles to figure it out

Live Mint  

Facebook Inc. is struggling to detect and deal with users’ creating multiple accounts on its flagship platform, according to internal documents that raise new questions about how the social-media giant measures its audience. On its website for advertisers, Facebook says its estimate for an ad’s audience size depends in part on the number of accounts users have, but it doesn’t …

January 6 insurrection and Facebook: Internal docs paint a damning picture
3 years, 2 months ago

January 6 insurrection and Facebook: Internal docs paint a damning picture

CNN  

CNN Business — Just days after insurrectionists stormed the Capitol on January 6th, Facebook’s Chief Operational Officer Sheryl Sandberg downplayed her company’s role in what had happened. “After the violence at the Capitol erupted and as we saw continued attempts to organize events to dispute the outcome of the presidential election, we removed content with the phrase ‘stop the steal’ …

Facebook to hire 10,000 people in EU to build the ‘metaverse’
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook to hire 10,000 people in EU to build the ‘metaverse’

CNN  

London CNN Business — Facebook plans to hire up to 10,000 workers in Europe to build a “metaverse” that will combine virtual and augmented reality technologies in a new online realm. “As we begin the journey of bringing the metaverse to life, the need for highly specialized engineers is one of Facebook’s most pressing priorities,” Facebook executives Nick Clegg and …

Frances Haugen: How one Facebook worker unfriended the giant social network
3 years, 2 months ago

Frances Haugen: How one Facebook worker unfriended the giant social network

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Years later, when the local newspaper wrote about …

Facebook to change rules on attacking public figures on its platforms
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook to change rules on attacking public figures on its platforms

The Hindu  

Facebook Inc will now count activists and journalists as "involuntary" public figures and so increase protections against harassment and bullying targeted at these groups, its global safety chief said in an interview this week. Facebook also differentiates between public figures and private individuals in the protections it affords around online discussion: for instance, users are generally allowed to call for …

Facebook will try to ‘nudge’ teens away from harmful content
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook will try to ‘nudge’ teens away from harmful content

The Hindu  

A Facebook Inc executive said Sunday that the company would introduce new measures on its apps to prompt teens away from harmful content, as U.S lawmakers scrutinise how Facebook and subsidiaries like Instagram affect young people's mental health. Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs, also expressed openness to the idea of letting regulators have access to Facebook algorithms …

How one Facebook worker unfriended the giant social network
3 years, 2 months ago

How one Facebook worker unfriended the giant social network

Associated Press  

Less than two years after Facebook hired Frances Haugen to help correct dangerous distortions spilling across its platform, she had seen enough. Years later, when the local newspaper wrote about Haugen’s landing at Google, one of her elementary school teachers recalled her as “horrifically bright,” while not at all self-conscious. “She was always super-interested in the intersection of people’s well-being …

Facebook knows it is in trouble as Mark Zuckerberg picks his battles
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook knows it is in trouble as Mark Zuckerberg picks his battles

Hindustan Times  

When Senator Edward Markey on Tuesday called Frances Haugen “a 21st-century American hero,” it underlined the trouble Facebook finds itself in. Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook is defending allegations that the company has long ignored teenage safety on its platforms, particularly Instagram, resolving conflicts in favour of profits. Facebook has been accused of hiding internal research about how Instagram’s algorithms were negatively …

Facebook whistleblower testifies: Five highlights
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook whistleblower testifies: Five highlights

Associated Press  

A former Facebook employee told members of Congress Tuesday that the company knows that its platform spreads misinformation and content that harms children but refuses to make changes that could hurt its profits. “A lot of the changes that I’m talking about are not going to make Facebook an unprofitable company, it just won’t be a ludicrously profitable company like …

FB whistleblower calls for regulation
3 years, 2 months ago

FB whistleblower calls for regulation

The Hindu  

A Facebook whistleblower went before U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday to push them to regulate the social media giant, after an outage hit potentially billions of users and highlighted global dependence on its services. She spoke to Senators less than a day after Facebook, its photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp went offline for roughly seven hours, with “billions of …

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s accusations against the social network
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s accusations against the social network

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “They are deadly - way beyond what we've seen so far.” Ms Haugen, who left the Big …

Whistleblower tells Congress that Facebook products harm kids and democracy
3 years, 2 months ago

Whistleblower tells Congress that Facebook products harm kids and democracy

NPR  

Whistleblower tells Congress that Facebook products harm kids and democracy Enlarge this image toggle caption Drew Angerer/Getty Images Drew Angerer/Getty Images A former Facebook product manager told Congress on Tuesday that the company's products harm children and stoke division, while Facebook executives hide research about the social network's risks to keep its business humming. Facebook internal research provided by Haugen …

Ex-Facebook employee tells Congress social media giant endangers users, democracy
3 years, 2 months ago

Ex-Facebook employee tells Congress social media giant endangers users, democracy

LA Times  

Former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen testified Tuesday before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security. “The company’s leadership knows ways to make Facebook and Instagram safer and won’t make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people,” said Frances Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist who has …

‘Facebook prioritising profit over safety’
3 years, 2 months ago

‘Facebook prioritising profit over safety’

The Hindu  

The whistleblower who shared a trove of Facebook documents alleging the social media giant knew its products were fuelling hate and harming children’s mental health revealed her identity on Sunday in a televised interview, and accused the company of choosing “profit over safety”. Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old data scientist, has worked for companies including Google and Pinterest — but said …

Whistleblower: Facebook chose profit over public safety
3 years, 2 months ago

Whistleblower: Facebook chose profit over public safety

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — A data scientist who was revealed Sunday as the Facebook whistleblower says that whenever there was a conflict between the public good and what benefited the company, the social media giant would choose its own interests. Post-election, the company dissolved a unit on civic integrity where she had been working, which Haugen said was the moment she …

Today's Cache | Facebook needs a shrink
3 years, 2 months ago

Today's Cache | Facebook needs a shrink

The Hindu  

Facebook is overwhelmed, and has reached out for help Facebook’s problems have compounded in recent times. U.S. lawmakers called CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress on how his firm protects users’ information. The WSJ report comes at a time when Facebook executives are due to face U.S. lawmakers over an issue with Instagram’s plan to build an app for …

Facebook: ‘Ludicrous’ to say it fuelled US Capitol riot
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook: ‘Ludicrous’ to say it fuelled US Capitol riot

Al Jazeera  

Facebook’s vice president of policy and global affairs Nick Clegg also pushed back at the assertion its platforms are ‘toxic’ for teens. Facebook has dismissed as “ludicrous” suggestions it contributed to the US Capitol riot on January 6, a charge the social media giant expects will be levelled in an upcoming whistle-blower interview. Facebook’s vice president of policy and global …

Senators push Facebook exec on Instagram policies for youth
3 years, 2 months ago

Senators push Facebook exec on Instagram policies for youth

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Senators fired a barrage of criticism Thursday at a Facebook executive over the social-networking giant’s handling of internal research on how its Instagram photo-sharing platform can harm teens. “It’s abundantly clear that Facebook views the events of the last two weeks purely as a PR problem, and that the issues raised by the leaked research haven’t led to …

Foes united vs Facebook over Instagram's effect on teens
3 years, 2 months ago

Foes united vs Facebook over Instagram's effect on teens

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Mounting public pressure over the revelations have prompted …

US lawmakers question Facebook on Instagram policies for children
3 years, 2 months ago

US lawmakers question Facebook on Instagram policies for children

Al Jazeera  

United States lawmakers have heaped criticism on Facebook Inc on the company’s plans to protect children who use its social media platforms, after a leaked internal investigation showed the social media giant was aware of how its Instagram app harmed the mental health of teenagers. Democratic Senator Edward Markey added: “IG stands for Instagram, but it also stands for Insta-greed.” …

Senators Blast Facebook For Concealing Instagram's Risks To Kids
3 years, 2 months ago

Senators Blast Facebook For Concealing Instagram's Risks To Kids

NPR  

Senators Blast Facebook For Concealing Instagram's Risks To Kids Enlarge this image toggle caption Patrick Semansky/Pool/AFP via Getty Images Patrick Semansky/Pool/AFP via Getty Images If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. We know it chooses the growth of its …

Opinion: Facebook’s alarming plan for news feeds
3 years, 3 months ago

Opinion: Facebook’s alarming plan for news feeds

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Kara Alaimo, an associate professor of public relations at Hofstra University, is the author of “Pitch, Tweet, or Engage on the Street: How to Practice Global Public Relations and Strategic Communication.” She was spokeswoman for international affairs in the Treasury Department during the Obama administration. According to Facebook’s own figures, a campaign by Russia to spread disinformation around …

Instagram says social media’s effect on people mental health “mixed”
3 years, 3 months ago

Instagram says social media’s effect on people mental health “mixed”

The Hindu  

Internal researchers at Facebook-owned Instagram have found the app poses serious mental health danger to many teen girls, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week, citing internal company documents. The image-sharing platform added that social media’s impact on the wellbeing of people is “mixed” and depends on the state of mind when people use it. According to the company’s …

Facebook calls Wall Street Journal reports “deliberate mischaracterizations”
3 years, 3 months ago

Facebook calls Wall Street Journal reports “deliberate mischaracterizations”

The Hindu  

Last week, Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook’s content moderation fails to take strict action against politicians and celebrities who violate the platform’s rules. In a response to the articles, Facebook’s head of global affairs Nick Clegg called the reports “deliberate mischaracterizations” of the work the company does. However, he added the allegations that Facebook conducts research, and then systematically …

Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show
3 years, 3 months ago

Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

Live Mint  

About a year ago, teenager Anastasia Vlasova started seeing a therapist. “Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse," the researchers said in a March 2020 slide presentation posted to Facebook’s internal message board, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “Teens told us that they don’t like the amount …

Facebook knows Instagram is harmful to teen girls: WSJ
3 years, 3 months ago

Facebook knows Instagram is harmful to teen girls: WSJ

Al Jazeera  

Documents seen by The Wall Street Journal show that Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for young girls, which strays from the tech giant’s public position on the matter. For the last three years, Facebook has studied how its Instagram photo-sharing app affects the mental health of its millions of young users, and the firm’s researchers have repeatedly found that Instagram …

Facebook shows how with great power comes great irresponsibility
3 years, 4 months ago

Facebook shows how with great power comes great irresponsibility

Live Mint  

What is the price of being connected? That’s what Cecilia Kang and Sheera Frenkel, award-winning tech journalists at The New York Times, uncover in their new book, An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle For Domination. In the early chapters, Kang and Frenkel dive into the period between Facebook’s inception and the 2016 US presidential election, parsing events and decisions that …

Facebook shuts down NYU academics’ research on ads, citing ‘data scraping’
3 years, 4 months ago

Facebook shuts down NYU academics’ research on ads, citing ‘data scraping’

LA Times  

The New York University research uncovered “systemic flaws in the Facebook Ad Library, to identify misinformation in political ads.,” says NYU researcher Laura Edelson. The NYU researchers with the Ad Observatory Project had for several years been looking into Facebook’s Ad Library, where searches can be done on The access was used to “uncover systemic flaws in the Facebook Ad …

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