Go Back  British Expats > Living & Moving Abroad > USA > The Trailer Park
Reload this Page >

so, how does your FB data get used?

so, how does your FB data get used?

Old Apr 18th 2017, 3:08 pm
  #76  
WTF?
 
Leslie's Avatar
 
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Homeostasis
Posts: 79,352
Leslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by Pulaski
But the same stories were appearing in the "paid content" box on cnn,com and other media Web sites. And some of those, such as pizzagate were viral stories that already had a life of their own, I suspect long before they were featured on Farcebook.
I've never seen anything remotely like that on CNN and I check that website daily. Perhaps they were targeted at you specifically? Either way, if they were disclosed as paid content, that is still completely different to what was going on Facebook.

Facebook did not vet things properly which is why they were constantly pulling things down --- after the damage was done.
Leslie is offline  
Old Apr 18th 2017, 3:57 pm
  #77  
WTF?
 
Leslie's Avatar
 
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Homeostasis
Posts: 79,352
Leslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by Steerpike
But isn't that essentially the same thing? While masquerading as 'news', they were in fact paid political ads and thus, if blatantly false, should have been disallowed? But as Pulaski mentioned - is there in fact any standard or set of rules currently that governs political advertising? Today on TV we have 'infomercials', which blur the lines between advertising and 'informative television' (for want of a better word). Are they subject to any review? (I have no idea).

I'm at a disadvantage here in that I didn't see any of these nasty things.
Yes but since they were being disseminated by bots, trolls and hackers, they weren't going through the proper channels and they weren't revealing themselves as paid political ads. This is why Facebook got into such hot water --- because they claim their site to be a precious "information platform" rather than what it is, a media outlet, they excused themselves from the due diligence and accepted standards that TV stations and reputable websites are subjected to.

I'm not on Facebook. I don't put any personal information about myself anywhere that I don't absolutely have to. My assistant is 21 years old and has grown up with social media. My last year has consisted of her announcing some bizarre (sometimes scary) story that she just read on her Facebook feed. Then I ask to see it. Then she can't find it ... "It was just there." Confused facial expressions. Then we do a Google search, Snopes search, Wikipedia search, CNN etc etc, and find no credible sources to back up said story.
Leslie is offline  
Old Apr 18th 2017, 7:31 pm
  #78  
Lost in BE Cyberspace
 
Steerpike's Avatar
 
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 13,091
Steerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond reputeSteerpike has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by Leslie
Yes but since they were being disseminated by bots, trolls and hackers, they weren't going through the proper channels and they weren't revealing themselves as paid political ads. This is why Facebook got into such hot water --- because they claim their site to be a precious "information platform" rather than what it is, a media outlet, they excused themselves from the due diligence and accepted standards that TV stations and reputable websites are subjected to.

I'm not on Facebook. I don't put any personal information about myself anywhere that I don't absolutely have to. My assistant is 21 years old and has grown up with social media. My last year has consisted of her announcing some bizarre (sometimes scary) story that she just read on her Facebook feed. Then I ask to see it. Then she can't find it ... "It was just there." Confused facial expressions. Then we do a Google search, Snopes search, Wikipedia search, CNN etc etc, and find no credible sources to back up said story.
So is there any credible effort being made to change their status from information platform to media platform? I suspect any success in this area will negatively impact useful sites like the simple google search page (which admittedly is also doing wild and wonderful things with your data, but at least you don't have to log in to use google ... yet ... ).

Since FB is 'free' to end users, and is a massive, expensive platform to operate, I can see how they need to rely on paid ads for revenue, like Google's search page.

ETA: my references to 'google' above are to the good-old, original 'search page' - google.com - and not the myriad other things google is involved in. I hear they are every bit as evil when it comes to much of their other stuff, which I stay clear of (including gmail).
Steerpike is offline  
Old Apr 18th 2017, 8:02 pm
  #79  
WTF?
 
Leslie's Avatar
 
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Homeostasis
Posts: 79,352
Leslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond reputeLeslie has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by Steerpike
So is there any credible effort being made to change their status from information platform to media platform? I suspect any success in this area will negatively impact useful sites like the simple google search page (which admittedly is also doing wild and wonderful things with your data, but at least you don't have to log in to use google ... yet ... ).

Since FB is 'free' to end users, and is a massive, expensive platform to operate, I can see how they need to rely on paid ads for revenue, like Google's search page.

ETA: my references to 'google' above are to the good-old, original 'search page' - google.com - and not the myriad other things google is involved in. I hear they are every bit as evil when it comes to much of their other stuff, which I stay clear of (including gmail).
Zuckerberg was a complete shit about the whole thing, as per usual. He basically said that Facebook didn't know anything about it and it wasn't their problem anyway. However, more than one Facebook employee had already leaked that yes they did know about it due to so many complaints from users. Some of the Facebook staff was alarmed at the lack of interest from the top and definitely felt that it should be addressed --- this concern was originally raised to Facebook management as far back as during the election. I think that now Zuckerberg has finally admitted they had a certain responsibility to not allow this type of paid content.
Leslie is offline  
Old Apr 27th 2017, 11:18 pm
  #80  
Austin. TX.
Thread Starter
 
petitefrancaise's Avatar
 
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 5,929
petitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Something happened on my frenchies in Austin FB group. A guy had joined the group a couple of months ago and hadn't posted anything.
Suddenly 2 days ago he starts posting pro FN stuff. Supporting Mme Le Pen and some nasty stuff about the cherubic Macron. After a few challenges from a couple of peeps, it was obvious he didn't understand any french beyond what google translate could do. He didn't even bother to reply en francais.

We suspected a fake account set up purely for propaganda purposes. He's been kicked off apparently.
petitefrancaise is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 5:22 pm
  #81  
Austin. TX.
Thread Starter
 
petitefrancaise's Avatar
 
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 5,929
petitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...cked-democracy

A really, really good piece of investigative journalism. Time for bloody investigations before our UK Elections.
petitefrancaise is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 5:34 pm
  #82  
BE Forum Addict
 
steveq's Avatar
 
Joined: Feb 2013
Location: State College Pa.
Posts: 1,585
steveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond reputesteveq has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...cked-democracy

A really, really good piece of investigative journalism. Time for bloody investigations before our UK Elections.
Democracy means that sometimes you lose. A lot of previously remainer friends have gone off the other way, with the intimidations of the EU and Varoufiakis' revelations in his latest book.
steveq is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 5:46 pm
  #83  
Austin. TX.
Thread Starter
 
petitefrancaise's Avatar
 
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 5,929
petitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by steveq
Democracy means that sometimes you lose. A lot of previously remainer friends have gone off the other way, with the intimidations of the EU and Varoufiakis' revelations in his latest book.
The whole point is that our democracy is being undermined.
petitefrancaise is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 6:46 pm
  #84  
BE Forum Addict
 
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Posts: 4,913
md95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
The whole point is that our democracy is being undermined.
Yes.

People used to worry about who owned the newspapers and the extent to which they might be able to influence popular opinion. That fear is now a quaint relic of the last millennium - what matters now is who controls the content that people see on the internet.
md95065 is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 7:49 pm
  #85  
 
Pulaski's Avatar
 
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,397
Pulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by steveq
Democracy means that sometimes you lose. ....
The Internet has also enabled people to discover that more people think like they do and that the sweeping generalities in the old media about what people think, or indeed what the governing classes want us to think that most people think, are not actually what a lot of people think.

In other words, the internet has given the silent majority a voice, and not everyone likes that.

Last edited by Pulaski; May 7th 2017 at 7:51 pm.
Pulaski is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 8:54 pm
  #86  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 227
NYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond reputeNYer has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by Leslie
I don't think it's just a matter of political ads being misleading or manipulative. There were many cases of "political ads" being dressed up as news stories which were completely false.

Just off the top of my head, here are some things that came up on Facebook during and around the election and then conveniently disappeared:
  • The Clinton Kill List --- News articles of the many people that Bill and Hillary have had murdered over the years.
  • Denzel Washington endorses Donald Trump
  • Hillary Clinton comes out in complete agreement with Trump policies (this happened a couple of times within different news cycles)
  • Hillary Clinton supports late term abortion on demand.
  • Pizza Gate

These weren't political ads. These were hit pieces, made to look like legit news stories, which Facebook accepted for ad $$.
Just unfollow them, block them or report them. I get just as many fake news reports and it doesn't bother me. I ignore them, report them or delete them if I can. It's a waste of time to get worked up about it. Or simply don't discuss politics on FB. I refuse to do so because it leads to nasty fights and lots of fake news being put on my feed.

The problem is too many Facebook users go on political rants and then are shocked, shocked they get feed back or endless political ads attached to their page.
NYer is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 9:10 pm
  #87  
Austin. TX.
Thread Starter
 
petitefrancaise's Avatar
 
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 5,929
petitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond reputepetitefrancaise has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by NYer
Just unfollow them, block them or report them. I get just as many fake news reports and it doesn't bother me. I ignore them, report them or delete them if I can. It's a waste of time to get worked up about it. Or simply don't discuss politics on FB. I refuse to do so because it leads to nasty fights and lots of fake news being put on my feed.

The problem is too many Facebook users go on political rants and then are shocked, shocked they get feed back or endless political ads attached to their page.
Did you actually read the above link?

This is more than fake stories on FB.
petitefrancaise is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 9:15 pm
  #88  
Heading for Poppyland
 
robin1234's Avatar
 
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,453
robin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond reputerobin1234 has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...cked-democracy

A really, really good piece of investigative journalism. Time for bloody investigations before our UK Elections.
This is a good piece, thanks for the link. It carries on the story from the major investigative article in the New Yorker in late March, by Jane Mayer, that I linked earlier in this thread.

This new article in the Observer, however, claims that Mercer and Cambridge Analytica (etc) are embedded in, and sponsored by, the UK/US deep-state military industrial complex. This seems to run counter to the obvious interpretation that the Trump/Brexit phenomena, enabled by Mercer & Cambridge Analytica, are actually working to destroy the Pax Americana and NATO and the EU .... ?
robin1234 is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 9:36 pm
  #89  
Account Closed
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 0
scrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond reputescrubbedexpat091 has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

FB and others are likely not too interested in our provincial election coming up, but I have noticed one thing, I see suggested posts near daily for the NDP party (I have not liked their page) but have seen none for the BC Liberals (ruling party) or the Greens (fringe party).

I can't vote here so I don't follow the elections much, just found it interesting how FB keeps presenting posts and paid ads for the NDP, but then maybe since the NDP is going after the younger votes, I am seeing them simply based on age group, who knows. Or the NDP is advertising more on FB vs BC Liberals.
scrubbedexpat091 is offline  
Old May 7th 2017, 10:10 pm
  #90  
BE Forum Addict
 
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Posts: 4,913
md95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond reputemd95065 has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: so, how does your FB data get used?

Originally Posted by Pulaski
In other words, the internet has given the silent majority a voice, and not everyone likes that.
The internet has given a voice to pretty much everyone and that means that there are many "voices" out there and that like-minded people can, relatively easily, find and support each other.

In principle, this sounds like "a good thing" but what we seem to have ended up with is more like a Tower of Babel with everyone promoting their own views and few even attempting to listen to anyone else.

In the bad old pre-internet days there were plenty of people with crazy ideas but, if they wanted to broadcast those ideas to other people it required them to spend time, effort and money on actually writing stuff down on paper, showing it to other people and trying to drum up support. If their idea was reasonably popular then it could often get widely disseminated because others who agreed with the original author would lend their help to the effort. There was, however, a pretty effective limit on the amount of really crazy stuff that got beyond the originator's family and immediate acquaintances. That limit is now gone and every idiot on the planet from the President of the United States on down is only one tweet away from a potentially world wide audience. This is not good.
md95065 is offline  

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.