echochamber
Latest
Twitter says unwanted tweets on your timeline are a bug, not a feature
A few users on Twitter have noticed something odd with its algorithmically-inserted tweets: it's inserting tweets and claiming people they follow Liked them, even though a scan of their profile page and its list of Liked tweets shows that they didn't. As it popped up on the timeline for @TappyPaws, she noticed a trend towards political tweets by the president, so there was some speculation that this is part of a test by Twitter to break people out of so-called "bubbles" and increase interaction with other viewpoints. More investigation showed that some of the inserted tweets had been quoted in posts that those friends did actually click like on, or were tweets that the actually-Liked tweets replied to, suggesting that the service's process has a bug. While a Twitter spokesperson was not specific about the reason, they backed that interpretation up and told Engadget "This is not a test. This is a bug involving Likes that we're working to fix. The issue is affecting numerous accounts." Whatever the issue is, if you'd like some control back -- in lieu of Twitter offering a strictly chronological timeline -- user Andy Baio has posted a search filter that "strips out all retweets, replies, media, links, and people you don't follow." You can easily access it at any time by just going to www.realtwitter.com.
Facebook explores whether social media is good for democracy
As part of its Hard Questions series, Facebook has decided to explore the question of whether social media is good for democracy. The last US presidential election brought that question to the fore of many people's minds, directly or indirectly, as it became clear that fake news and meddling by foreign actors played not insignificant roles. For this topic, Facebook is doing something a little different, inviting three outside experts to share their thoughts on this question and those individuals include Harvard professor Cass Sunstein, social media scholar and former president of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves and University of Sydney professor Ariadne Vromen.
Google cancels all-hands meeting due to safety concerns
At the same time Google fired the author of a 10-page memo criticizing its diversity efforts due to "biological" differences, CEO Sundar Pichai scheduled a company town meeting for today to discuss the issue. Now, Recode and Business Insider report that he sent another email to employees canceling the event, citing websites that posted personal information about employees critical of the memo. Instead, the company plan is that "in the coming days we will find several forums to gather and engage with Googlers, where people can feel comfortable to speak freely."
Obama Foundation taps social media to fight online echo chambers
Participating in social media these days, especially around contentious political issues, can be an exercise in frustration. Facebook fights its own echo chamber with features like Topics to Follow as much as it can, but it's going to take much more than smart algorithms to learn how to listen to each other. President Obama, our most tech-savvy president, is stepping into the fray, using his post-presidential foundation to encourage us to become better digital citizens.
Facebook redesigns Trending topics in its war on filter bubbles
The fight against filter bubbles is on. Facebook's latest redesign focuses on its Trending news section, and it's a direct attempt to combat the "filter bubble" effect that happens in many users' timelines. The update changes the results page when you click on a Trending topic -- instead of a single news source, you'll see a carousel of publications writing about that item.
