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Facebook plans all-staff meeting on Cambridge Analytica scandal
Facebook is holding an open meeting for all of its employees today, in the fall out of the unfolding Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal. Taking place at 10am PT, the meeting will be led by Facebook's deputy general counsel Paul Grewal, and will give employees the opportunity to ask questions about the ongoing case, which involves the data harvesting of more than 50 million people.
Congress wants answers from Facebook about Cambridge Analytica
You knew it was just a matter of time before Congress joined those investigating Facebook's data sharing debacle, even if it's only in a tentative way. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg asking him to explain how Cambridge Analytica ended up with data on 50 million people, most of them without permission. In addition to details of the incident itself, Wyden wants to know why Facebook didn't drop Cambridge Analytica when it learned of the collection in 2015, whether the data was used for targeted ads and how this could happen despite the FTC decree limiting Facebook's data collection and sharing activities.
We spend less time on Facebook, but it still makes loads of money
The past few weeks haven't been easy for Facebook. After announcing an overhaul to its News Feed earlier this month, one that places emphasis on people's interactions over content from brands, the company has been taking heat for its new approach. Not only because Facebook is leaving publishers who relied on its platform behind, but it also isn't offering the best solution to fix its fake news problem. A blunt two-question "trusted" news survey simply won't cut it. CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said that, with these changes, he expects users' time on the site to go down, but he believes keeping people happy will be better for Facebook's bottom line in the long run.
Facebook feigns accountability with ‘trusted’ news survey
When Facebook announced it was rolling out a major overhaul to its News Feed earlier this month, it did so with the intention of prioritizing interactions between people over content from publishers. It was a notable shift in strategy for the company, which for the past couple of years had been working closely with news outlets to on heavily promote their articles and videos. But, Facebook discovered that people just weren't happy on the site -- likely due to the vast amount of political flame-throwing they've been exposed to since the 2016 US Presidential election. So in order to alleviate this problem, it decided it was best if users saw more posts from friends and family, instead of news that could have a negative effect on their emotions. Because keeping people both happy and informed is, apparently, hard.
Facebook, Twitter are under pressure to investigate #ReleaseTheMemo
The #ReleaseTheMemo social media campaign swelled last week as many, including Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, called for the memo to be released to the public. Now, two members of Congress are asking Twitter and Facebook to look into a potential Russian role in the viral spread of the hashtag campaign.
Facebook's next news feed tweak: ranking 'trusted' sources
Last week Mark Zuckerberg kicked off his year of making sure your time on Facebook is "well spent" by announcing that feeds will refocus on items shared by friends, instead of news. Today the CEO followed up with an announcement that the site will try to identify and highlight "trusted sources" based on community feedback. While the combination of these changes is apparently only going to change the mix of news in feeds from five percent to four percent, its stated claim is to avoid " sensationalism, misinformation and polarization."
Facebook goes back to basics: People
Over the past couple of years, Facebook has frequently tweaked its News Feed algorithms to deliver stories that are relevant and of interest to you. It was a strategy that, until now, seemed to be the way forward for the site. But that's all about to change, as Facebook has announced that there are big adjustments coming to its News Feed. In the months ahead, the platform will start to prioritize posts from people you care about, like friends and family, over stories or videos from publishers. Users may react positively, but publications that rely on Facebook to drive traffic won't be happy.
Facebook will focus on friends over publishers in the News Feed
Facebook just announced that it will make sweeping changes to the News Feed, the primary place where users find content on the social network. Over the next few months, users will see "more from your friends, family and groups" and " less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media," so says CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The company says that it has heard from users that the so-called "public content" is crowding out "personal moments" that the Facebook platform was built on.
Facebook CEO pledges to tackle hate speech, foreign meddling in 2018
As is tradition, Mark Zuckerberg is starting this year off with a new personal challenge. He kicked off 2017 with a promise to visit every US state to meet the masses in a totally-not-preparing-for-a-Presidential-run way, but that was before a year of criticism leveled at the social network he founded. This year, Zuckerberg is staying at home for a new pledge: Fixing the mess Facebook has made.
Facebook tackles the question of whether social media is bad for us
As part of its "Hard Questions" series, Facebook took on the question of whether social media is good or bad for us. Citing a handful of academic studies, some done by Facebook researchers, Facebook Director of Research David Ginsberg and research scientist Moira Burke say that it can be both and it really depends on how you use it.
Facebook starts global rollout of its AI suicide prevention tools
Facebook is expanding its limited test run for suicide- and -self-harm reporting tools to the masses. To get better at detection the social network will begin implementing pattern recognition for posts and Live videos to detect when someone could be presenting suicidal thoughts. From there, VP of product management Guy Rosen writes that the social network will also concentrate efforts to improve alerting first responders when the need arises. Facebook will also have more humans looking at posts flagged by its algorithms.
Sean Parker says Facebook ‘exploits’ human psychology
Napster cofounder Sean Parker appears to have some regrets about the role he played in bringing social media to the world. Before speaking at an Axios event yesterday, he told reporters that he was now "something of a conscientious objector" on social media, according to Axios, and he shared a few thoughts on how he and others designed sites like Facebook to suck people in.
Mark Zuckerberg is using his Facebook fortune to tackle social issues
The will-Zuckerberg-run, won't-Zuckerberg-run-for-President speculation has driven most of the news about the Facebook cofounder this year. But he, along with his wife Priscilla Chan, have been quietly funding two particular progressive agendas with their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) on top of its wide-spanning philanthropy. The CZI has quietly given a total of $45 million to groups addressing two specific causes: ending mass incarceration and improving affordable housing.
Mark Zuckerberg apologizes for insensitive VR tour of Puerto Rico
Did Mark Zuckerberg's VR tour of hurricane-struck Puerto Rico come across as callous to you? You're far from alone, and Zuckerberg realizes it... in a manner of speaking. The Facebook chief has apologized for his approach to the tour, arguing that what he intended and what happened didn't quite match. He wanted to show how VR could "raise awareness" of events and simultaneously promote a recovery partnership with the Red Cross, but "this wasn't clear" in the presentation, according to the CEO.
Mark Zuckerberg uses Facebook to visit Puerto Rico in VR
More than three years have passed since Facebook purchased virtual reality headset-maker Oculus VR for $2 billion. Now, with its fourth annual Oculus Connect event fast approaching, Mark Zuckerberg is demonstrating the unique ways he uses VR. While the rest of us goof around with friends, take selfies, and go live on the social network's virtual reality experience (known as Facebook Spaces), the company's CEO plugs in to coordinate his humanitarian endeavours. In the course of his latest virtual livestream, Zuckerberg met up with Facebook's head of social VR Rachel Dwyer. They then set course for Puerto Rico to explain how the tech giant is utilizing machine learning as part of its relief efforts on the island.
Facebook sends help to Puerto Rico to get the island back online
Facebook has touted its ability to provide infrastructure for disaster-stricken areas before, and now it's dispatching a team to Puerto Rico to help reestablish internet connectivity. "We're sending the Facebook connectivity team to deliver emergency telecommunications assistance to get the systems up and running," Mark Zuckerberg writes in a status update.
Mark Zuckerberg explains post-election comments he now 'regrets'
Last November, Mark Zuckerberg said, "Personally, I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, of which it's a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea." Nearly a year later, and after evidence has been produced showing various Russian campaigns attempting to mislead voters last year, revelations that President Obama warned Zuckerberg about the issue and news that Facebook axed 'tens of thousands of accounts' ahead of the German election, he's changed his tune.
Facebook axed 'tens of thousands' of accounts before German election
Facebook released a recap today about the efforts it made to minimize the spread of fake news during Germany's recent election. Facebook VP Richard Allan said in the announcement, "These actions did not eliminate misinformation entirely in this election – but they did make it harder to spread, and less likely to appear in people's News Feeds. Studies concluded that the level of false news was low. We learned a lot, and will continue to apply those lessons in other forthcoming elections."
Facebook will turn over Russia-linked ads to Congress
Earlier this month, Facebook admitted that it sold $100,000 worth of ads between 2015 and 2017 that led to fake news pages and were bought by advertisers operating out of Russia. A report released yesterday noted that the Senate Intelligence Committee expected the social media titan to testify about the advertisements, and today, Facebook agreed -- and will also share the 3,000-plus advertisements in question.
Recommended Reading: Hollywood is really mad at Rotten Tomatoes
Attacked by Rotten Tomatoes Brooks Barnes, The New York Times The film scores tallied by Rotten Tomatoes are what many moviegoers use to decide how to spend their money. As you might expect, this doesn't make some folks in Hollywood too happy. In fact, they're pretty darn upset. Some claim low scores on Rotten Tomatoes cost big name films like Baywatch and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword millions this summer. The New York Times takes a look at the rift the movie ratings site has created with its Tomatometer. I'd argue studios should stop blaming a website and just start making better movies, but what do I know.
