The informant behind a large leak of internal documents on Facebook says the social media giant has always prioritized its profits over the good of users. Even at the cost of exploiting our emotions, in particular by inciting haters and posts full of anger.
Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, spilled the beans in a 60-minute interview. Haugen confirmed that Facebook foments hatred and disinformation by giving priority to profits. “The thing I saw over and over again was the conflicts of interest between what was good for the audience and what was good for Facebook.” Haugen has worked for several companies, including Google and Pinterest, but “it was substantially worse working for Facebook”. The main problem was a change that the company made in 2018 to its algorithms, which decide what users see in the platform’s news feed.
Facebook: Profits are the company’s only priority according to a former manager, even at the cost of making us hateful
“The feed itself proves that hateful, divisive, polarizing content is easier, it inspires people to anger, keeps them glued to the screen. If the company changed its algorithm to be on the safe side, people would tend to spend less time on the platform, clicking fewer ads and making less money. ” “Facebook makes more money when they consume more content. People like to interact with things that elicit an emotional reaction. And the more anger they are exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume, ”explains the former manager.
The company has temporarily activated i security systems during the election period to reduce disinformation. “As soon as the elections were over, they disabled them or returned the settings to what they were before, to prioritize growth over security.” The company replies: “Protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits. Saying we turn a blind eye to feedback ignores these investments. Including the 40,000 people working for security on Facebook and our $ 13 billion investment since 2016 ″.
The informant behind a large leak of internal documents on Facebook says the social media giant has always prioritized its profits over the good of users. Even at the cost of exploiting our emotions, in particular by inciting haters and posts full of anger.
Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, spilled the beans in a 60-minute interview. Haugen confirmed that Facebook foments hatred and disinformation by giving priority to profits. “The thing I saw over and over again was the conflicts of interest between what was good for the audience and what was good for Facebook.” Haugen has worked for several companies, including Google and Pinterest, but “it was substantially worse working for Facebook”. The main problem was a change that the company made in 2018 to its algorithms, which decide what users see in the platform’s news feed.
Facebook: Profits are the company’s only priority according to a former manager, even at the cost of making us hateful
“The feed itself proves that hateful, divisive, polarizing content is easier, it inspires people to anger, keeps them glued to the screen. If the company changed its algorithm to be on the safe side, people would tend to spend less time on the platform, clicking fewer ads and making less money. ” “Facebook makes more money when they consume more content. People like to interact with things that elicit an emotional reaction. And the more anger they are exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume, ”explains the former manager.
The company has temporarily activated i security systems during the election period to reduce disinformation. “As soon as the elections were over, they disabled them or returned the settings to what they were before, to prioritize growth over security.” The company replies: “Protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits. Saying we turn a blind eye to feedback ignores these investments. Including the 40,000 people working for security on Facebook and our $ 13 billion investment since 2016 ″.
The informant behind a large leak of internal documents on Facebook says the social media giant has always prioritized its profits over the good of users. Even at the cost of exploiting our emotions, in particular by inciting haters and posts full of anger.
Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, spilled the beans in a 60-minute interview. Haugen confirmed that Facebook foments hatred and disinformation by giving priority to profits. “The thing I saw over and over again was the conflicts of interest between what was good for the audience and what was good for Facebook.” Haugen has worked for several companies, including Google and Pinterest, but “it was substantially worse working for Facebook”. The main problem was a change that the company made in 2018 to its algorithms, which decide what users see in the platform’s news feed.
Facebook: Profits are the company’s only priority according to a former manager, even at the cost of making us hateful
“The feed itself proves that hateful, divisive, polarizing content is easier, it inspires people to anger, keeps them glued to the screen. If the company changed its algorithm to be on the safe side, people would tend to spend less time on the platform, clicking fewer ads and making less money. ” “Facebook makes more money when they consume more content. People like to interact with things that elicit an emotional reaction. And the more anger they are exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume, ”explains the former manager.
The company has temporarily activated i security systems during the election period to reduce disinformation. “As soon as the elections were over, they disabled them or returned the settings to what they were before, to prioritize growth over security.” The company replies: “Protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits. Saying we turn a blind eye to feedback ignores these investments. Including the 40,000 people working for security on Facebook and our $ 13 billion investment since 2016 ″.
The informant behind a large leak of internal documents on Facebook says the social media giant has always prioritized its profits over the good of users. Even at the cost of exploiting our emotions, in particular by inciting haters and posts full of anger.
Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, spilled the beans in a 60-minute interview. Haugen confirmed that Facebook foments hatred and disinformation by giving priority to profits. “The thing I saw over and over again was the conflicts of interest between what was good for the audience and what was good for Facebook.” Haugen has worked for several companies, including Google and Pinterest, but “it was substantially worse working for Facebook”. The main problem was a change that the company made in 2018 to its algorithms, which decide what users see in the platform’s news feed.
Facebook: Profits are the company’s only priority according to a former manager, even at the cost of making us hateful
“The feed itself proves that hateful, divisive, polarizing content is easier, it inspires people to anger, keeps them glued to the screen. If the company changed its algorithm to be on the safe side, people would tend to spend less time on the platform, clicking fewer ads and making less money. ” “Facebook makes more money when they consume more content. People like to interact with things that elicit an emotional reaction. And the more anger they are exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume, ”explains the former manager.
The company has temporarily activated i security systems during the election period to reduce disinformation. “As soon as the elections were over, they disabled them or returned the settings to what they were before, to prioritize growth over security.” The company replies: “Protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits. Saying we turn a blind eye to feedback ignores these investments. Including the 40,000 people working for security on Facebook and our $ 13 billion investment since 2016 ″.