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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Location: Andromeda
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Post subject: Facebook mind control! | |
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One of the more bizarre stories I've read of late:
http://washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/03/sheryl-sandberg-not-sorry-for-facebook-mood-manipulation-study/
Quote: | Sandberg’s statement was the first public comment by a Facebook executive on the controversy since it erupted over the weekend, prompting anger from many Facebook users and criticism from some academics who said it was unethical to manipulate users’ emotions without informed consent.
In the study, researchers at Facebook tweaked what hundreds of thousands of users saw in their news feeds, skewing content to be more positive or negative than normal in an attempt to manipulate their moods. Then they checked users’ status updates to see if the content affected what they wrote. They found that, yes, Facebook users’ moods are affected by what they see in their news feeds. Users who saw more negative posts would write more negative things on their own walls, and likewise for positive posts. |
The issue here is whether conducting such an experiment is ethical. One one level, it seems a bit precious to complain—is having an emotionally balanced Facebook newsfeed a, like, actual civil right?!—but the really bizarre thing here is that it apparently worked.
Okay, so let's assume that Facebook can manipulate your mood by filtering your newsfeed in a certain way. They can, on some level, make you happier or sadder. This means that, through their actions, they can cheer up someone who's having a bad day or tip a depressed person over the edge.
It still seems a bit ridiculous, but think of it this way: what happens if you're given mood-altering drugs? The chemicals in your brain re-arrange in a certain way to alter your state of mind. Now, we know enough about neuroscience nowadays to know that something similar is happening whenever we react to any stimulus, like reading a book, or meeting a friend for coffee, or even seeing a Facebook post. If that's so, then, it's almost as if Facebook has force-fed tens of thousands of unaware users mood-altering drugs. Clearly, if you look at it that way, the ethical problems become a little more obvious.
But let's be reasonable about this: if Facebook is engaging in a form of unsolicited mind control, then so is every other form of media, whether it be TV, billboards or websites. At what point do we say some types of manipulation are just too ethically questionable? And is it really the responsibility of companies to make sure they're not making us too unhappy? _________________ All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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What'sinaname
Joined: 29 May 2010 Location: Living rent free
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Might be a dumb question, but what's a facebook? _________________ Fighting against the objectification of woman. |
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Tannin
Can't remember
Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Location: Huon Valley Tasmania
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"Facebook mind control".
Eh?
Whoever heard of anybody on Facebook having a mind? _________________ �Let's eat Grandma.� Commas save lives! |
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Nick - Pie Man
Joined: 04 Aug 2010
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I've always believed that it's the responsibility of the individual to control the media that they are exposed to - be it radio, TV, facebook, or whatever. Because these things can affect my mood, it's up to me to make sure I don't expose myself to things that aren't constructive.
In other words, it's exactly what I don't do when deciding what I'm going to eat for lunch.
Now, not everybody is aware of the subtle influence that things like the TV and facebook can have on their mental state. If you want proof, look at the douchebag that they voted for in 2013. |
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Wokko
Come and take it.
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
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Interestingly the people who have been saying that the elites are trying to control the minds and thoughts of the masses have always been dismissed as crazy, conspiracy wingnuts. Now there's proof of it and people just shrug and go about their business. We have been collectively dumbed down and made totally apathetic to anything other than trivial shit.
I think this just shows that propaganda still works just fine in a modern, connected setting and if or when those who rule over us decide they need to use it to manipulate public opinion or feeling then it's going to work just fine. Do you think the Zuckerbergs will turn down a few billion to keep the mood of the facebook population raised during some internal crisis? It's a scary development that will be dismissed out of hand. |
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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Location: Andromeda
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Nick - Pie Man wrote: | I've always believed that it's the responsibility of the individual to control the media that they are exposed to - be it radio, TV, facebook, or whatever. Because these things can affect my mood, it's up to me to make sure I don't expose myself to things that aren't constructive.
In other words, it's exactly what I don't do when deciding what I'm going to eat for lunch.
Now, not everybody is aware of the subtle influence that things like the TV and facebook can have on their mental state. If you want proof, look at the douchebag that they voted for in 2013. |
I just wonder how much control we really have over these things. Do we choose what the billboards on the freeway show? Do we decide how the articles in our favourite newspaper are presented and what impact that has on us?
We can and do choose certain media outlets and networks over others, often based on the way they make us feel. But that's about where our power ends. We can only ever be reactive. _________________ All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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John Wren
"Look after the game. It means so much to so many."
Joined: 15 Jul 2007
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i often think that society has dumbed down. newspapers are written for the cognitive ability or comprehension of a 12 year old. i also wonder whether the proliferation and oversaturation of rubbish in the media has made me more apathetic towards things and by virtue of that i miss out on what is really going on because i couldn't be £$%$ed reading about it. _________________ Purveyor of sanctimonious twaddle. |
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1061
Joined: 06 Sep 2013
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Yeah the internet is anti social!
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think positive
Side By Side
Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Location: somewhere
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1061 wrote: | Yeah the internet is anti social!
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Haha now that's funny _________________ You cant fix stupid, turns out you cant quarantine it either! |
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stui magpie
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Joined: 03 May 2005 Location: In flagrante delicto
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1061 wrote: | Yeah the internet is anti social!
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Hop a train to the city now at peak hour.
Almost no one has a news paper, everyone is focused on a phone/tablet/laptop instead.
Absolutely same principle, no one is communicating with other travellers. _________________ Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down. |
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think positive
Side By Side
Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Location: somewhere
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And she scores! _________________ You cant fix stupid, turns out you cant quarantine it either! |
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