“Researchers show Facebook’s ad tools can target a single user”
A new research paper written by a team of academics and computer scientists from Spain and Austria has demonstrated that it’s possible to use Facebook’s targeting tools to deliver an…
Should “The algorithm” be regulated by the government?
Some think the government should regulate “The algorithm”: Whistleblower Frances Haugen says the software that decides what we see in our social feeds is hurting us all. But reforming it…
Oops: All your Twitch belongs to us
An anonymous hacker claims to have leaked the entirety of Twitch, including its source code and user payout information. The user posted a 125GB torrent link to 4chan on Wednesday,…
Facebook’s algorithms promote posts featuring “outrage” and “sensationalism”, leading to more outrage and divisiveness
Facebook curates your “news feed”. FB promotes posts that have likes, comments or shares, or which are from people you have previously interacted with. The posts from friends with whom…
“Credentialism” is an old argumentative form
Credentialism is a form of the Appeal to Authority argumentative form. This is considered one of the worst forms of argument – but it is used because it is effective.…
YouTube’s AI-based video recommendations skew, obviously, to what results in more views
The goal of Youtube, obviously, is to increase the percent of time you spend watching Youtube, and their ads every few minutes: New research published today by Mozilla backs that…
Instagram no longer intended for photo sharing
Facebook’s head of Instagram said the service plans to start showing users full-screen, recommended videos in their feeds. “We’re no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app,” Head…
I got vaccinated! Backlash forms against posting your vaccination status online
I actually was vaccinated this week! Seriously. For MMR. Yep, measles, mumps and rubella – even though I’m over 60, the system slipped me through the cracks for decades. More…
Instagram’s new Data Policy – And why I deleted the Instagram app yesterday – Social Panic
I deleted my last FB/IG app from a device yesterday. I still had IG running on one Android tablet but I no longer view use of FB/IG apps as safe.…
Facebook Ad targeting said to be fraudulent
True: …Facebook has been selling them ad targeting that is unreliable to the point of being fraudulent. The documents feature internal Facebook communications in which managers appear to admit to…