Where is Social Media Bringing Us as a Society? Answer: Dividing Us More than Ever.

This is not a political statement, but rather a comment on the implications of social media as it becomes more deeply embedded in our lives. It was sparked by this post:Viral Fake Election News Outperformed Real News On Facebook In Final Months Of The US Election on Buzzfeed.com. Please click through to see more detail about the research and FAKE news that made it to the top of Facebook's algorithm.

Dear Facebook, the changes to your algorithm have quite literally become detrimental to society, due to the reliance on engagement/opinions of others and prioritization of paid ads. If you're going to flaunt your platform as a “news curation” service on which people can view quality, trusted content, then you have a moral, if not what should be a legal obligation to remain neutral. Because of that, anything that allows Newsfeeds to be manipulated is completely irresponsible. 

This is an inherent conflict of interest. You cannot provide fair balanced news while simultaneously prioritizing ad spends by the highest bidders and building a system that shows content based on the simple, mindless click of a ‘Like’ button or comment behind the safety veil of the Internet. 

Your algorithm further reinforces potentially volatile content because it only shows people types of content they WANT to engage with. The opposite of what your platform claims to be, you actually silo people into their worlds by reinforcing their beliefs with content that fits their views - all so you can have your ad targeting data. 

Your true intentions are further proven with native ads disguised as organic posts. This also reveals how easily people can be influenced in ways they don't even notice. 

I have NO doubt that your algorithm altered people's views and therefore votes. Changing this after the fact doesn't bring any solace.

Selfish people and companies manipulating users into thinking they are here for them and neutral in nature - in this case to build community and connections via trust - is akin to any illegal activity that misleads consumers. Prime directives that government agencies like the FTC and FCC must regulate. 

You rave about your influence in marketing, the number of users, but ignore your influence on the world. The powerful effects of social media can't be understated and the irresponsible handling of things like this must be kept in check.

Viral Fake Election News Outperformed Real News On Facebook In Final Months Of The US Election on Buzzfeed.com. Please click through to see more detail about the research and FAKE news that made it to the top of Facebook's algorithm.