You log on to Facebook or any social network and you’ll find a stream of posts, all vying for your attention.
Many of us are seeing content and information that is specifically curated based on our interactions, engagement, our friends, and even how long it takes us to scroll past a post.
Over the years, there have been a lot of discussions on whether or not social networking platforms are biased against certain groups. Studies have indicated that this is not the case and it does not make sense based on how social media algorithms are designed.
Algorithms on social networks like Facebook deliver content that you are most likely going to engage with. It does not matter if it is a promoted post, advertisement, or regular post. Once Facebook gets an understanding of who you are, your interests, likes/dislikes, it can then start filling your feed with various content. The more you share, engage, and spend time on the site, the more Facebook can learn and tailor content specifically to you.
Facebook is a business
Facebook cannot make money if its targeted advertisements do not generate results. Hence, the outcry from Facebook when Apple announced it is requiring apps to get permission to track our activity across the internet and apps. It uses this information to deliver targeted advertisements to you through your Facebook feed.
This is maybe a huge blow to Facebook’s advertising revenue if large numbers of people opt out. Have you noticed when you search for something or visit a website, your Facebook feed suddenly begins showing you content based on that search? That’s Facebook tracking you across websites and apps.
You can manage how advertisers can reach you in your feed by going through the Advertisement Settings on Facebook.
Our feeds are personal echo chambers
When we look at our feeds it is a reflection of us — our politics, likes/dislikes, and beliefs. This creates a personal echo chamber in that we must make conscious efforts to find alternative information and points of view.
To illustrate how different our feeds are from one another, The Markup built a Facebook Feed viewer to give an idea of what Facebook’s algorithm is displaying to different groups of people. These groups include women vs. men, Biden voters vs. Trump voters, and Millennials vs. Boomers.
The Markup says the observations “should not be taken as proof of Facebook’s choosing to target specific content at specific demographic groups.” There are a number of factors that go into determining what posts will show up in our feeds and not all of those factors were accounted for in the project.
See how different our Facebook feeds are based on different demographic backgrounds and voting preferences.
“Social media platforms are the broadcasting networks of the 21st century,” said The Markup’s editor-in-chief, Julia Angwin. “They dictate what news the public consumes with black box algorithms designed to maximize profits at the expense of truth and transparency.”
For the project, Markup performed daily captures of Facebook Fata from more than 2,500 paid participants between December 1, 2020, and March 2, 2021.
The Markup says Facebook declined to comment on the results of its project.
Joe Gullo