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Today's Topics:
1. Is Facebook biased on its newsfeed? (Ali Hussein)
2. Re: Is Facebook biased on its newsfeed? (Ahmed Mohamed Maawy)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 12 May 2016 16:52:08 +0300
From: Ali Hussein <ali@hussein.me.ke>
To: kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
Subject: [kictanet] Is Facebook biased on its newsfeed?
Message-ID: <94EF7EBE-92E4-43E7-BE18-3865ABC08F9C@hussein.me.ke>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Listers
This mail is coped from the Fortune.com Data Sheet.
The ?Trending? topics section of Facebook seems such a trivial thing, and in many ways it is. It looks and feels like an afterthought?ironically, it started as an attempt to copy Twitter?and many users probably don?t even notice it?s there. But now, it has triggered a national discussion around bias and the power of social platforms.
In case you missed the brouhaha, it started with a report from Gizmodo that profileda team of anonymous journalists working at Facebook who curate the news that shows up in the Trending section. A subsequent report quoted one of the journalists as saying the team routinely removed certain right-wing political sites from the section, even when the social network?s data showed they were trending.
The revelation seemed harmless enough, at first: Journalists hired to edit things were actually editing them! But the comment soon snowballed into a debate over Facebook?s role in news consumption, and whether its sheer size and influence brings with it some level of responsibility.
Facebook responded to the story by saying that its policy is to remain as neutral as possible editorially, and that it will look into reports of misbehavior. Then it issued a second, even more heartfelt response, after the Senate Commerce Committee sent a letter asking the company to answer some questions around political influence and the Trending section.
The real issue, of course, isn?t the tiny section of the Facebook home page that follows trending topics. It?s the fact that the kind of editorial selection those journalists engaged in is happening every minute of every day on the main news feed, courtesy of the Facebook ranking algorithm. And that algorithm, since it is programmed by human beings, inevitably contains biases of all kinds.
The bottom line is that Facebook is more than just a social network where people exchange photos of their pets?it is the largest and most influential media entity the world has ever seen. The sooner Facebook acknowledges that, and becomes part of the discussion around how it can manage its social responsibilities, the better off we will all be.
Ali Hussein
Principal
Hussein & Associates
+254 0713 601113 / 0770906375
Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought". ~ Albert Szent-Gy?rgyi
Sent from my iPad
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 12 May 2016 17:20:30 +0300
From: Ahmed Mohamed Maawy <ultimateprogramer@gmail.com>
To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Is Facebook biased on its newsfeed?
Message-ID:
<CAPZHszN5Wt3M2g0OzRrc0+AEAOaVNYy1T9PNnD0aom2rAm-4yA@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
There are a number of elements at play here:
1. Obviously to a great degree this algorithm has massively helped
Facebook. Not that I am totally on their side, what I mean to say is that
lets give credit where its due. Without this algorithm we would have seen
massive fallout and loss of klout. This is something Twitter did not figure
out so well. LinkedIn is still the place professionals like to hang out,
but its not the place professionals like to stay. Just stating how it came
to be that Facebook is air and air is life (so to speak).
2. If truly there is a bias to all this (which I am yes, yet to
comprehend how this bias is visible) it can mean 2 things:
1. Either content producers are not building influence better than
those who rank at the top. Or
2. If not, there is a genuine market opportunity in this gap.
But algorithms are algorithms, and my experience developing algorithms
tells me computer algorithms can not easily be twisted to lie, especially
in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
But these are all books on their own anyway.
Just my 2 cents.
On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 4:52 PM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Listers
This mail is coped from the Fortune.com <http://fortune.com> Data Sheet.
The ?Trending? topics section of Facebook seems such a trivial thing, and
in many ways it is. It looks and feels like an afterthought?ironically, it
started as an attempt to copy Twitter
<http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL3RlY2hjcnVuY2guY29tLzIwMTQvMDEvMTYvZmFjZWJvb2stdHJlbmRpbmcv/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aBf20eece1>?and
many users probably don?t even notice it?s there. But now, it has triggered
a national discussion around bias and the power of social platforms.
In case you missed the brouhaha, it started with a report from Gizmodo that
profiled
<http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL2dpem1vZG8uY29tL3dhbnQtdG8ta25vdy13aGF0LWZhY2Vib29rLXJlYWxseS10aGlua3Mtb2Ytam91cm5hbGlzdHMtMTc3MzkxNjExNw/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aB4ee70a20>a
team of anonymous journalists working at Facebook who curate the news that
shows up in the Trending section. A subsequent report quoted one of the
journalists as saying the team routinely removed certain
<http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL2dpem1vZG8uY29tL2Zvcm1lci1mYWNlYm9vay13b3JrZXJzLXdlLXJvdXRpbmVseS1zdXBwcmVzc2VkLWNvbnNlci0xNzc1NDYxMDA2/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aBf141c2b3> right-wing
political sites from the section, even when the social network?s data
showed they were trending.
The revelation seemed harmless enough, at first: Journalists hired to edit
things were actually editing them! But the comment soon snowballed into a
debate over Facebook?s role in news consumption, and whether its sheer size
and influence brings with it some level of responsibility.
Facebook responded to the story
<http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZmFjZWJvb2suY29tL3RzdG9ja3kvcG9zdHMvMTAxMDA4NTMwODIzMzc5NTg/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aBf49ae890> by
saying that its policy is to remain as neutral as possible editorially, and
that it will look into reports of misbehavior. Then it issued a second,
even more heartfelt response, after the Senate Commerce Committee sent a
letter
<http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL2dpem1vZG8uY29tL3NlbmF0ZS1nb3AtbGF1bmNoZXMtaW5xdWlyeS1pbnRvLWZhY2Vib29rLXMtbmV3cy1jdXJhdGktMTc3NTc2NzAxOA/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aB1d911177> asking
the company to answer some questions around political influence and the
Trending section.
The real issue, of course, isn?t the tiny section of the Facebook home
page that follows trending topics. It?s the fact that the kind of editorial
selection those journalists engaged in is happening every minute of every
day on the main news feed, courtesy of the Facebook ranking algorithm. And
that algorithm, since it is programmed by human beings, inevitably contains
biases of all kinds.
The bottom line is that Facebook is more than just a social network where
people exchange photos of their pets?it is the largest and most
influential
<http://link.fortune.com/click/6706588.20757/aHR0cDovL3d3dy52b3guY29tLzIwMTYvNS8xMC8xMTY0MDE0MC9mYWNlYm9vay1tZWRpYS1pbmZsdWVuY2U/55ba80258cc2b2e72d8b457aBca65e309> media
entity the world has ever seen. The sooner Facebook acknowledges that, and
becomes part of the discussion around how it can manage its social
responsibilities, the better off we will all be.
*Ali Hussein*
*Principal*
*Hussein & Associates*
+254 0713 601113 / 0770906375
Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking
what no one else has thought". ~ Albert Szent-Gy?rgyi
Sent from my iPad
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