Facebook Frolics 0
Sunday’s New York Times had another article about Facebook and its effects on the discourse. The article focused on ethnic and religious divisions in Sri Lanka and a series of hate crimes and lycnhings.
As the briefest thumbnail, the authors examine how Facebook’s algorithm, designed to promote engagement with Facebook and consequently more on-line time for users, has a side effect of promoting hate speech; the authors theorize that this is because posts that incite strong negative emotions tend to be the posts that generate the most views. )To put it another way, hate sells.) They also discuss the obstacles Sri Lankan authorities encountered in trying to get Facebook’s attention to the issue.
The article is quite long, but I think it is worth your while. An excerpt:
