How Facebook and Google fund global misinformation(technologyreview.com)

2 pointsby RageoftheRobots5 lat temu3 comments

How Facebook and Google fund global misinformation

https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/11/20/1039076/facebook-google-disinformation-clickbait/

3 comments

This is a fundamental problem with any system that metaphorically eats its own tail. The problem is that the model facebook/meta and google use as businesses is at odds with elevating truthful information above clickbait and ragebait. Engagement metrics on facebook/meta (and most other social networks) consistently elevate inflammatory and conspiratorial content because that keeps people on the site longer and gives them more opportunities to show them ads.

The problem with google is slightly more complicated but again comes down to how they eat their own tail. SEO sites that show ads rise to the top of the heap because they game the ranking algorithms whereas sites operating by some other funding model are not incentivized to improve their ranking. So over time what happens is that SEO garbage dominates the front page because it is sponsored by ad revenue. There is an art project that very cleverly demonstrates this dilemma called "google will eat itself". [1]

The obvious solution to these problems are decentralization and interoperability protocols but it's hard to get enough people to use any decentralized solution over what exists currently because network effects trump almost all other concerns for most people. [2]

1: http://www.guerrilla-innovation.com/archives/2005/05/000431....

2: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/06/access-act-takes-step-...

finite_jest5 lat temu

Dupe of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29295580 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29294848.

firebaze5 lat temu

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29290405

https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=RageoftheRobots