
Facebook cannot act in your best interest - ckuhl
https://ckuhl.com/blog/your-best-interest/
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jrauser
The article says that to make more money, FB must "acquire more users and show
more advertisements to existing users". There is a third option, which is to
show higher efficiency (higher CTR) advertising to existing customers.

This, of course, does not invalidate the main thrust of the article's
argument, as the way to increase advertising efficiency is to accumulate and
exploit ever more data about its users. Recent events suggest that this is not
in users best interest, as FB has proven an untrustworthy custodian of user
data.

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pib0ss
I don't think federated social networks (GNU social, diaspora ... etc) will
solve this problem. In their case they are not in your best interest due to
the time that will be wasted. I think "social" interaction should be left in
real life where it can influence people in a positive fashion. IMO the
Internet is really only good for disseminating information and for certain
utilities it provides.

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ckuhl
I would disagree that federated social networks would face the same pressure
to increase time spent on their sites. By the nature of federation, a sort of
marketplace of social sites would allow people to move to whatever serves them
best (for whatever their definition of best is). So if a member of the
fediverse starts feeding someone unenjoyable content, they could leave.

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arbie
It is particularly rich to see a "human-computer interaction" tag on a post
where the body uses nearly-invisible thin grey font on a white background.

~~~
jabot
Firefox reader mode. I activated it after 15 seconds...

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adrr
It runs under the wrong assumption when it comes to digital advertising.
Advertisers care about engagement. Its not about adding more ads or increasing
view time, its about delivering ads that are more relevant to the user so
advertisers pay more.

~~~
hossbeast
And to deliver greater engagement, Facebook must collect and sell more
personal data

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hgdsraj
I usually see people comment on the font and scoff as it's generally not
aweful, but that font color just looks terrible and unreadable on my screen.
Is it a really light grey for everyone or just me?

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ryan-allen
I have 'tuned' my Facebook feed with the 'unfollow' option, by employing the
following narcissistic rule: if it makes me angry, upset, or any other
negative emotion, for any reason at all, that person or thing gets an unfollow
from me.

My feed is now composed of synthesizer groups, funny dogs and funny birds. I
get a lot of positive things from my feed, and a lot of relevant advertising
for things I'm interested in.

It doesn't matter if it's your sister, your best friend, or your mum, just
unfollow. They don't know about it (unless they ask if you 'saw their post'),
and you can improve your experience.

~~~
SlowRobotAhead
Serious question... do you understand the issues with “the bubble”?

Because you are proudly explaining you’ve made one.

~~~
swyx
if you are going to live in a bubble anyway, you might as well have one that
doesnt upset you all the time?

~~~
SlowRobotAhead
Fair point. But considering the overall damage it does to block off well put
together condiractory opinion, I see it as: _if I’m going to choose to step on
a nail it’s going to be a small one._

But, if you’re cutting out reddit-quality “discussion”, well, I get that.

~~~
ryan-allen
Yep, I aim to get my news from places other than social networks. As they say
in Australia, I couldn't give a rat's arse what other people think about
current events, I'll take my news from various reputable sources, not the
'wisdom of the masses'.

