Another post from facebook, July 2016, that I reprint here.
The article that prompted this form The Guardian “Few News Providers Will Now Be Liking Facebook” opinion piece, 3 July 2016. It describes Facebook (and twitter) as an echo chamber where we really only hear our own opinions back and anyone who has a different one is ridiculed or told they are ignorant. The author claims to be open-minded and an investigative journalist but finds, to her slight embarrassment it seems, her feeds to be echoes. My comment:
DSC: How Facebook could save democracy (the article says that it won’t). Facebook (and twitter) are described in the article as an echo chamber where we really only hear our own opinions back and anyone who has a different one is usually ridiculed or told they are ignorant. This increases isolation, extremism, and destroys democracy. It could be very different. Facebook could expand our circle of ideas. Online dating does it, why not Facebook? As many of you know, online dating takes a bunch of things you put on a “questionnaire” and compares them to others who have done the same and returns a list of “matches”. Some sites are better than others at this. One site I know of does this but also gives a few returns that they admit are not quite matches but could be interesting. The theory being we do not actually know exactly what we “want” so maybe a little stretch will be a good thing. It helps one clarify what is wanted and can also surprise us into modifying those wants slightly for our benefit.
What if Facebook took your interests and gave you more of the same but also occasionally gave you slightly different articles and ads. Not too far off your standard feed. They would not have to be in any political or topical direction (bias for those who like the word). You may click on one; you may get a slightly different point of view; you may see an interesting comment that helps you clarify your own ideas or modify them. Only occasionally done, it would have to be similar to your interests, it could be very expanding over time. Showing that the world is not “us and them” but that there are variations on ideas that are close to yours but not quite the same would be quite easy. Expanding ideas, where now we contract and narrow, it could save democracy!
Yes, I know—Facebook is not in the business of expanding ideas and certainly could not care less about democracy while it praises itself for expanding social enlightenment by “bringing people together” and takes credit for the “Arab spring” and other “movements”. Hitler said you have to tell people the big lie over and over and they will believe it, which we do, hence the success of the computer industry, social media, and Donald Trump. Facebook exists to sell advertising but it could be an actual savior of democracy.
Hark 