If you still have to be on Facebook for whatever reason...

Facebook is not going to change its news delivery and algorithms. It is more pragmatic to tell your friends and relatives to not get political news from there than to hope Facebook will change. Tell them how targeted digital propaganda works; encourage them to get news elsewhere.

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 13, 2019

Eyes Wide Open

It’s been over a month that I have paused publishing content on Facebook. Primarily because of having lost faith in the leadership of the company as explained here.

The problem is still this:

In the case of Facebook, they offer a “free” platform, but in exchange for “free”, tracks your every move on the internet, whether that be the sites you visit, comments you make, photos you publish, places you visit etc. and then creates a digital profile of you which is then is sold to anyone willing to pay to micro target you with advertising or political messaging.

In a recent interview Tristan Harris explained it this way when answering the question as to whether Facebook or Google listen to your conversations via the phone microphone:

“Inside of a Google server or a Facebook server is a little voodoo doll, avatar-like version of you, like a model of you. And I don’t have to listen to your conversations because I’ve accumulated all the clicks – the nail filings and hair clippings are all the clicks and likes you’ve ever made – and it makes this voodoo doll act more like you. So, all I have to do is simulate what conversations the voodoo doll is having, and I know the conversation you just had without having to listen to the microphone.”

You can watch the fascinating and important conversation this quote was taken from here:

When the Cambridge Analytica (CA) scandal broke (which Facebook is still embroiled in) we discovered that using Facebook data, CA had access to some 5,000 data points from your “voodoo doll avatar.” That is a massive amount of personal data that they have sucked up! 

In fact when you download your data off of Facebook you are met with this piece of screen:

The above helps you understand just how much data they have on you.

The second issue with Facebook, as things stand at the moment, is that they refuse to ban political entities from using your “voodoo doll avatar” to micro target you with political messaging, and worse still, they are also not concerned about the accuracy of this political messaging leading to the real possibility of the spread of false information. (See Facebook exempts political ads from ban on making false claims)

Also see this piece in the Washington Post Tech firms under fire on political ads are trying every response but the right one

This situation led to this observation from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

"Tell your parents not to get their opinions on Facebook," says @AOC pic.twitter.com/t179ukb4r6

— Bloomberg TicToc (@TicToc) November 24, 2019

So with eyes wide open I am returning to publishing content here with the understanding that by doing so I am helping fill out my “voodoo doll avatar” and that I at the same time have to be really careful about the veracity of the information being shared on Facebook. I am also returning with the knowledge that enough eyes are now focused on Facebook to ensure that their bad acting will be surfaced and challenged.

I now walk the Facebook streets like I would a dangerous neighborhood, paying attention to everything around me. Eyes wide open.

Over the last week or so my thinking has been heavily influenced by Sir Tim Burners Lee as outlined in his Richard Dimbleby Lecture a few days ago. I highly recommend the time it will take to listen to this lecture and the reason Sir Tim gives for there being a need to be a course correct.

This lecture preceded the release of the Contract for the web which outlines 9 Principles, 3 each for Governments, Companies and Citizens. This will be guiding my actions on the web going forward.

(Interestingly both Google and Facebook have endorsed the contract. Whether they live up to their endorsement remains to be seen.)

Going forward I am extremely excited by the developments around projects like Solid and WT:Social which is really pointing the way to an alternative to the Google/Facebook world we are often forced to participate in.
This past month has helped me remove Facebook as a critical part of my online presence, both personal and for my business, making it easier to simply use the platform as a name placeholder or delete my accounts altogether if that becomes necessary.

As always you can also find me active on Twitter and LinkedIn.

More on why I hit the pause button on Facebook

A bit more key evidence from third IGC.@carolecadwalla calls out Mark Zuckerberg's failure to answer questions including as recently as weeks ago asked by @AOC.
"The entire story Facebook has told about Cambridge Analytica including who knew what, when is crumbling." pic.twitter.com/uPuxALeZ9m

— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) November 8, 2019

This issues raised on this thread over on Twitter is the reason I have hit the pause button on Facebook and am considering the implications and strategy of leaving the platform altogether.

I am REALLY glad I hit the pause button with respect to Facebook

“The real problem is that Facebook profits partly by amplifying lies and selling dangerous targeting tools that allow political operatives to engage in a new level of information warfare. Its business model exploits our data to let advertisers custom-target people, show us each a different version of the truth and manipulate us with hyper-customized ads — ads that, as of two weeks ago, can contain blatantly false and debunked information if they’re run by a political campaign. As long as Facebook prioritizes profit over healthy discourse, they can’t avoid damaging democracies.”— Yaël Eisenstat ex Facebook Head of Global Elections Integrity Ops

This quote from the piece in the Washington Post entitled I worked on political ads at Facebook. They profit by manipulating us. 

There is discontent at Facebook — with good reason

Anyone who has been following the tech news will know that Facebook’s leadership stance on various subjects is not sitting well with many of the employees at the company. Rightly so.

For example check out this piece from the NYT from this past week Dissent Erupts at Facebook Over Hands-Off Stance on Political Ads

As a result there are folk at Facebook who want out.

Case in point check out this thread:

there are people ready to leave facebook right this second, but don’t know where to go.

reply here if you’re hiring.

— EricaJoy (@EricaJoy) November 2, 2019

Is Facebook censoring criticism of itself in the News Feed?

This morning over on Facebook I published this status update. There were no links associated with the update, I only added these when saving the content to my blog here.

Within minutes I received this notification:

And when clicking on the continue button this explanation:

I did not tag anyone, or send this as a message to anyone or add any links. It was just a text update. So why was it flagged as “Spam” - none of the points raised in the update are not already freely available in mainstream media.

My only conclusion is that Facebook is censoring criticism of itself. I think they have helped me make up my mind about whether I should continue my participation on the platform. 

I have lost my faith in the integrity of Facebook’s Leadership

Scandals keep swirling around Facebook. They just don’t seem to end. Just head over to Google and search “Facebook scandals” to get an idea of these. 
This past week I watched Mark Zuckerberg be less than forthcoming about their involvement in and knowledge of Cambridge Analytica. I think we will discover in time if he lied under oath or not and to be honest its not looking good. To make matters worse, it has just been reported that they ok’ed the previous owners of Cambridge Analytica as a trusted news source on their platform.

Something is wrong here and it is not sitting well with me.
The more investigative journalists dig into the company the worse it seems to get. It would seem that their leadership is unable or unwilling to course correct, all in pursuit of the mighty ad dollar or worse.
At first my opinion on this was similar to why I keep driving a car. Cars are dangerous and literally kill millions of people every year. Yet I still drive because at the moment the benefits outweigh the risks for me, also, quite frankly how else would I get around? I have kept using Facebook using similar reasoning — the benefits outweigh the risks I told myself.
But I am not so sure that reasoning works for me anymore. While I may at this point pretty much be forced to use a car, I certainly am not forced to use Facebook. There are alternatives.
Facebook and it’s business model, it’s shocking irresponsibility with user data, its inability or unwillingness to stop the spread of misinformation, is causing REAL harm. Worse is its apparent unwillingness to accept responsibility and make the sweeping changes necessary to stop the harm. It’s beginning to tear at the very fabric of society.
How different is this from Shell or BP, who have know for decades about the harm their products are causing to the environment and people, but have continued polluting and expanding anyway? How different is this to the meat industry which despite knowing about the horrendous treatment of animals continues anyway?
As a single individual, there is little I can do to get these companies to change course. However, it IS my choice as to whether I will support them and whether I want to be associated with them. If I won’t work for an oil company, or a meat company, or a cigarette company, why would I continue to be a willing participant in Facebook, feeding their algorithms and business model, while at the same time having serious misgivings and serious legitimate questions about their ethics and the real world harm they are causing and their trying to cover it all up?
As a result of all this I am going to take some time to get clarity on these issues and also to see if anything is going to reverse the trajectory they are on. Until then I am pausing my participation on their platform.
If you want to stay connected with me I an active elsewhere on the social web eg on LinkedIn & Twitter. Almost everything I publish is also available on my blogs at FutureWork IQ and here. Remember to subscribe to these if you use an RSS reader like Feedly.

Managing your privacy (and reputation) using Facebook Lists

For lots of people their Facebook (and other online spaces) are a disaster waiting to happen! 

"Your personal life is now public: According to a study by my company and identified.com, the average Gen Y employee is connected to sixteen coworkers on Facebook. What that means is that when you leave work, you're still connected through the relationships with your coworkers online. As a result even things you do in your own time can effect your career-in a big way. The fifteen seconds it takes to tweet about how much you hate your boss or to post a pic of you passed out with a drink in your hand could ruin your career forever. Even the smallest things-how you behave, dress, your online presence, body language, and whom you associate with can help build your brand or tear it to the ground" - Dan Schwabel author of Brand Yourself - The New Rules for Career Success

Here’s a fact many might not have considered before: misusing social media can make you unemployable or get you fired! "It’s all too easy to jump onto the social media bandwagon without thinking about how you are perceived on the internet, and such thoughtlessness can screw up any chance of future [or current] job prospects." (See: Social Media And Employability: 7 Golden Rules For Not Screwing Up Your Future Job Prospects)

Ok, so now you understand how careful you need to be about what you post online how would you manage your reputation and privacy on Facebook?

I have always encouraged people to use Facebook Lists to do so. Think of it this way. There are conversations that you have with close friends, or family which would be completely inappropriate in public or worse still in a work setting. This is where lists come into play. Facebook has actually made this really easy by creating 3 lists for you already.

1) Close Friends
2) Acquaintances
3) Restricted

So what to do next? Navigate to your Friends List and put every single person you are connected to into one of these 3 lists. Once that is done you need to make it your habit when posting anything on Facebook to ask "Who is this for and who is this not for? Then select your audience option before you hit the "Post" button. (From more on Lists)

Important Note: when you use the "Public" audience option it means that the post you are about to make is going to be just that Public - meaning anyone on the internet, people you are not friends with, will be able to find the update or see it when visiting your profile.

Once you have put everyone you are friends with in one of the three lists you may also want to do the following:

Make sure that all posts that were previously shared with friends of friends or public are changed to friends only.

To find this setting, navigate to your Privacy Settings. Under the first option "Who can see my stuff?" is the option "Limit the audience for posts you've shared with friends of friends or public?" Click "Limit Past Posts" to enable this option.

Now when making any future updates, you can decide whether this particular update is meant for the world at large (Public) or just a small group of friends or even just for the family.

  

Shout if you have any questions about this, or if you have observations of your own.

More details on the Facebook Subscribe feature

So yesterday Facebook launched the Subscribe Feature it's a huge move on Facebook's part and in my view adds a much needed dimension to the network.


Last night on a public post initiated by Liz Gannes Jane Leibrock who worked on the product provided this piece of valuable info - explaining how the Subscribe Feature works.

Hope this sheds more light on how this is intended to be used. 


Interesting at the moment (09:14am CAT) the "subscribed" and "subscribers" tabs have disappeared off my profile. Possibly they are fixing some bugs? Will update here when the tabs re-appear. 


[Update:] As of today (Sept 19th 09:39am) the subscribe feature has still not been reactivated on my profile.


Here is some more details on how the Subscribe feature works. Notice especially comments about how it when works when you don't ignore or reject a friend request and also when you unfriend someone.