One more thing about Facebook's Reach Report yesterday. It really drove home the point that the posts with the most reach aren't political or news but stupid memes, animal videos, recipes, etc. about.fb.com/news/2021/08/w…
The limited data actually shows how this content is weaponized to spread misinfo (and evade FB's enforcement). Among the top 10 links on Facebook is a subscription link to the Epoch Times — the wildly successful right-wing (cultish) misinformation outlet. nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news…
How did the Epoch Times—an outlet barred from Facebook advertising for repeatedly violating its policies—get its subscription link to all those people? A search in CrowdTangle shows us that it's through viral posts about "cute toddlers," dogs, and homeless people getting cash.
The top post with that link was liked, shared, and commented on 3.5 million times. It wasn't about far-right news or covid misinformation, but puppies being freed from some rubble. Crying emoji.
I can't tell how many times the post was *seen* because Facebook doesn't share that data in CrowdTangle and only offers the top 20 posts in a grading-their-own-homework report. I asked for more data, but was told, "No." From a Facebook spokesperson:
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