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In 2013 I argued that Facebook, unlike previous social networks, had enough market penetration that it could never be outcompeted by another product simply by being better. The network effects are just too strong. Sadly, that's exactly how it's played out. randomwalker.info/publications/u…
In a previous 2012 paper, we analyzed dozens of decentralized social networks and concluded that:
1. they face fundamental barriers to adoption
2. contrary to the usual assumption, even if adopted widely, they wouldn't necessarily improve privacy.
randomwalker.info/publications/c…
Here's an excellent essay that helped me think about how people choose among social networks: "White Flight in Networked Publics?" by @zephoria. A purely economic analysis of social media platforms misses important dimensions of race and class. danah.org/papers/2009/Wh…
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Arvind Narayanan
@random_walker
Four out of eight chapters of our book on fairness and machine learning are now available—halfway there! The newly released chapter is on testing systems for discrimination.. fairmlbook.org/testing.html

A few thoughts in this thread on why you might find this interesting and useful.
Algorithmic auditing has exploded in the last 5 years (there are about 50 studies in our references). This young community has a lot to learn from the classic audit studies that date back to the 70s. The entire first half of the chapter is on traditional tests for discrimination.
The algorithmic bias conversation needs to move beyond simple measures of disparity. We help the reader connect these measurements to moral notions of fairness, understand the harms that can result, and identify the sources and mechanisms that produce disparities.
Read 5 tweets
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Arvind Narayanan
@random_walker
Today I want to take a break from sharing research to share a personal story instead. It’s a story about my name, why I once decided to quit academia, why I came back, what I learnt from it, and why I’m grateful to have an audience here on Twitter.
Near the end of my PhD, I had three main publications. I ran into someone at a conference whom I knew from previous events. He asked me about my work, and I briefly mentioned my papers. His reaction was something I didn’t expect…
He’d seen and liked my papers, but the name hadn’t registered. He didn’t realize the 3 papers had the same first author and that it was someone he knew. He was embarrassed and apologetic. If he’d known, he said, he’d have advocated for me at his school for a faculty position(!)
Read 14 tweets
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Arvind Narayanan
@random_walker
Much of what’s being sold as "AI" today is snake oil. It does not and cannot work. In a talk at MIT yesterday, I described why this happening, how we can recognize flawed AI claims, and push back. Here are my annotated slides: cs.princeton.edu/~arvindn/talks…
Key point #1: AI is an umbrella term for a set of loosely related technologies. *Some* of those technologies have made genuine, remarkable, and widely-publicized progress recently. But companies exploit public confusion by slapping the “AI” label on whatever they’re selling.
Key point #2: Many dubious applications of AI involve predicting social outcomes: who will succeed at a job, which kids will drop out, etc. We can’t predict the future — that should be common sense. But we seem to have decided to suspend common sense when “AI” is involved.
Read 6 tweets

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HASH CIB
@HASHCIB
1/Last week's №1news was not the >10kBTC breakout or #Facebook's #Libra announcement, but release of the #FATF(Financial Action Task Force) Guidance on Virtual Assets(VAs) and Virtual Asset Service Providers(VASPs, anyone professionally dealing with crypto, inc. natural persons)
2/Libra and FATF news represent the "old", centralised world's most powerful-yet attempts at fencing the global crypto phenomenon. One year US Presidency in FATF ending Jun30, effectively helped extend the recent FinCen crypto guidance (bit.ly/2LeQTus) globally
3/And market clearly isn't yet pricing in any of the potential outcomes entailed in this development.We suggest monitoring it in the context of state-by-state implementations, which will end up harmonised - i.e. similar. Here's what we wrote to our Research subscribers in March
Read 19 tweets
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Abeba Birhane
@Abebab
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power - Shoshana #Zuboff

#amreading

Get ready to get super angry at the tech giants
The Definition: Surveillance Capitalism, n. #Zuboff
The oldest questions have come roaring back with a vengeance. The digital realm is overtaking and redefining everything familiar even before we have had a chance to ponder and decide. #Zuboff
Read 314 tweets
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Benedict Evans
@benedictevans
Facebook says it’s pivoting away from the newsfeed. This is partly about safety, privacy and security - abuse is too easy. But it’s also worth wondering about product weaknesses in the newsfeed concept. I wrote this last year: “the death of the newsfeed”. ben-evans.com/benedictevans/…
The core challenge: you know a hundred+ people well enough to friend them, and we all post more and more. Multiple those two numbers together and the average FB user is eligible to see thousands of posts per day. Does an algorithmic feed solve that or do we go elsewhere?
This is what the desire for a chronological feed - ‘just show me everything!’ - misses. ‘Everything’ is far more than anyone can ever look at.
Read 9 tweets
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WIRED
@WIRED
Facebook has a lot of problems. One of the most serious and ongoing is that the people in charge of moderating its platform for hate speech, violence, porn and more are suffering severe trauma. (via @verge) 1/
wired.trib.al/o4wFXG4
The @Verge’s new piece goes into graphic detail for US based Facebook moderators. But social networks have outsourced this work for years, raising questions about the psychological toll of repeated exposure to violent and disturbing images. 2/ wired.trib.al/HcsuzV9
Social networks rely on a hidden workforce of contractors who make much less than full-time employees, and who often sign confidentiality agreements that stay in effect even after their employment ends. 3/ wired.trib.al/yAjkZMg
Read 8 tweets
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Sizhao Yang
@zaoyang
1/ What are the experiments from crypto in 2015 to 2018? What are the underlying beliefs and thesis that were validated or invalidated? Feel free to add your own.
2/ The beginning was the ultimate OG Bitcoin with Nakamoto Consensus. The underlying assumptions were private key = value (bearer shares), security at all cost, domain specific validation (UTXO validation), single player mode (store of value), and a community around collectible.
3/ The problem was how do you distribute this as a global currency. There are two economies: the services & goods economy and the financial economy. People took the currency and tried to add merchants to bootstrap the demand. Coinbase started with this, and instead pivoted.
Read 38 tweets
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Jorge SánchezCordero
@SanchezCorderoJ
Para quienes creen que las redes sociales escapan de cualquier escrutinio @TEPJF_Esp Cómo los ‘likes’ de #Facebook se convirtieron en una herramienta política lucrativa? Algoritmo de #CambridgeAnalytics albergó orientación sexual, raza, género, traumas etc theguardian.com/technology/201…
La compañía que burló la intimidad de 50 millones de usuarios elpais.com/internacional/…
El uso masivo de 'bots' y bulos muestra la peligrosa tendencia hacia la desinformación en Facebook y Twitter elpais.com/internacional/…
Read 41 tweets

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