More damning information about Facebook, this time in India. But it's important to understand that this is a VERY fixable problem. The algorithm cannot be simultaneously optimized for FB revenue AND not encouraging extremism. Brief thread: washingtonpost.com/technology/202…
1/ Remember not that long ago in the pre-algorithmic era of social media when your feed was family members and whoever else was in your friend circle / feed, posting content as it happened.
2/ You can still do that on Twitter. Click this little icon and enable "See Latest Tweets". Presto, algo gone. FB doesn't let you do that. You see what their algo wants you to see. 
3/ The trouble, as @Moonalice has so articulately explained is that their algo is optimizing for engagement because that drives revenue. And people stay much more engaged with content that leads them down rabbit holes than they do with browsing thru old friend's kid pictures.
4/ Even the most charitable interpretation of all the reporting over these last few weeks is that the smartest, most ethical people at FB don't know how to stop this. They are the ones who tried to dial back some of the settings on these algos but still couldn't stop it.
5/ In other words, the problem is the algorithm. If they are just a "bulletin board" for information as they claim, you don't incite people to do crazy things because most people are not crazy. The crazy gets swamped out by the normal.
6/ But normal doesn't draw eyeballs. And the ad sales department needs to be able to show that users stay plugged in and engaged. So any algo that has a core mission to increase engagement on the platform is also going to amplify the crazy.
7/ That then feeds on itself. An algo that rewards the crazy incentivizes anyone who is seeking to maximize their reach to post crazier content.
8/ This thread will inevitably prove that point. I can guarantee it won't get as much amplification as those from politicians who post videos saying horse medicine is good and posing with unsafely stored firearms and small children in the background.
9/ Meanwhile, anyone managing a SM account who is trying to amplify their view is constantly doing A/B tests to see what content draws the most engagement. Which means that any modification to the algo is "hacked" in real time to continually bias in favor of engagement.
11/ FB as a company is not really that complicated. They sell consumer data. e.g., your personal info. And the price they can charge depends on your engagement on their platform - because the longer you engage, the more data they have to sell.
12/ Like any business, they want to grow revenues and profits. That means maximizing the # of users and maximizing the engagement by each. Their algo is ALWAYS going to reward engagement. And therefore is always going to amplify the crazy.
13/ So that leaves a fairly simple question: would you rather live in a world where the craziest people have the biggest platforms or would you rather live in a world where FB's business model isn't profitable?
14/ If you like CrazyTown, good news. FB has delivered. You'll love the status quo. But if you'd prefer to see thoughtful, sane discourse, even if it comes at the expense of a few FB shareholder dividends... delete the algorithms. And just be a bulletin board. /fin
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