When Facebook made an algorithm change in 2018 the company said it “would encourage people to interact more with friends and family,” but staffers warned in internal documents “the change was having the opposite effect… It was making Facebook’s platform an angrier place,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Company researchers discovered that publishers and political parties were reorienting their posts toward outrage and sensationalism. That tactic produced high levels of comments and reactions that translated into success on Facebook.”
The research concluded: “Misinformation, toxicity, and violent content are inordinately prevalent among reshares.”
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