Meta: What Does the Modern MySpace Do?
August 24, 2022
Frankly I don’t know what the Zuck and his team of wizards can do. I read “Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022.” The link leads to a study summary, a page of general info, and a summary of the Pew methodology.
One finding from the survey mavens at Pew Research caught my attention. If the methodology was on the money and the data processed in a way that kept the butcher’s thumb off the weighing pan, here’s a thrilling statement:
the share of teens who say they use Facebook, a dominant social media platform among teens in the Center’s 2014-15 survey, has plummeted from 71% then to 32% today.
In the span of 72 months, the Zuckbook watched teens who are considered a part of the future of the datasphere shift to short form videos. The write up included one of those charts colored in such a way to make legibility a bit of a joke. Here’s a screenshot with the bold blue line heading south. Note that despite the legibility, the other lines are heading up. YouTube is a floating dot at the top of the chart because, well, YouTube. Quasi-monopoly. Most popular online service in the “Stans.”
Should YouTube be worried? Not yet. The write up reports:
About three-quarters of teens visit YouTube at least daily, including 19% who report using the site or app almost constantly.
For more Pew data, follow the links in the cited article.
There’s not much analysis of the whys and wherefores, but the data are clear. The allegedly Chinese linked outfit TikTok has access to useful data from young people. What could a crafty person do with these data? Wait until one cluster identified as susceptible individuals and then approach or attempt to influence them.
Stephen E Arnold, August 24, 2022
High School Science Club Management Goes Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
August 17, 2022
I read the stories about Facebook and Google trying to manage their paid humanoids. Both companies, not surprisingly, are pulling tips from the “Universal Guide to Running a High School Science Club” and its Annex 1: Never Do These Things. The two estimable companies skipped the Annex. Why read something at the back of a user manual. That’s for those who are smart, just not brilliant.
Among the tips in my copy of the Universal Guide was this one: “Never tell a fellow science club member to work harder.”
Another precept was: “Never tell a fellow science club member to quit if the alleged humanoid did not like what the president told them to do.
Both Facebook and Google appear to have pushed to the “work harder” and “go away” approach. Brilliant, right?
Even the Silicon Valley type of “real” news outfit Protocol published an article focusing on this management approach. “Don’t Be Meta or Google: How to Tell Workers They Need to Be More Productive” has some management advice for the fellow travelers; to wit:
the idea that underperforming individuals are solely responsible for their companies’ large-scale financial troubles is probably inaccurate, and you don’t want your productivity pep talk to give that impression. Launching a companywide campaign to improve productivity is absolutely reasonable, as long as you’re not alienating employees in the process.
Yes, Harvard Business School, here we come!
I am not sure what’s crazier: The management methods of the high school science club or the faux-Drucker inputs from a “real” news Silicon Valley type online publication.
The write up adds:
Sharing a specific game plan to improve productivity is key to avoiding chaos.
Yes, is the corollary “sharing is caring”?
That method was not part of the Woodruff High School Science Club in Central Illinois. My fellow members believed themselves to be budding wizards. One of the best and brightest had his first date and ran the train signal. The train won. Not a best nor brightest moment as I recall.
“Management” was, in my opinion, a no show at some of the zippy Silicon Valley outfits for which I labored until I threw in the dead fish in 2013. The idea that the methods of a high school science club would contribute to management science would have been laughable about a decade ago. Now that Facebook and Google type outfits have to manage, the adolescent guidelines of the unread Annex seem oddly appropriate.
Had Google solved death, Mr. Drucker would be available to provide some management guidance to the “real news” and the Facebooks and Googles of the world. I am not sure “don’ts” work… at all.
Stephen E Arnold, August 17, 2022
A Meta-Coincidence? Absolutely. Pure Chance from the Zucksters
August 15, 2022
I noted to separate news items about Meta (formerly Zuckbook).
The first item “WhatsApp Boss Says No to AI Filters Policing Encrypted Chat” reports:
Will Cathcart, who has been at parent company Meta for more than 12 years and head of WhatsApp since 2019, told the BBC that the popular communications service wouldn’t downgrade or bypass its end-to-end encryption (EE2E) just for British snoops, saying it would be “foolish” to do so and that WhatsApp needs to offer a consistent set of standards around the globe. “If we had to lower security for the world, to accommodate the requirement in one country, that … would be very foolish for us to accept, making our product less desirable to 98 percent of our users because of the requirements from 2 percent,” Cathcart told the broadcaster. “What’s being proposed is that we – either directly or indirectly through software – read everyone’s messages. I don’t think people want that.”
Okay, customer centricity, clear talk, and sincere. Remember this is the Zuck outfit talking. With regulations making visible functions that some believe have been running on certain high-traffic nodes for some time, the principled stand of the Zuck’s WhatsApp is interesting. Keep in mind that the comments, according to the cited article were made on the BBC and referenced a desire to have child porn monitoring implemented. Yep, the Brexit outfit rejected by the Zuck outfit.
The second item with a bigly, Google-ized headline “Nick Clegg Joins Exodus of Silicon Valley Execs in Return to London: Ex-Deputy PM Will Split Time between UK and California to Spend More Time with Elderly Parents – After Instagram Boss Also Moved to the Capital” states:
In its results last week, Meta’s total costs and expenses increased 22 per cent year on year in the first quarter, while headcount was up 32 per cent. Net income plunged by 36 percent compared to the previous quarter, to $6.7 billion.
Coincidence? Nope, revenue crash, Kardashian pushback on Instagram changes, EU and UK government scrutiny, and job opportunities for the next prime minister. Just chance. These coincidences say to me, “Yo, big trouble ahead because who wants to move in today’s travel unfriendly, Covid and Monkeypox ravaged environment?.” Obviously the Zucksters do.
Stephen E Arnold, August 15, 2022
Another Facebook Innovation: Imitating Twitch
August 11, 2022
I don’t know if the information in “Meta Is Testing a New Live Streaming Super Platform for Influencers Called Super.” I like the name of the alleged new Einsteinian-grade service. It’s super.k
The article reports:
The new platform allows influencers to host live streams, earn revenue and engage with viewers. The company has reportedly paid influencers between $200 and $3,000 to use the platform for 30 minutes.
How is the Zuckster’s Super new Super going to lure those who produce Twitchy stuff? The write up says:
Meta has recently reached out to multiple creators asking them to try out the new project. The platform, which looks to have similar functionality to Twitch, is currently being tested with fewer than 100 creators, including tech influencer Andru Edwards and TikTok star Vienna Skye.
My hunch is that Zuckbucks are going to be needed to “lure” some talent. Microsoft demonstrated its ability to create a streaming service not too long ago. Remember that? Yeah, neither does anyone on my research team. I wonder if MSFT’s CFO has any records of the money paid to a certain game streamer. Nah. Of course not.
The creativity of the Zucksters is amazing. Super in fact.
Stephen E Arnold, August 11, 2022
Zucking Up: The Instagram Innovation
August 1, 2022
I read a bonkers article about Instagram (a Zucked up property of the Zuckbook empire). You can get the allegedly accurate information from this article: “Instagram Knows You Don’t Like Its Changes. It Doesn’t Care.” I know that “real journalists” select and maybe shape information to fit into the good old pyramid method of real news craftsmanship. For the purposes of this blog post, let’s just go with the flow like good GenXers do and believe everything in the article. Keep in mind that Zucksters are flexible. The TikTok emulation is a word in progress, pending approval from the Jenner-Kardashian Consulting Company.
But here we go anyway:
- The Zuckbook does not care what its addicts — oh, sorry, I mean users — think. [This is something new?]
- Kim Kardashian does not like Instagram de-Instagraming itself and getting digital plastic surgery to be more like TikTok? [Yeah, plastic surgery can disappoint. Ms Kardashian might be able to provide some additional information on this back story.]
- There’s a “don’t change Instagram” petition with an alleged 190,000 signatures. [How many are sock puppets’ inputs?]
- Picketers appeared outside the Zuckster’s New York office. [Did anyone in Manhattan notice or even care? If I were still working in the Big Apple, I would have crossed to the other side of the street and kept on going to a meeting at 245 Park Avenue or 101 Park Avenue South, both former dinobaby offices from the ancient days of work.]
- Two “meme account administrators” handcuffed themselves to the Instagram office doors. [Well, not good if someone like me wanted to exit quickly in order to be on time for a really important dinobaby meeting. I can hear myself saying, “Hey, sorry about breaking your wrist. Gotta run. Let’s have lunch.]
One thing is clear: Another Zuckup. Advertisers will be thrilled with this publicity, won’t they?
Now what if this write up has been crafted from the addled thoughts of a sci-fan loopy on Game of Thrones re-runs? Definitely a bad look for the Zucksters.
Stephen E Arnold, August 1, 2022
Facebook to News Partners: Spike That!
August 1, 2022
I assume news publications can still advertise on the Zuckbook. However, if the information in “Scoop: Meta Officially Cuts Funding for U.S. News Publishers” is accurate, the Zucker has said, “Spike that paying for news deal.” The allegedly spot on write up states:
As the company moves forward with sweeping changes to the Facebook experience, news has become less of a priority. Meta’s VP of media partnerships, Campbell Brown, told staffers the company was shifting resources away from its news products to support more creative initiatives…
And what might “creative” mean? Perhaps more me-too innovations?
Last year, Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said fewer than one in every 25 posts in the News Feed contained links to a news story.
So creative means perhaps generating engagement, clicks, and money. News fails apparently as a creative initiative? I was under the impression that fake news was creative. Whoops, wrong again. How much “real news” does TikTok provide? From a person with access to user log data, pretty creative. From a person who just inhales crunchy short videos, not too much.
I think that the Zucker thing is trying to change. That’s good. Anyone signing a contract with the Zuck may face the “spike that” approach to relationship building. I would suggest we change the “spike that” to “Zuck you”. Will that fly in the metaverse?
Stephen E Arnold, August 1, 2022
Meta Makes a Show of Measures to Protect Kids
July 29, 2022
A pair of articles reveals a bit of Zuckbook adulting. Isn’t it amazing what some bad press can provoke? First up, The Verge tells us “Instagram Will Start Nudging Teens Away from Content they Continuously Browse Through.” While this move does not specifically protect against harmful content, it is meant to discourage teens from obsessing on one topic by proposing alternatives to explore. Notably, suggestions will exclude something that already has Meta in hot water—content that promotes appearance comparison. Another Instagram effort has its “Take a Break” feature suggesting teens go do something else if they have been perusing Reels “for a while.” (Just how long a while is left unstated.) Writer Emma Roth also tells us:
“Lastly, Instagram is making some adjustments to its existing parental controls. The platform will now let parents send invites to their kids asking to gain access to parental supervision tools, something only teens were previously able to initiate. Parents can also see information on what types of posts or accounts their child reports, as well as gain more control over the time their teen spends on Instagram.”
As much as Instagram has been shown to cause harm to young people, the VR metaverse is already proving to be even worse. Mashable reports, “Meta Expands Parental Controls, Including Virtual Reality Monitoring.” The update lets parents block certain apps, view their kid’s friends list and activity, and require parental approval for purchases. It can also disable a headset feature that otherwise lets kids access blocked content on their PCs. All of this is accompanied by an informative “parent education hub” for guidance on using the parental controls (a feature the kiddos are bound to find very helpful.) Writer Chase DiBeneditto elaborates:
“Following the launch of Meta’s Horizon Worlds — a VR ‘creator space’ for users to connect and build virtual worlds — and it’s new ‘safety-focused’ features, users and researchers alike expressed concern that young users would still be easily exposed to unmoderated hate speech and harassment. Meta later added a ‘garbled voices’ filter to Horizon Worlds that turned the voice chats of VR strangers into unintelligible, friendly sounds, and a ‘personal boundary’ feature to hopefully block harassment by uninvited users. Then in May, Meta announced new locking tools to block specific apps from a user’s Quest headset in response to concerns that teens and children with unsupervised access were being exposed to inappropriate virtual reality spaces.”
Meta has certainly gone to a lot of effort to appear like it is protecting kids as it profits off them. If we are lucky, some of these PR defense tactics will actually do some good.
Cynthia Murrell, July 29, 2022
AI Knowledge Tool Sphere For Wikipedia by Meta
July 29, 2022
Given how much criticism Meta gets for perpetuating misinformation, it is no surprise the company is putting effort into a cutting-edge, open source tool to test the veracity of information online. It is puzzling, though, that the company has no plans to use the tool on Facebook, Instagram, or Messenger, at least not yet. We learn from TechCrunch, “Meta Launches Sphere, an AI Knowledge Tool Based on Open Web Content, Used Initially to Verify Citations on Wikipedia.” The article includes a very brief video illustrating Sphere at work. Reporter Ingrid Lunden also discusses how Wikipedia will use the tool and the relationship between the two companies, so see the write-up for those details. We find this part interesting:
“Meta believes that the ‘white box’ knowledge base that Sphere represents has significantly more data (and by implication more sources to match for verification) than a typical ‘black box’ knowledge sources out there that are based on findings from, for example, proprietary search engines. ‘Because Sphere can access far more public information than today’s standard models, it could provide useful information that they cannot,’ it noted in a blog post.”
Ah, but is bigger really better? Not necessarily. Lunden continues:
“By open sourcing this tool, Meta’s argument is that it’s a more solid foundation for AI training models and other work than any proprietary base. All the same, it concedes the very foundations of the knowledge are potentially shaky, especially in these early days. What if a ‘truth’ is simply not being reported as widely as misinformation is? That’s where Meta wants to focus its future efforts in Sphere. ‘Our next step is to train models to assess the quality of retrieved documents, detect potential contradictions, prioritize more trustworthy sources — and, if no convincing evidence exists, concede that they, like us, can still be stumped,’ it noted.”
That is not ominous at all. Left unmentioned are issues of bias, which tend to be worse the more open a data set is. Will Wikipedia eventually come to regret pairing up with the Zuckbook?
Cynthia Murrell, July 28, 2022
Facebook Sunset: A Rush to Judgment? Nope. Bus Left Already
July 27, 2022
I read a variation on the Chicken Little story with an infusion of Humpty Dumpty. Sound interesting? Just navigate to “Sunset of the Social Network.” Pretty interesting because this is a Silicon Valley type cheerleading outfit realizing that their outfits don’t match those from the ESPN Cheerleading Championships for 2022. How does one quickly fix a fashion faux pas? Easy. Just claim that social networks are even less trendy than the white pants and red sweaters with Mountain View and Palo Alto logos stitched on the polyester.
So what’s the future? If you haven’t figured it out, the answer is TikTok and recommendations to drive memes, advance fun activities like jumping off roofs, and making wlw videos for middle schoolers. Yep, the future. Why not toss end a couple of references to the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire?
The write up says:
Under the social network model, which piggybacked on the rise of smartphones to mold billions of users’ digital experiences, keeping up with your friends’ posts served as the hub for everything you might aim to do online. Now Facebook wants to shape your online life around the algorithmically-sorted preferences of millions of strangers around the globe.
On the surface, this seems to be what Zuckbook is trying to achieve. Irritating the Kardashians was a knock on effect.
The write up points out that digital dinobabies are a bit clumsy when snow falls:
Rivals tried and failed to beat Facebook at the social network game — most notably Google, with multiple forgotten efforts from Orkut to Google+.
I haven’t forgotten Orkut. That misstep illustrated a genetic flaw in Google’s DNA. Not only could Google not solve death, it couldn’t solve Facebook nor, more recently, Amazon’s gobbling a very large chunk of product search. (Presumably an able Verity alum will redress that issue with information gene splicing. Well, that’s the theory.
Here’s the passage I quite liked:
But the era in which social networking served as most users’ primary experience of the internet is moving behind us. That holds for Twitter, Facebook’s chief surviving Western rival, as well. Twitter never found a reliable business model, which opened it up to an acquisition bid by Elon Musk. Whatever the outcome of the legal fight now underway, Twitter’s future is cloudy at best. … The leadership of Meta and Facebook now views the entire machine of Facebook’s social network as a legacy operation.
Yowza. The very thing that helped make Silicon Valley punditry the next big thing has moved on. Apparently the email has not yet reached Medium and Substack yet. It has, in my opinion, reached Buzzfeed’s senior team and is probably in the in box of a number of other information outlets. That’s just a guess on my part, however.
And what’s the future? The answer is revealed:
All this leaves a vacuum in the middle — the space of forums, ad-hoc group formation and small communities that first drove excitement around internet adoption in the pre-Facebook era. Facebook’s sunsetting of its own social network could open a new space for innovation on this turf, where relative newcomers like Discord are already beginning to thrive.
News flash!
That era has already arrived, and it is morphing, innovating, and invigorating interesting new mechanisms of informationization. Want an example? Okay, CSAM on Telegram. I address this disturbing activity in my luncheon talk at the upcoming Federal Law Enforcement Training Center talk. The downturn in Dark Web activity illustrates a trend building over the last six years.
Facebook and the Silicon Valley real news folks now realize something has changed. Too late? For some, yes.
Stephen E Arnold, July 27, 2022
Hasta La Vista News. Et Tu Facebook?
July 26, 2022
Many Internet users use Facebook as their main news platform. One of the problems of using Facebook is that it builds a confirmation bias, conspiracy theory, and misinformation trap. Facebook has garnered a lot of bad press as a news purveyor throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Nieman Lab explains that Facebook might be done sharing the news: “Facebook Looks Ready To Divorce The News Industry, And I Doubt Couples Counseling Will Help.”
Facebook could never officially divorce itself from the news, but the social media platform is moving as far away from the news as possible. Facebook pays news outlets millions of dollars each year to post stories in its “News” feature that users can access for free. Facebook had three-year contracts with many news outlets that will soon expire. Facebook is interested in reinvesting the news fees into short video producers like TikTok.
Speaking of TikTok, Facebook has informed its workers to make the platform resemble TikTok. Facebook will now prioritize posts on feeds regardless of their origin, instead of posts users follow. Facebook’s app will continue to feature content from people, then show items recommended by its discovery engine.
The breakup might be mutual:
“So on one hand, Facebook might stop writing checks to news publishers, having found they don’t make its PR problems go away. And on the other, Facebook wants to demote what little news still remains in its primary feed, having found that it doesn’t keep users engaged as much as an algorithm-generated stream of random videos.
This is what a breakup looks like. Facebook was not originally intended to be the world’s largest distributor of human attention to news stories. It became that, circa 2015. But that responsibility became a nuisance, and it’s spent the past seven years walking away from it.”
Maybe this will be the end of conspiracy theorists with a megaphone.
Whitney Grace, July 26, 2022
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