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Many news publishers found that their content was significantly less visible to Facebook users. Examine the numbers In my research, I focused on Facebook engagement with major media outlets during the 2016 election. My findings support those of others: Facebook's algorithm severely inhibited audience engagement with these publishers . Data from CrowdTangle, a social media monitoring firm, shows that Facebook traffic dropped significantly at CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, the gambling data uk New York Times and the Washington Post after the company updated its algorithms to favor friends and family in June 2016.
This proves that the algorithm worked as it was designed, but I fear that this is not the case for major US publishers. Voter interest in the presidential election was higher in 2016 than in the previous two decades , and misinformation was rampant. Facebook’s changes have made it harder for major news outlets that reflect the political spectrum to provide credible election-related information. Alarm bell Facebook was aware of the problems with its algorithm before the election even took place .
One of Facebook’s engineers flagged these potential effects of Facebook’s algorithm changes in July 2015. Three months later, Zuckerberg’s mentor Roger McNamee was also trying to alert Zuckerberg and Facebook executives that the platform was being used to manipulate information about the election. Just after the election, BuzzFeed journalist Craig Silverman’s research showed that fake election news had outperformed “ real news . ” In late 2018, a Facebook statement revealed problems with how its algorithm rewarded sensational and provocative “ borderline content ,” like much of the hyper-partisan news that emerged before the election.
This proves that the algorithm worked as it was designed, but I fear that this is not the case for major US publishers. Voter interest in the presidential election was higher in 2016 than in the previous two decades , and misinformation was rampant. Facebook’s changes have made it harder for major news outlets that reflect the political spectrum to provide credible election-related information. Alarm bell Facebook was aware of the problems with its algorithm before the election even took place .
One of Facebook’s engineers flagged these potential effects of Facebook’s algorithm changes in July 2015. Three months later, Zuckerberg’s mentor Roger McNamee was also trying to alert Zuckerberg and Facebook executives that the platform was being used to manipulate information about the election. Just after the election, BuzzFeed journalist Craig Silverman’s research showed that fake election news had outperformed “ real news . ” In late 2018, a Facebook statement revealed problems with how its algorithm rewarded sensational and provocative “ borderline content ,” like much of the hyper-partisan news that emerged before the election.