"I'm leaving Facebook for good" I said yesterday night.
Why?
I don't know for you but I'm getting increasingly uneasy with the power that Facebook has. Both now and in the future. Do you feel completely at ease with Facebook?
Recent events regarding Cambridge Analytica, made me pause and look deeper into what are the dangers associated with using Facebook, AI and optimization algorithms...and now the Cambridge Analytica debacle is the least of my worries...there is something wrong with where this train is going.
If you still have a Facebook account and you agree with the content of this series, PLEASE share it with your friends or groups that you belong to.
Can Facebook Alter Our Perception Of Reality?
In short...absolutely.
It's only a matter of time before it will completely master the craft. This tweet thread done by Francois Chollet, a deep learning AI specialist at Google, truly captures how true and dangerous our use of Facebook is becoming.
Facebook has proven that it can alter our moods as far back as 4 years ago. Mind you, that was 4 years ago, they've been optimizing since then.
Let me break down how it works...
Facebook Algorithms Control The Information You Consume
If Facebook gets to decide, over the span of many years, which news you will see (real or fake), whose political status updates you’ll see, and who will see yours, then Facebook is in effect in control of your political beliefs and your worldview.
Facebook has the power to, over time, change your "diet" of information in a way that can literally change your worldview. Politics, economics, social justice and even religious beliefs...they can all be influenced by a series of "touch points" and a steady diet of just the right information.
Add to that psycho-graphic profiling on the Big 5 Traits personality scale and you have a way to quantify the effect as well as knowing what kind of information will influence you the most.
As Francois Chollet states:
A loop in which you observe the current state of your targets and keep tuning what information you feed them, until you start observing the opinions and behaviors you wanted to see.
The diet as well as the profiling can then be infinitely optimized to get the desired result via artificial intelligence...and voila, you've got the greatest mass mind control mechanism available to man.
Facebook AI Controls Social Cues
We form our personality by interacting with other people and ideas. What if Facebook, through it's algorithm decides for you who will give you your social cues?
Let's say that you share a post about a "controversial" topic on Facebook. What if Facebook tilts the conversation by showing your shared post to people who would negatively react to your article?
Overtime, you would come to either silence yourself both online and offline about such topic or even consider changing your opinion altogether. This seems to especially affect women since they tend to rate much higher on the "Agreeableness" dimension of the big 5 traits. People who are high in agreeableness tend to prefer social cohesion than creating conflict by standing their grounds on political or religious issues.
Conclusion of Part 1
If that doesn't send a chill down your spine, I don't know what would. People who design those algorithms have biases that they, consciously or unconsciously, embed within the algorithms that curate your Facebook Newsfeed.
Stay tuned for the second part where I will outline more information on how and why I'm leaving Facebook for good.
PS: In the meanwhile, consider joining busy.org...voting with your attention and time is part of the solution.
You see this? It seems much worse.
Source
Somehow it has my entire call history with my partner's mum https://t.co/CIRUguf4vD
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Thanks for this. I just went and downloaded my fb archive data as well, and found ALL contact numbers that I ever had since 2008. Many of those were lost from previous phones. Thank you fb. LOL.
How can I do this?
Just go to facebook.com/settings and there's a Download a copy link
That's was going to be the topic of the installment of this series. Haha...you got ahead of me.
I think it is highly country dependent, they can't get away with it in the US and I haven't found any signs in my download.
Well, Big Brother IS taking care of me, I feel much better... LOL!
I stop using facebook when i joined steemit. Facebook is crap and now it is dangerous too... it swing our mood as you mentioned above. Thanks for article article waiting for part 2.
Actually what I think is that we people have made our connections to people on Facebook and they are on Facebook not on steemit. I think it's because of those people we don't want to leave Facebook, but honestly I have forgotten Facebook to at least some extent.
Facebook has created a mental grip on our minds so we feel the need to use it. But trust me a time will come people will understand that Facebook has nothing to offer and they will all look out for something productive and beneficial and what better a platform than steemit.
It's hard to leave that...especially with all the updates on your friend's life, events, birthday notifications, etc. This series is there to explore that.
Yeah, that's a problem I'm facing. I have relatives that only contact me through Facebook. My golden handcuffs.
Cambridge analytical reveals how Facebook is used as an influential tool to change the ideology of millions of people. Personally I rarely use Facebook due to lack of privicy option. Moreover Facebook is not rewarding any one for his time and creativity. It is a right time to say goodbye Facebook
Facebook does suck. I didn't know it does all that. We need to leave Facebook for good now.
We're wasting our time as well as compromising with our privacy
Truer words have never been spoken
I have also been using facebook less and less this past few months.
Besides, reading news like this one https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-artificial-intelligence-ai-chatbot-new-language-research-openai-google-a7869706.html
and watching alexa like this is kind of creepy
My confidence is getting smaller by the day when it comes to all these giants
You think thats weird and disturbing?
Then watch this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MECcIJW67-M
That's f'd up! That is what kids are using to learn and do their homework etc.
@dedicatedguy and @laserade These links you shared are both pitiful and shocking, especially yours @laserade.
I see Facebook as a vulture hovering on our lives, eager to consume our information throuroughly and use if for whatever clandestine purpose she has. Also, the way it is suited, it is to control our lives through the infromation that is being pushed to our faces
If you are using FB, you can essentially consider yourself THE PRODUCT. Facebook is a data-gathering apparatus for the intelligence agencies posing as a social media platform. Let's not even get into the whole "fake news" policing business.
I hope their stock craters!
they've been exposed, it's always been there, they keep it for themselves who knows what they do with it?
And now this!
https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/23/elon-musk-deletes-own-spacex-and-tesla-facebook-pages-after-deletefacebook/
We the people need decentralized control over our data. No company should make a profit on our information. We provide Facebook, Google, etc with all of the content to make them rich and then they do such immoral acts which hurt us all. Also FICO scores needs to end so ridiculous that the credit rating agencies have all of our information and no liability when their poor security leaks 150 million + American Records.
I have minimal information on Facebook and only use Facebook messenger to communicate with friends. Hoping we can switch the group chat to slack or some other non-invasive platform.
your messenger app keeps record of every sms done with your cellphone (even the one done outside of messenger). See @themarkymark comment link for more info:
Good to know. Thanks for the warning.
Somehow it has my entire call history with my partner's mum https://t.co/CIRUguf4vD
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Everyone is leaving facebook and I think that is going to leave a mark on the company.
its not facebook it fakebook. People nowadays are addictive to these social applications. this is spreading like a virus. A distraction of our new generation. we just sit and waste our whole day on facebook and do nothing. we can put all time in some use. like steemit it might not give you what you want but at least its not giving false hope and giving you a reality check. critic
More time allocated to steemit means you make more $$$ and help the community grew. Excellent. Thanks!
We use our hard-earned cash to login and post on Facebook. Facebook does not give us anything in return but rather preys on us by shoving parasitic advertisement on our face. This is is so heartbreaking. It's time for Facebook to fly away from our lives
@penking I can't get tired of seeing this meme. Epic. Lol
I don't get it...you don't spend your money to use facebook.
Well @cryptoctopus, here in Nigeria, to access the internet(Facebook invlusive), you have to subscribe with an internet service provider for a fee. 1 Gigabyte of data costs 1 000 Maura which is equivalent to 2.7 USD. Make your research. So yes, in Nigeria and in fact all the African countries, we pay to use Facebook.
LOL :) NICE
Great post. I did not know that Facebook has such a huge power over people. I do not use Facebook at all, except as a chat whit friends and mostly about crypto:).
I quit right after I got into steemit. I was worried about my ability to stay in contact with my friends, but said fuck it and deleted it anyway. I'm so much happier for it. And maybe I lost contact with distant friends and acquaintances, but it wasn't enough of an issue to make me regret deleting it. I'm more of a few close friends kind of person anyway, social circles are irrelevant to me. It's one less outlet for me to procrastinate, I don't find myself comparing my life to others and their successes, and I don't have to see dumbass political comments from people I went to high school with. I’m glad I quit centralized Facebook and even more that I fount decentralized Steemit thanks to one of my friends here.
We are in a time where the battle for our minds and hearts is at a premium and the tools that take them are available to those who can pay for them. Facebook is the one we can point to but the real issue is humans need to be more compassionate on the one side and responsible on the other. I am not a fan of facebook, but all social media including Steemit can have the same qualities of causing us to loose touch with reality and each other. We have to monitor ourselves and treat it like what it really is for the most part, an imitation of life but not real life. If we an do that, we will be fine. Als0 we need to turn all of these damn things off often and go to a park.
Finally I see people leaving facebook, I have posted on the experiments and negligence and general lack of duty of care for users, of face book and software designers in general.
Please, forgive me for Upvoting Myself but it was highly important for me that You read.
I completly agree with what You did because taking control over person's mind is so obvious...there are different techniques and one of them is when a doctor takes blood of a patient and patient is far away...The doctor can affect patient's health only by treating with different waves the blood...and patient is not near...The same technique Facebook...FB does not treat the blood but does that on person's waves level. When I control I can easily mannipulate people...Easy as that...😷
step away from the crack pipe...
Thanks for Your kind words...Many things are happening and we don't know...Many techniques of curing with energy, frequences, waves are officially recognized by the Goverments of Australia, Canada, USA as Alternative Medicine, usually Class 1 with GMDN official medical code...These are facts that you can check...Reiki is a technique to bring energy from outside to Your body...Most officially recognized...If somebody can heal with that, somebody else can kill...By Reiki energy can be transffered opposite way, from the person outside in the nature. Processes are reversible...By Bioresonance machine we can screen a person and discover all physical, energy and psychosomatic influences on the body including emotions, mind,...outside influences.
To be honest, I'm very sorry that You thought I'm on crack pipe...Actually, I don't smoke, take drugs, drink pills, I'm vegeterian...etc. Forgive me for telling the truth, I had no wish to offend anybody.
You mentioned in Your text: "psycho-graphic profiling on the Big 5 Traits personality scale". So, how can that be done? By affecting the mind. How? You wrote: Alter Our Perception Of Reality...
How is that possible? By affecting the Mind. How ? Not physically but psychically and how is that ? By Algorythms, You wrote...And part of that are ? Energies or waves, frequences,....
Thanks for helping me be better person. I'm trully gratefull...🙏
what in the hell are you talking about. its like being addicted to drugs and now im gonna kill my supplier. someone else will step in. just cure your god damn addiction
I've been done with them for years; I got tired of being data mined by greedy liberals.
Facebook is an important communication medium, the more it is going to improve.
I respect your blog on this topic
I agree completely..
Facebook is pest which we've ourselves let grow to a level that it controls us now.
I haven't used Facebook since I joined steemit.
Fake man's filler on Facebook. There are many crimes in this facebook in our country. Rape, murder, assault etc. . But yes, Facebook can spend idle time, Facebook is the best way to communicate with relative and friends. @cryptoctopus Thanks for share a wonderful post
Its good I think i left facebook about three months ago when i join this great community and i am still companing for leaving this this is the time wastage and is not secure in any case because you are not secure
Facebook has the power to, over time, change your "diet" of information in a way that can literally change your worldview. Politics, economics, social justice and even religious beliefs...they can all be influenced by a series of "touch points" and a steady diet of just the right information thanks for your information and i always compane for this just block facebook leave facebook
First you deactivate the account. Then you have to wait to delete it. Process takes 2 weeks so don’t even click on FB or you’ll have to start the process again. A class action suit against Zuckerberg et al should be considered.
@cryptoctopus ..yeah you are right.....and yes to one of your question "Can Facebook Alter Our Perception Of Reality"?... I think everyone has its experience, but at the same time it is much evident that the facebook no longer attracts users and has no perfect significance these days at all...thanks for the valuable info..
Great post @cryptooctopus. And if anyone should doubt how our perceptions of reality are already being fucked with, check this out and prepare to have your mind blown.
(Now Playing on Dtube) Inverted Reality - Media Rolled-Out Main Child Actors From Parkland School Shooting Event Made Foreboding Movie Trailer In June 2017
https://steemit.com/video/@clarityofsignal/now-playing-on-dtube-inverted-reality-media-rolled-out-main-child-actors-from-parkland-school-shooting-event-made-foreboding
The writers like you need the steemit community. By doing so you can succeed in providing us very good information. I am proud that I am part of this society. I read every article you need. And indeed I responded very much to you and your articles.
I know you can climb the highest mountains. Never lose faith in yourself. Good luck!
All the best for a bright future! May there be success at every turn of life and all your dreams come true!
I'm only 28, and I use the internet often. However, I often wish I could've grown up in the 80's before smartphones, and before the internet. As much as I enjoy the benefits of the internet, it worries me when I think about the detrimental effects. The information your citing above is just one example of the societal shifts that may come about as a result of the internet. While Steemit (or Busy as you mentioned), may solve one problem, it doesn't address the underlying change to society that is the internet. Were walking on frontier soil with this stuff! Stay brave and have integrity.
After joining steemit now I don't waste my time on facebook.That is just a bull shit.It's totally waste of energy, time,valuable content and everything. I wanna say to everyone leave facebook and join steemit.Thanks for sharing.
i agree and follow you ! Please follow me back and help me out. I will upvote and share your Posts Sarah! :)
I dont use facebook. but Steemit its getting better and better \o/.
thanks god y found this amazing platform
i'll be here waiting why ur leaving facebook
cheers
I was once a regular user of Facebook. But after coming to a great platform Steemit I do not like Facebook..I think steemit is one of the best social networking sites. . There is no other benefit than spending lazy time in Facebook
I've 'deactivated' my Facebook account earlier today actually. Would have deleted it but that hasn't been an option for years.
Facebook is on it's way to a downward spiral. Zucc knows it and that's exactly why he is selling off his shares and it's exactly why Facebook is now putting out commercials in the US saying they're changing the news feed algorithm to display less ads.
It's still a data mining psych opp and will be exposed as one. There's a couple class action lawsuits filed against them as well. Elon Musk was just recently on Twitter (another terrible social site. Gab.ai is superior) trolling FB and Zucc for it's practices. He removed the Tesla page and his personal page combining over 2 million followers/likes.
I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that greedy Zucc and FB get what he/they deserve.
Thats good for you to leave favebook. Its nothing except wastage of time. Try investing your time here to earn some thing valuable. By the way great post . Good for the new youngsters who arw about to leave facebook it will be inspirable for them.
I agree, Everyone should leave facebook ! We have Steemit (busy.org) . Minds.com . Gab.ai . Reddit . mIRC in different forms . Discord . Telegram . PIDGIN and all other good XMPP Instant messagers!
Just leave facebook, you dont need to download your data from there, you are more secure if you actually delete all possible things to delete on your account before deleting the account itself!
A good thing to do though is to save a copy with all the Names of the Accounts that you had connected with on facebook, so you can always reach out to any friend you had on facebook, through a new Pseudonym Facebook account you make, or just a Friends account!
Follow, Upvote, resteem my posts!
I was Flag-attacked by some angry Muslims recently so I really need some backup now!
The Facebook founder himself acknowledged that his Facebook was misused.
I told all people to be careful about using Facebook.
I myself do not use Facebook because Facebook is a social network capable of nesting that almost nostrils our society.
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Thanks for sharing Facebook very nice
Well yes of-course it did ,information can be a dangerous tool depends on how one uses is proven again !
As a matter of fact I have given up on fb a long time ago ,since I have been here !
I'm also decided to leave facebook for good !
If I would have 175k SP it would be an easy decision to quite Facebook 😋
But seriously, if Steemit one day becomes shit, will you then also quite? Or does this somehow work a bit different because of the financial value?
i too agree with you..facebook is kind of media which brings out the jealousy in people..
What you have discussed here are absolutely true according to my point of view.Facebook is way which destroy the minds of people and inculcate evil thoughts in them and it is a sort of time wasting way
-cheers-
FACEWHAT?
I’m glad I don’t have to deal with it. Never had a Facewhat Acc. You did great decision! I couldn’t agree more with you!
For the last week this discussion has gone viral that #delete the facebook and even @stephenkendal wrote a detailed blog about it couple of days ago.
Let me tell you honestly @cryptoctopus since i joined the #steemit automatically i lack my interest in FB and it's been 19 days i signed i last time there.
You gave me second reason to quite the #facebook as it effects the human brain in a psychological way, quite interesting
Looking really forward to read the second part in which you will write about leaving the facebook for good ;)
Damn !! I didnt know this ! I mean yeah i knew they bring to us only what we like to read but yeah man , the way it is happening might totally change our belief systems and turn us into a person they want us to be !!
This is completely killing of our true personality!! 😱
I share every steemit article of mine on my facebook page !! The response i get on steemit is way higher then what i get on facebook even when i have more followers there !!
Quite possible that fb doesn’t show my stuff to people there 🙀 OMG !!
I am leaving Facebook too now !! Well ain’t deleting it, because i got to spread my steemit posts, but limiting its use for sure !!
Thanks for this post @cryptoctopus !! Thanks a lot !
I have naturally never really liked facebook, though I have a facebook account, but with this revelation about about facebook, I will be distancing myself more from facebook.
Wait just a minute here, people are still using Facebook?
I want to leave FB too but I am stuck, all my business contacts are on that platform. FB is criminal, corrupt, greedy and does not care about our individual liberty. FB just wants to make @MASSIVE amounts of profits. That is their true core mission. Thanks for sharing this info.