Last week, Facebook announced that they will be keeping all their users in happy little bubbles that won't show them anything controversial, thus ensuring an entire social media platform devoted to pictures of what people are eating for dinner. Illustrating just how unwelcomed this change was, after Facebook announced it's changing the algorithm to focus on friends and family while excluding news and information, the company saw a near-instant drop of 4.4 percent—costing Mark Zuckerberg nearly $3.3 billion.
In a Facebook post last Thursday night, Zuckerberg said that public content from brands had inundated news feeds, overtaking posts from personal connections. By the end of Friday, Facebook shares were trading at $179.37, down more than 4.4 percent from Thursday’s price of $187.77, according to a report in Newsweek.
“Video and other public content have exploded on Facebook in the past couple of years,” wrote Zuckerberg in his post. “Since there's more public content than posts from your friends and family, the balance of what's in News Feed has shifted away from the most important thing Facebook can do—help us connect with each other.”
“As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard—it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.”
In a nutshell, this new move by Facebook places each user in their own bubble where they are assured to never receive anything that challenges their worldview as a means to keep them happy.
While this move may seem like a good idea to those who are easily triggered by information that may help them understand the world in a better light, it will inevitably create more divide in the future by creating these groups who constantly reinforce the same comfortable views fostering a phenomenon known as confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias or 'myside bias' is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses. Placing everyone in their own bubble will, in essence, create multiple bubbles of people confirming over and over what could be an entirely skewed reality. When they actually do interact with others who don't share that same skewed reality, the result could be disastrous.
The algorithm shift goes directly against the idea of open-minded thinking as paraphrased in this famous quote by Aristotle, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Facebook is moving to condition people to think that all information is happy and should never challenge their worldview. What could possibly go wrong?
While the future of social media may seem bleak on the side of Facebook, there is also amazing news on the side of innovation and free thought. To those who've been paying attention, they saw the problem presented by so many people using a similar system that is ultimately controlled by those who have an interest in mining your data for profit, controlling the political narrative, and essentially creating a personal database on billions of people, the likes of which corrupt governments salivate over.
Instead of trying to change the system of Facebook from within, several individuals came together to build a new system—which showed the obsolescence of the old. Thus, Steemit was born.
The general concept of Steemit is similar to other blogging websites or social news websites like Reddit, but the text content is saved in a blockchain. Using a blockchain enables rewarding comments and posts with secure tokens of value.
As stated in the Steemit White Paper:
Steem combines concepts from social media with lessons learned from building cryptocurrencies and their communities. An important key to inspiring participation in any community, currency or free market economy is a fair accounting system that consistently reflects each person's contribution. Steem is the first cryptocurrency that attempts to accurately and transparently reward an unbounded number of individuals who make subjective contributions to its community.Instead of becoming hubs for censorship and the centralization of power and wealth like other social media platforms and make hundreds of billions of dollars off content created by its users, Steemit bucked the system. Instead of leeching off the wealth created by user-generated content like Facebook does, Steemit returns most of its value back to the users by rewarding them with cryptocurrencies. As a result of this system, many people have begun to sustain themselves from the value created entirely on this platform.
According to the White Paper, the Steem community provides the following services to its members:
1. A source of curated news and commentary. 2. A means to get high quality answers to personalized questions. 3. A stable cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. 4. Free payments. 5. Jobs providing above services to other members.In essence, Steemit creates an entire economy out of social media in which everyone—not just the platform owners—benefit from the creation of content. It is a beautiful model that is constantly being improved and its future is bright.
If you are not on Steemit, please consider checking it out and joining in on the social media revolution. As the social media dinosaurs continue to crack down on users, censor their information, and create more division among humanity, Steemit is doing the exact opposite. Check out TFTP on Steemit today.
nice
just give us 5 more years and see what will happen
It's such a bummer now when I have a Steemit account, to get likes on FaceBook. I mean, how much money till today I could get from likes...
Could have made a million atleast from my likes but any who facebook is old the future lies in steemit
I still find myself checking facebook and half of them are talking about Steemit - ON FACEBOOK. I look over here for them, but they aren't doing nearly as much here. What the heck? I don't know what that is all about.
Great article, I never did set up a facebook account Ive been against it from the start as it is nothing more then a CIA front to gather data on everyone. I hope facebook fails and steemit takes over as number one social media. Anyway thanks for the great article I also upvoted and resteemed this.
right on Thank you @thehermitmonk
Most people don't even know this. I do believe that many people would be highly motivated to seek other platforms were it more widely known, and viable options exist.
SMT's may well potentiate the best of all worlds by blending the rewards mechanism with a wide variety of platforms reaching the entirety of the market(s), in various configurations. @careywedler has recently posted regarding miscegenation between intelligence agencies and entertainment industries, in which she pointed out a blockchain effort to replace the media industry itself.
I wonder at the recent propaganda regarding sexual harrassment in the industry and how that might effect the interests of parties seeking to reformulate the entertainment industry into a grassroots endeavor, rather than the possession of kingmakers.
Check out 21Million and think about how crypto and rewards can change the world.
I'm glad I found Steemit.
Great post @tftproject.
Quick question: Do you mind if I cite your post in a vlog post I plan on doing and give you credit for it? I really enjoyed reading this!
Appears like most Facebook clients need to be oblivious and imagine there is no reason to worry from my viewpoint. Never at any point comprehended that attitude
Funny, I said almost the exact same thing in different words before I read your comment. Great minds think alike 😉
Yeah, I hear what you are saying but I'm still on Facebook a lot. That's where all my friends are. Steemit is great because I'm meeting new friends that are into crypto. But facebook friends are usually behind the curb for new technology, new industry, etc. This "STEEMIT" is just too complicated for most of my friends who are NOT content creators (in their mind). I personally, know they are content creators because I watch them on FACEBOOK creating content all day every day. Just saying.
That is where the leeching comes into play. Facebook monetizes everyone's content without giving a single penny of it to the creator. @tftproject pays employees to create video that gets millions of views which facebook monetizes, makes millions, and then shits on us with an algo change...
Your post on this topic could not have been timed better for me. I jumped over on FB (I still have messages there to check and one group fully informed public where I share steemit posts.) It was actually hilarious because in scrolling down my wall there were absolutely no real news posts but it was full of people complaining about the censorship with FB and Youtube. I simply HAD to use this quote from your post as my header
Let the learning begin!
That is awesome Vickie!!! Thanks!
I love facebook when they first started but the amount of ads in between feeds nowadays is ridiculous.. Since I found out about steemit, i used facebook less and less..
In my direct experience, regular fb users are super excited about Steemit and a shift in relationship to social media. I think of receiving compensation for content creation as an important social shift, not unlike unionizing factory workers. The idea that we create content to build companies where we have no equity is outdated. Here is my full post where you can see the reaction I got from my large network. https://steemit.com/dtube/@benleemusic/4f6uwioj Thanks for your thoughts
@tftproject. Is it possible for Facebook to buy Steemit or create a Social media platform based on the blockchain?As it is his habit to buy off any social media or messaging platform I ask this because of the recent statement by Mark Zuckerberg regarding cryptocurrency.
Personally I hope he keeps his attention away from steemit.
It looks like Zuckerberg has taken notice of steemit and he will likely grow more agitated as it continues to prove he is a dinosaur. I trust in the free market and the free market is choosing decentralization. Hopefully these control freaks have a hard time fight it.
@tftproject Amen to that
Poppin bubbles on Steem!
I am really happy that it wasn't possible for facebook to buy steem
Re-steemed and upvoted dude!
thanks!
If Mark was smart he would just cash out all that Facebook stock now and buy steem with it.
Seems like most Facebook users want to be ignorant & pretend everything will be ok from my perspective. Never ever understood that mentality
It can be argued that humanity as a whole wants to remain oblivious. After all, the quote "ignorance is bliss," is based on centuries of testimony.... We need to pop these bubbles. ;)
My guess is 5% of us want to know what’s actually going on. 1 out of your average 20 maybe? Networking among the 5% is probably more fruitful than shouting to deaf ears at this point. Economic cycles have a way of injecting reality into mass consciousness. Hopefully the fallout this time will expose more people to the constant disinformation pump & we can progress.
I agree
Is “ignorance is bliss” based on centuries of experience or engineered social conditioning deployed via media via tv & movies for the last 7 decades 🤔
Steemit is the future
facebook and youtube will have a decline until failure
The reason I joined facebook is because it let me express myself freely,butu if they start gagging us and the media for telling the truth,the I will be opting out........
Great post @tftproject!
I love Steemit, but I do not believe it will ever over take Facebook. Facebook should implement their own coin/payment system in time.
Facebook should implement split feeds - one personal, and one business/sponsors.
Facebook should also implement a feature that allows sponsored content (or a portion of it) to be removed from the feed.
I personally like seeing sponsored ads on Facebook because they are quite relevant to my current interest.
I look forward to future posts!
Thanks Geoffrey, I tend to agree. a split feed would be ideal.
Haha oh my! Facebook is in a sure decline financially and regarding users. It is like a crazy picture of zuckerberg sliding off of the trunk like jack at the end of the movie titanic.....before too long the public will let it go..even while they beg them to "promise you'll never let go" 😂🙃
R.I.P. Facebook, LONG LIVE STEEMIT!
Does anyone ever notice how sad it is that the farther you go down the comments the less upvotes there are despite the content of the comment?
Thank you for the best alternative to facebook- Steemit!!! Since I been Steeming and reading the amazing content here- I feel as if I finally have access to better knowledge and I love blogging on steemit! Steemit is revolutionizing my life! Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!
(source of this image is unknown)
Facebook has had it's reign and it is now at sinking ship status. But in all honesty I know Steemit is going to thrive regardless if FB falls or not.
its a huge decision mark is taking , trying to shape the platform i guess
So true! I left Facebook in September because of censorship. Nowadays it's even worse- and now this announcement! I'm glad people can come over here and hope they do! Take care and Steem on!
In another 3 years, Steemit will dwarf Facebook. Steemit is all about value
Nice post. I think Facebook when it first started out it was alright. Then in the last few years the been lots more ads in my feed. Now I'm glad that I found Steemit about a week ago. I going to be using Facebook a whole lot less.
Those folks at FB must have lost touch with reality. Nobody cares about those stupid duckfaces, fake happy couples and "watch where we went on vacation with our credit card".
I of course love Steemit as much as the next Steemian. I also like this article of course, some interesting points are raised like how logarithms that confirm you beliefs are not challenging and probably reduces critical thinking. However, I do think Steem tends to be a bit Steem-centric. New social media like Steem are not meant to cannibalizes FB but rather coexist alongside it. Let’s take the example of senior citizen inclusion on social media. These people are reluctant to adopt new technologies but they have been hearing about FB for many years now which makes them more likely to adopt it. Although you may convince them of Steemit’s merit, they may hear your arguments but still stick to their guns.
Honestly I agree that Zuckerberg is a hypocrite and a sellout but I have a feeling that this move is a step in the right direction. Maybe people need a happy place in this sea of controversies although I am aware of how easily they are manipulated, namely into voting one way or another. The thing is, it is extremely hard to speculate about what algorithms do specifically but one thing is for sure, people are over-solicited and they are going to need breathing space on the Internet.
@steemit treats me a thousand times better than facebook.
I av been on facebook for the past six year. All i acquire tgeir was making friends and writing post without profit. Joining steemit a month ago, i can boldly say that m bless in steemit. Very soon, no one will deal with facebook.
Glad to see you on steemit.
That is a REALLY good headline!
Great article! @tftproject Facebooks time has come to its end!
Awesome
I'm not thriving. Whales are, not me.
I started up on steemit last summer thinking it would probably be around the same money I made from doing online surveys. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect it to make me almost as much as my day job. You can actually do Steemit professionally as a job. I did not expect this when I started, at all.
I find it hard to go on Facebook and post in groups and get in arguments, or worse have 100 upvote post that makes me zero cents. I feel cheated when I make popular posts on Facebook. Zuck makes money from my posts and I make nothing. Here if I don't like what people are saying I ignore them. I don't want third parties or robots deciding what I should see.
@tftproject this is good stuff, now facebook know that they are in competition. I must confess, ever since i discovered steemit, i have not visited my facebook account. i am just wondering what will happen if we steemians decide to lead a revolution to lead to influx of people to steemit to rediscover their creativity with a value as regards cryptocurrency.
@antigenx
Such a brilliant and informative article. Steemit is one of the biggest renaissances that is happening and will define the future.
Economy and Life have been made easier, better and more beautiful thanks to Steem and Steemit.
ya except steemit empowers racist and discriminatory behavior
Love it!
Full STEEM ahead
#truthtrain
If Facebook shoots itself in the foot and relegates itself back to being just a place to keep up with your own school friends and family members and view pictures of their "perfect" life, that's all for the good. Facebook is a terrible place to try and get any meaningful news from anyhow. Let's hope they keep doing things like this and diminishing their market share.