Wow - as an experimental psychologist by training, this goes against everything I was taught about professional ethics and may even violate informed consent laws. A/B testing is one thing - thats about helping people achieve a goal. When you knowingly manipulate thousands of people in hopes of altering their emotional state, that is crossing a line thats new even for massive social media sites. Some will argue that much of content and marketing is manipulative, and theres truth to that. In many cases, though, theres an opt-in aspect to that. If I choose to follow someone and they share something that makes them feel a certain way, I know thats coming from a friend and Ive consented to that ecosystem. If its transparent marketing, Im aware (as a consumer) that the product or content is designed to persuade me. When you conduct a massive science experiment with only the most technical of legal consent (and Facebook will fall back on their terms of service with a legion of lawyers, Im sure), youve stepped into new and dangerous territory. By manipulating our feeds, Facebook is creating the impression that this is the content our friends are sharing with us - theyve deliberately skewed our social experience in the name of their own internal (and probably commercial) goals. I will be seriously rethinking whether I want to be part of Facebooks experiment any longer.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 20:22:21 +0000
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