The “emotional contagion” study dramatically rips off a curtain that separated Facebook’s public face and its backstage. Publicly, Facebook woos us with a vision of a social information stream shaped by our individual needs and networks; backstage, the folks behind the curtain are pulling levers to find more efficient ways to hijack our attention and sell us stuff. (The frontstage/backstage theory sounds like The Wizard of Oz but is actually Erving Goffman’s.)
The simple reason Facebook’s mood study creeps us out
I started this blog in April as a means of maximizing the benefit I get from social networks. But over time, I find I like getting the most from social platforms while keeping them at arm’s length. That’s particularly true of Facebook.
Steve Brown: +1ed this.via plus.google.com
Richard Adhikari: Anyone who hasn’t realized what Facebook is really like after all the stories over the years of its problems dealing with the concept of privacy has probably been in cryptosleep.via plus.google.com
Mitch Wagner: +Richard Adhikari Or even cryosleep.via plus.google.com
Richard Adhikari: Oh shoot, Mitch, I accidentally deleted your post…sorry…this has happened once before…is there any way to reverse this error? Gahdammit…and, btw, I meant cryptosleep because of the security connotations…but whatthehell…via plus.google.com
Mitch Wagner: +Richard Adhikari You deleted my post? Which one? The OP on tis thread? Wait, wut?via plus.google.com
Richard Adhikari: +Mitch Wagner Your cryosleep comment…fat fingers…in a hurry…and kablooie!via plus.google.com
K.B. Burnfield: +1ed this.via plus.google.com
Mitch Wagner: +Richard Adhikari I still see the cryosleep comment. Maybe you just muted it?via plus.google.com
mohammed khan: reshared this.via plus.google.com
Richard Adhikari: +Mitch Wagner The system thanked me for filing a report…soo…if someone pounds in your doot at 3 a.m…..via plus.google.com
Mitch Wagner: +Richard Adhikari Heavens, I’ve been cited for abuse. Welp, it’s the gulag for me then.via plus.google.com
Richard Adhikari: Ah hell…sorry, man…too little caffeine in the veins combined with rushing to respond before getting back to work…perhaps you should change yr middle name to Solzhenitsynvia plus.google.com
Mitch Wagner: +Richard Adhikari I’d have to learn to spell it first. via plus.google.com
Richard Adhikari: +Mitch Wagner Typos OK…a rose by any other name… via plus.google.com