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Category: Business

Youtube’s recommendation algorithm pushes people to watch ever more extreme content

Youtube’s recommendation algorithm pushes people to watch ever more extreme content

“Soon I noticed something peculiar. YouTube started to recommend and “autoplay” videos for me that featured white supremacist rants, Holocaust denials and other disturbing content. … What we are witnessing is the computational exploitation of a natural human desire…. YouTube leads viewers down a rabbit hole of extremism, while Google racks up the ad sales.”   Regardless of topic, Youtube’s recommendation algorithm  recommends videos containing more extreme versions of whatever it is you just watched. This makes sense from a…

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Facebook tracks everything; I downloaded my FB dossier

Facebook tracks everything; I downloaded my FB dossier

I downloaded the dossier that Facebook created on me. The dossier contains a list of all Android apps I had on my devices. I deleted the FB app a long time ago so it is a snapshot “in time”, in my case. Their dossier shows that Facebook has shared my contact information with hundreds of organizations, many of which I have never heard of. The dossier includes every personal message sent and received – ever – using Facebook messaging services,…

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Society now requires us to be liked on social media?

Society now requires us to be liked on social media?

Not only is a “strong social media presence” now a prerequisite for many, if not most, jobs, but companies have begun to look at your number of followers as both a measure of monetary value and a career determiner. And according to TIME.com, employers actually consider people without Facebook suspicious. “If you boycott Instagram, you’re cutting yourself off from a lot of opportunities,” said Emily. “I started posting more selfies, despite being self conscious about it, because honestly—you get so…

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U.S. firms use social media age-based ad targeting to discriminate against older workers

U.S. firms use social media age-based ad targeting to discriminate against older workers

Major U.S. employers use social media’s ability to display job ads only to those in certain age groups, such as between age 25 to 36, or below age 38 or below age 50. They are using this feature to advertise job openings only to younger workers, thereby removing older workers from their candidate pool. Examples: Verizon targeted showed ads only to those age 25 to 36 years old UPS targeted age 19 to 35 State Farm targeted age 19 to…

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Full text of the comment that was shadow banned by Oregonian newspaper

Full text of the comment that was shadow banned by Oregonian newspaper

The next morning, my comment remains shadow banned by the Oregonian. Here is the description of the shadow ban, from last night with a screen capture of how the ban appears. (This link goes to the old WordPress.com website for this blog: https://socialcoldstreams.wordpress.com/2017/12/11/i-was-shadow-banned-by-oregonian-censorship-a-powerful-form-of-propaganda/) Here, I present the full text of the shadow banned comment plus the supplementary information for how I obtained the facts presented in the comment. Here are actual price quotes from HealthCare.gov. The first quotes are for…

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Faceback ads reach 4 out of every 3 teens in the U.S.!

Faceback ads reach 4 out of every 3 teens in the U.S.!

Facebook ads also reach 12 out of every 7 young adults in the U.S.! Facebook makes up their advertising reach numbers: According to Facebook, there are 41 million adults between the ages of 18 and 24. However, according to data from the U.S. census, there are just 31 million. Facebook also says there are 60 million between the ages of 25 and 34, while the U.S. census puts its estimate at just 35 million. Source: Facebook Claims It Reaches More…

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Repost: 1 in 7 Americans do not go to bed hungry every night

Repost: 1 in 7 Americans do not go to bed hungry every night

We are now in the annual Fall time frame social media tag meme of #hangry and #hungeraction and the “wear orange” meme, in response to the annual release of a USDA report on “food insecurity”. We beat this meme to death previously. If your social media feeds are seeing these posts read it – now.

Using Questionable Statistics to Drive Up Wedding Costs?

Using Questionable Statistics to Drive Up Wedding Costs?

What is the claimed average cost of a wedding in the U.S.? $35,329 in 2016, says “The Knot” (not including costs of a honeymoon trip). More on their press release. This value is *widely* distributed in the media, on social media, and in online forums. Other estimates come from Conde Nast Bridal Infobank and The Fairchild Bridal Group. How can an average wedding cost $35,329 when 62% of American have less than $1,000 in their savings account and only 10-20% have…

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