Professor sues Meta to allow release of feed-killing tool for Facebook ( arstechnica.com )

delirious_owl , 9 days ago

This is insane. The filters for the feed should be built-in. Its annoying that we have to use a third party for this, and they have no right saying what tools I use to improve their product

otter , 10 days ago

This browser extension "would allow Facebook users to automatically unfollow their friends, groups, and pages, and, in doing so, to effectively turn off their newsfeeds, which Facebook algorithmically sorts to drive user engagement," the Knight Institute said in a statement.

Interesting, I've been doing that manually for a while now (not Facebook though, I haven't opened that feed in years).

Here's an article from 2021:

https://slate.com/technology/2021/10/facebook-unfollow-everything-cease-desist.html

pelespirit OP , 9 days ago

Nice, it looks like you can do it manually too.

When I unfollowed everything for the first time, I did it manually. I spent hours using a Facebook-provided feature to click unfollow on each of my friends, groups, and pages.

SoupBrick , 10 days ago (edited 10 days ago)

Let's give Meta a chance in the Fediverse. They can't do that much damage, right?

pelespirit OP , 10 days ago

Meta (or similar) probably is already running one of our major instances. We don't know who actually owns all of them.

haui_lemmy , 10 days ago

Probably but thats not the issue. The issue is mass influx of badly moderated and likely, eventually ad ridden content. They can totally read all my stuff. I dont want them to push their shit on my server and I dont want them to gain power over my feed. What would happen if I defederated lemmy.world tomorrow? Exactly, my feed would be 75% shorter because most stuff is on there. With meta, world is suddenly 10% of the feed and meta is 90.

pelespirit OP , 10 days ago

Why not both being an issue? Why wouldn't they say who they really are if they're a major corporation.

haui_lemmy , 10 days ago

Because thats how the world works. People lie and studies shown that big corporations act like psychopaths. You will never get rid of this thing. Also, everyone in the whole world can just read your content off every fediverse server your server federates to, manually or through scraping. It literally is a nonissue if they made an undercover instance because they can read it everywhere.

But that is also the idea. If your message can be gotten everywhere, nobody can artificially ransom them for money (looking at you, reddit, stack overflow, facebook, twitter, etc).

This fact is rarely discussed but a major factor why the fediverse helps with democratization of the internet. Free information.

pelespirit OP , 9 days ago

I'm pro-fediverse, that's why I think it's just as bad. There is one instance in particular, that has the vast majority of Lemmy, that is controlling the narrative for most Lemmy users and it probably will only get worse. I was banned from that one because an admin was curating what I said. Now I don't really have a voice over there because I'm not savvy enough to do an alt that they couldn't tell. So here I am, not being able to let people know that I've noticed them being curated and they've also banned my community in the biggest instance (that one I like).

This fact is rarely discussed but a major factor why the fediverse helps with democratization of the internet. Free information.

Absolutely, I want to keep it that way. I think corporations taking over one of the big instances would be subtle and will have terrible consequences for the fediverse. People sign up for it, not knowing, and then get curated just like on Facebook.

haui_lemmy , 9 days ago

I'm pro-fediverse, that's why I think it's just as bad.

We probably mean the same but look at it through different lenses. I also want the fediverse to succeed. Therefore I host 4 fediverse instances.

But you have to understand that keeping anyone (especially tech companies with tons of knowledge) from reading this stuff is 1. impossible and 2. against the freedom idea of the fediverse.

There is one instance in particular, that has the vast majority of Lemmy

That would be world

not being able to let people know that I've noticed them being curated

And why is that a problem? You cant keep people in **** from being shot either and we‘re not making a fuss about it from what I can tell. I suggest we focus on the things we can while we can. Otherwise we wont get the stuff done that we actually have the power and influence for.

I think corporations taking over one of the big instances would be subtle and will have terrible consequences for the fediverse.

Again, something you cant influence. I defederated meta and will defederate anyone else who pushes ads or other shit content. If other admins do the same we will automatically separate from shit content.

Be the change you want to see and either make your own instance or donate to the one you’re on. Also, tell others the same thing and we will get to a better place guaranteed. The system of the fediverse is already great because its democratic. Our only enemy is i fighting.

pelespirit OP , 9 days ago

I think we're on the same page, I don't care if they read my feed in the slightest. Reddit made a shit ton off of me and my friends and I didn't care about that either. They were providing a free service and I used it, make money. My issue with reddit was/is, they think they're the product and treat everyone as such.

Be the change you want to see

Yep, that's one of the things I'm doing right here by getting the word out for everyone to spread out through the Fediverse. People were saying that when I joined, but I didn't understand what the ramifications were. Of course, I can't tell anyone on the largest instance, lol.

tias , 10 days ago

Zuckerman vs Zuckerberg. Who will win, the man... or the berg? Either way, they're both Zuckers.

glouriousgouda , 10 days ago (edited 10 days ago)

I stopped using all social media that insists on taking control of my content a long while ago. History has taught us that the laws flow with, and follow the money. And Meta has a lot of it.
Just don't use the products, and use these examples as to "why" you won't when pressed. It's gross that we are wanting to be a part of a product that isn't for us.
Why would you want to exist in that, when it is such a difficult experience? I just can't wrap my head around it.

autotldr Bot , 10 days ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

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His privacy-friendly browser extension, Unfollow Everything 2.0, is designed to essentially give users a switch to turn the newsfeed on and off whenever they want, providing a way to eliminate or curate the feed.

The tool is nearly ready to be released, Zuckerman told Ars, but the University of Massachusetts Amherst associate professor is afraid that Facebook owner Meta might threaten legal action if he goes ahead.

In 2021, Meta sent a cease-and-desist letter to the creator of the original Unfollow Everything, Louis Barclay, leading that developer to shut down his tool after thousands of Facebook users had eagerly downloaded it.

In picking this unusual legal fight with Meta, the professor—seemingly for the first time ever—is attempting to tip Section 230's shield away from Big Tech and instead protect third-party developers from giant social media platforms.

Through this provision, Congress intended to promote the development of filtering tools that enable users to curate their online experiences and avoid content they would rather not see.

Ramya Krishnan, a senior staff attorney at the Knight Institute who helped draft Zuckerman's complaint, told Ars that some Facebook users are concerned that the newsfeed "prioritizes inflammatory and sensational speech," and they "may not want to see that kind of content."

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The original article contains 593 words, the summary contains 206 words. Saved 65%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!