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Facebook abandons its "trend" disorder section, announced Friday the social network
The section, launched in 2014, was designed to help users quickly find interesting topics on the social networking site. But Alex Hardiman, head of the company's information products, said in a blog that users were switching to the consumption of information on their phones and videos.
"So we are exploring new ways of informing people about the news that matters to them, while ensuring that the news they see on Facebook comes from reputable sources and sources. quality, "she said.
The trend section had been a headache for the company. It drew notoriety in 2016 after a Gizmodo report detailed allegations that the management team was suppressing conservative news. The reaction of the conservatives led Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to extend an olive branch, organizing a meeting at his company's headquarters with more than two dozen conservative personalities, including Glenn Beck, Dana Perino and Tucker Carlson. Facebook has finally fired the editors of the trend team, replacing them with an automated process.
But the conservation of new trends in the absence of human supervision has led to more recoil and embarrassment. The algorithms have encouraged the conspiracy theories of September 11, a fake story about Fox News host, Megyn Kelly, and a parody article about the magical features of the iPhone, which according to some were the first indicators Facebook's misinformation problem. The company continued to edit the section, but Facebook said that over time it has become less useful to users.
Media analysts have argued that Facebook's reaction to allegations of anti-conservative bias has led the company to adopt a more lax approach. misinformation campaign during the 2016 elections. In recent months, Facebook, which continues to be criticized by right-wing circles, has launched several initiatives to counter the accusations of political bias, misinformation and transparency in political advertising
. a political consulting firm got inappropriate access to names, "likes" and other personal data from 87 million Facebook users. Lawmakers in Congress and in Europe have raised the possibility of drafting new regulations to address Facebook's privacy breaches. Some critics have even called on antitrust officials to dismantle the company.
In Friday's announcement, Facebook also said that 80 publishers were testing a "last minute" tag that they can pin to their articles on the site's news feed. At the same time, Facebook is experimenting with last-minute notifications, a section dedicated to local news and a video feature that allows US users to watch live coverage and weekly reports.
Hardiman said Facebook will remove the trend section next week
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