# Facebook reportedly ignored its own research showing algorithms divided users - The Verge - Host: [theverge.com](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/theverge.com/) - Saved: May 28, 2020 (2020-05-29T04:10:16Z) - Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/b0cd00a598ab/ - JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/b0cd00a598ab.json ## What Jamie wrote Facebook knows very well how negatively their product affects people, society, and most everything else they touch. > “Our algorithms exploit the human brain’s attraction to divisiveness,” one slide from the presentation read. The group found that if this core element of its recommendation engine were left unchecked, it would continue to serve Facebook users “more and more divisive content in an effort to gain user attention & increase time on the platform.” A separate internal report, crafted in 2016, said 64 percent of people who joined an extremist group on Facebook only did so because the company’s algorithm recommended it to them, the WSJ reports. They know all of this. The [subscription link at WSJ](https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-knows-it-encourages-division-top-executives-nixed-solutions-11590507499) has all the details. They will never fix this because they have built an addictive surveillance engine that turns your privacy and time into revenue. To fix it, would be to break it. There is no value underneath it. As a consumer, you should seek to **not have algorithms meditating your content!**. This is one of the reasons I avoid these platforms. They are controlling the information diet into your brain, and as a result, they can control you. I’ve commented in the past that I suspect social media, particularly Facebook, will be like smoking. At one time, everyone did it. Now it’s seen as gross. The big blue Facebook icon on your phone is the future Marlboro unfiltered. Additionally, we will find that these companies knew how bad their products were for people and hid it, just like tobacco CEO’s testifying in congress that their products were not addictive. All the while they knew full well that they were. ## Facts - Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/) ## Appears in - [WT150: Weekly Thing #150 / Speed, Insane Videoconferencing, OmniFocus, LaTeX](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/150/), Must Read ## Same host - [Nintendo Switch overtakes SNES with more than 52 million sold - The Verge](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/343444af5dcf/) (theverge.com, January 30, 2020) - [Apple announces new iPad Pro with trackpad support and a wild keyboard cover - The Verge](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/245478ef5cca/) (theverge.com, March 19, 2020) - [Here’s how the iPad’s new trackpad actually works - The Verge](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/adc5e7f331d8/) (theverge.com, March 19, 2020) - [IBM will no longer offer, develop, or research facial recognition technology - The Verge](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/049dca64ac86/) (theverge.com, June 9, 2020) - [Face masks are breaking facial recognition algorithms, says new government study - The Verge](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/f94622b9d504/) (theverge.com, August 23, 2020) ## Saved the same week - [Obsidian](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/11796bc7cd9e/) (obsidian.md, May 28, 2020) - [The Small Web](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/d607f99e6452/) (neustadt.fr, May 28, 2020) - [Supabase](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/e7766e3a97f3/) (supabase.io, May 28, 2020) - [Hyperdeck Markdown Presentations for iPad and macOS](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/64f72a6363b4/) (hyperdeck.io, May 28, 2020) - [Internet Speed Test - Measure Network Performance | Cloudflare](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/4d69e4f2426f/) (speed.cloudflare.com, May 28, 2020) ## Elsewhere - Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/26/21270659/facebook-division-news-feed-algorithms