Should Facebook introduce the “Fact-checker” on it’s newsfeed?

22

October

2016

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According the news, Tim Cook mentioned that Siri would pop out of the Iphone 8 and do all your household tasks. At least, that is what Facebook displayed on their news feed. Of course, this story is complete nonsense. But how could this pop up as a genuine news story on Facebook? This is not exceptional. The story that Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly was fired because she supported Hillary Clinton was trending for a few hours, despite any ground of evidence. How is it possible that these fake articles keep emerging occasionally? This is because Facebook uses algorithms instead of human editors to present the news. People can be fooled easily. If somebody posts a fake story, there are always people who believe it. People will like, comment on and share the story. As a result, will pop up on other people’s news feed because the algorithm seems to think that people find this post very interesting.  These actions will repeat themselves, which will lead to the fake story entering the trending topic page.

 

Many of you may think that a few of these accidents is not a big of a deal. Well, I think it is when you take a look at the vision of Facebook. Facebook wants to dominate the internet and introduce “notify”, which is an app that will send you a push notification about the news. This will give Facebook even more control about what news you will see. The least you can expect is the insurance that the stories are correct, right? Google is taking the right steps in this area.  Last week, they announced it would launch a fact-checker to validate the news stories. Among others, Google will cooperate with “Full Fact” to validate the stories and mark them as ‘validated’ when the story is reliable.

 

In my opinion, Facebook has to match this service if it wants to be a big player in the news industry. What do you think about the algorithms of Facebook? Let me know in the comments.

 

https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/12/facebook-still-trending-fake-news-stories/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/10/14/google-to-fact-check-online-news-stories/

https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/14/google-added-fact-checking-facebook-its-your-move-now/

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/facebook-wants-to-dominate-your-home-screen-with-notify-app?utm_term=.eivNN0ZxBP#.dyqkk3XZeK

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Snapchat’s ‘Spectacle’, the new way of capturing social media?

3

October

2016

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Ever felt the need to capture the moment as you see it with your own eyes? With Snapchat’s newest invention, this is possible. A brief guideline to how this future-like invention works. You put the Spectacle on, which looks like a trendy pair of sunglasses. When you touch the glasses’ rim one time, it records in a 115-degree wide view from your eye’s point of view for 10 seconds. When you tap the rim three times, it can record up on 30 seconds. It can be a big invention that can change the way we capture our social media, but is has some pitfalls as well.

As a pitfall, you can question if it is really necessary to have a second camera. Right now the status quo is to make photos and videos with your mobile phone. The biggest challenge for Snapchat is to prove that the first person view with 115-degree wide view provides better quality, even if you hold your phone in front of your eyes can have the same outcome.

Another issue, and potentially the most dangerous one, is the privacy. Imagine everyone having a pair of spectacles on their face, with one touch in under a second they can record anything they want. Right now people are used to people holding their camera so people know they are being filmed and can adjust their behavior. Snapchat is trying to fight this issue with a big warning light when the Spectacle is filming but it is only a matter of time before this will be by-passed.

But is also brings some positive things with it. Imagine you are at a concert of your favorite band. You want to enjoy it to the fullest, but you also want to capture the moment for later on. Right now you have to put your phone and stare at your screen for the best videos. With Spectacles, you can enjoy seeing your idol in real life and capture it at the same moment whereas you can edit and share it (after the concert).

Furthermore we can see scene’s we have never seen before. They can give an inside view of how the world is seen trough the eyes of the celebrities. What it’s like to be surrounded by bodyguards and how the performers themselves see the crowd when they give a concert. But you can also think of daily stuff you can record without having to use one hand to hold your phone, think of holding your baby with both hands as a parent.

The reputation and ambition of Snapchat may improve the changes of Spectacular to succeed. But the question will remain if Snapchat can overcome the pitfalls. What do you think, will it overcome the privacy issues and the status quo of using your phone or will it end op in the trashcan like Google’s glasses?

references:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/snapchat-releases-first-hardware-product-spectacles-1474682719?mod=e2tw

Snapchat’s Spectacles a Vision Test for CEO Evan Spiegel

https://www.cnet.com/news/snapchat-spectacles-glasses-camera-snap-inc-evan-spiegel/

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