Re:Facebook lost around 2.8M U.S. users under 25 last year
by ryanmarsh on Monday February 12, 2018 @03:56PM
(#16362040)
Facebook's algorithm almost seems like a quintessential example of why you need to choose good metrics in optimization problems.
IMHO Facebook gave the golden goose (algo) enough feed to gorge itself on and now it is unhealthy and only lays rusty iron eggs.
Yes, they optimized for engagement, and it destroyed the platform. This is like a parable or something. Truly.
In business school 10 years from now I fully expect people to write case studies on the business effects of algo optimization and local minima, etc, etc...
Re:Facebook lost around 2.8M U.S. users under 25 last year
by cortesoft on Monday February 12, 2018 @04:29PM
(#16362402)
But they get paid per eyeball, not by the enjoyment level of the people using the system. They don't care WHY you can't keep your eyes away, as long as you can't keep your eyes away.
From their end, their metric was perfect.
Re:Facebook lost around 2.8M U.S. users under 25 last year
by opportune on Monday February 12, 2018 @04:38PM
(#16362500)
Perfect in the short-term, sure, but if people are leaving the platform then their long-term eyeballs might be suffering for the sake of short-term eyeballs
Re:Facebook lost around 2.8M U.S. users under 25 last year
by Balgair on Monday February 12, 2018 @04:44PM
(#16362564)
It's worse that that. Not only does FB as a company get paid per eyeball, the individual managers get paid per eyeball. Inside the org, the incentives are perverse.
https://www.wired.com/story/inside-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-...
You know how Facebook tries to get me engaged? It puts photos of my ex-girlfriend and her friends on the top of my feed. Sure you're going to get me to look, but I'm not going to leave the website feeling as good as when I logged on. You bring up a good point about how you have to think about the long term consequences of your viewing, but then I feel that you don't get a genuine experience when you use the platform, and if Facebook wants this, they seem to really over-estimate users' mindfulness wrt what they're actually doing.
If Facebook never figures things out, I hope whatever network comes next doesn't get greedy like they did. In particular, they need to focus on driving engagement with positive interactions and content.