Google's CEO says fake news could have swung the election

by FluteHolder Tue Nov 15, 2016 5:13 pm

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/googles-ceo-says-fake-news-181402707.html

by Idéfix Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:46 pm

Google News, Facebook and social media in general have created a big problem for public discourse. Their curation algorithms only present you stories that they think you will like. So they will show you news stories that reinforce your preexisting beliefs and biases. This polarizes opinion among the people who care to be opinionated about politics. And for the majority who are not opinionated about politics, it makes both sides look equally bad, and builds on their distaste for politics.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:48 pm

Idéfix wrote:Google News, Facebook and social media in general have created a big problem for public discourse. Their curation algorithms only present you stories that they think you will like. So they will show you news stories that reinforce your preexisting beliefs and biases. This polarizes opinion among the people who care to be opinionated about politics. And for the majority who are not opinionated about politics, it makes both sides look equally bad, and builds on their distaste for politics.

I am sure that contributed. But I hope it does not become an excuse for not doing the hard work of self reflection, namely not paying enough attention to the concerns of the economically dispossessed.

by Propagandhi711 Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:53 pm

Idéfix wrote:Google News, Facebook and social media in general have created a big problem for public discourse. Their curation algorithms only present you stories that they think you will like. So they will show you news stories that reinforce your preexisting beliefs and biases. This polarizes opinion among the people who care to be opinionated about politics. And for the majority who are not opinionated about politics, it makes both sides look equally bad, and builds on their distaste for politics.

how is this is any different than ppl subscribing to newspapers that reinforce their own political leanings?

by truthbetold Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:49 am

Prop,
It is not. Both area news Providers. But it is much more easier to create these news media online (low bar to entry) and minimal long term impact . If an online news source loses credibility, they can fold and move very easily.

by southindian Wed Nov 16, 2016 8:49 am

FluteHolder wrote:http://finance.yahoo.com/news/googles-ceo-says-fake-news-181402707.html

Off course, fake news played a big part in swaying people's opinion against Hillary and moron Trump tweeted and forwarded fake news.

When asked about in interview/video he said, "I don't know if its real or not." But his sharing fake news with his followers did the damage.

by Idéfix Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:22 pm

Propagandhi711 wrote:
Idéfix wrote:Google News, Facebook and social media in general have created a big problem for public discourse. Their curation algorithms only present you stories that they think you will like. So they will show you news stories that reinforce your preexisting beliefs and biases. This polarizes opinion among the people who care to be opinionated about politics. And for the majority who are not opinionated about politics, it makes both sides look equally bad, and builds on their distaste for politics.

how is this is any different than ppl subscribing to newspapers that reinforce their own political leanings?

In two important ways:

1. Newspapers don't filter articles to match my individual opinions. I can choose to not read some articles based on headlines, but I can't pretend that those stories don't exist. With social media news channels, you literally don't know what you are missing.

2. While most newspapers do have either a liberal or a conservative orientation, they are not on the extreme left or the extreme right. WSJ and NYT are closer to each other in orientation than NYT and Mother Jones on the one hand, and WSJ and Breibart on the other.

When you take these two together, we have a really bad effect of pushing people away from the center of the political spectrum.

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Google's CEO says fake news could have swung the election

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Re: Google's CEO says fake news could have swung the election