Facebook has exploded since I made my first photo album on the social media platform back in eighth grade.
About eight years later, Facebook’s non-threatening interface and promise of instant communication gratification has people all over the world logging on.
With 2 billion users, Facebook has a population larger than any country in the world. Half of those log in every month, which is an impressive feat for any social media.
Unfortunately, with the power of connecting that Facebook has given to millions of people, comes the threat of heavily influencing democracy. An interesting article by Alyssa Bereznak explains Facebook’s influence specifically on democracy in the U.S during the 2016 election cycle.
Among the many issues Facebook has added over the years, including ease of online bullying, fake accounts on the platform have inflated the popularity of people who are paying for the privilege.
Inside social media’s black market: Celebrities, athletes and politicians are buying millions of fake followers, while social media companies struggle to respond https://t.co/A4Z8xzEJA8
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 27, 2018
With change also came more issues with the platforms news feed that is biased towards payed advertising and adjusted based on user’s preferences. Some people have answers they find obvious for news feed troubles.
I have more great news: You can fix everything wrong with the facebook news feed by ignoring it.
— Michael Dearing (@mcgd) January 26, 2018
My advice for fixing Facebook would start with a focus on tighter security on accounts that aim to use foreign influence and trolls to impact democracy not only in the U.S. but around the world.
The lessons learned from tracking and stopping these types of users could then be used to broaden transparency for who is paying for followers and inflating social media influence.
At some point, social media platforms like Facebook may need to be federally regulated in order to protect national security. Until then, Facebook may stay on track to running the world of social media.
I really liked your take on this blog post. I thought that the tweet you embedded brings the conversations into a more in depth discussion of how Facebook really does affect our lives in many different ways. I do also agree that there needs to be more regulations that’ll protect our safety, and I also find it interesting how you are implying that Facebook has a monopoly on social media. I definitely think that this is true and needs to be changed in the future.