I don't want to pee on the sacred ground that is Facebook mythology but it seems that, an ad and investor supported CMS for social, that becomes a public company, and applies a similar editorial algorithm to diverse cultures and demographics, needs must optimize for its most significant stakeholders. Investors want advertisers, advertisers want eyeballs, eyeballs can god damned be force-fed whatever content makes them click most. If Facebook news feed has become a rage-filled bubble-chamber that's because powerful forces demand it become that: human psychology, the zeitgeist, demographics and economics.
Bear with me while I lay it all out for you. Notice your natural rising rage to this presentation because the zeitgeist dictates you will prefer outrage to the deterministic positions of others, and I'll explain for you why that's the case in a minute.
Human psychology lets news feed push our buttons to make us come back. Our reptilian brains have enslaved us to be click slaves working for the world's bankers! The new exploited class... What a pitiful result for the first generation online and with the shiny tech. Information superhighway... Of broken dreams. But we are mostly happy in our blissful exploitation, and so the bankers are happy, because the best slaves are the ones that believe themselves free.
The zeitgeist dictates that outrage engages because outrage has become the main currency you can trade in for being right. In a world that has exchanged old authority values for new authority values, there's a transition period of authority looting which is where we are now. The crowd naturally gets a little mad and scared when the values that used to lead the crowd suddenly dematerialize, and in the age of authority looting everybody runs around trying to get as much authority for themselves as they can. And it turns out that the way individuals can loot authority for themselves in these troubled times is by taking it from others. So outrage engages because outrage let's you pretend others are wrong so you can pretend you are right, thereby lootin some sweet authority for yourself. And social CMS systems are obviously an efficient arena for this.
Demographics mean the global billion-user social CMS must optimize its algorithms for people and groups who are the largest and of which you are not necessarily a member. Prepare for moments of jarring discomfort as you encounter the Other, algorithmically abstracted for you for your viewing pleasure.
The economics of its revenue and financing structure, means that the Face is answerable to investors, advertisers then us. Human churn is less costly than advertiser churn. To run a business like this and make it profitable you have to be ruthless about the things which earn you money and about the things which dont.
But we must never fall into the trap of criticising our benevolent billionaire overlords, who graciously provide these systems for our benefit. They are simply trying to connect all of humanity in a harmony of unity and the beauty of oneness....hmmm, I could believe that if by connecting everyone you meant put them in a glass jar with little air and watching them fight for scarce resources of credibility and popularity. But who knows... Maybe this pressure cooker actually improves humanity in some way. I guess the question is are such systems a selective pressure for good ideas or does it simply bring out the worst of our natures?
The Face is clearly a social experiment. And it's an adaptive company. If the Zeitgeist was different I'm sure their algorithms would be optimizing to create different sorts of experiences for us.
And I don't think the Face is dying unless our whole human civilization is. Which I think is unlikely. It might be ugly, but Facebook is a reflection of us. It's the interactive mirror. Some people don't like looking in the mirror. It's not surprising. It can be uncomfortable. To see your true Face.
If you don't like what you see don't blame The Zuck blame yourselves. It's just showing you who you really are. To get where you're going you got to start where you are right? Maybe it's a good thing that we can all see ourselves so clearly now.