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Comment by rock_hard | Hacker News Reader

Spot on analysis!

"Human progress has never been shaped by commentators, complainers or cynics."

To me, facebook is this amazing place where I get to stay in touch with all my friends and family, get to plan events with them, laugh about cat gifs and live through the highs and lows of life together.

So much good has happened to me through facebook...friends, jobs, love (I met my wife on FB).

And the fact that every day there is millions more joining facebook means more people get to have these super powers of hyper connectedness I got to have for over 10 years already!

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It also affects your mental health negatively when you are constantly bombarded by the highlight reels of all your acquaintances and start comparing yourself subconsciously.

Oh let's not forget the actual user manipulation:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/every...

But few users expect that Facebook would change their News Feed in order to manipulate their emotional state."

Can you cite actual peer reviewed research to back that claim...because I have yet to read anything that’s not a simple opinion piece!

Because intuitively I don’t buy it!

I am sure some people can be exposed to content on Facebook that affects their mental health negatively ...but compared to what? Reading the New York Times also affects people’s mental health negatively but we are also not comparing them to big tabacco!

Curious, do you work for Facebook?

Nope

Sure, no one's upset that you met your wife on Facebook.

We're upset about the malicious psychological experiments, spying on teens, them enabling discrimination, election manipulation and genocide, shadow profiles, etc.

You've either not been paying attention the last 10 years, or the answer to the question in the other reply must be "hell yes and proud of it".

> spying on teens

Worth noting that "the app was targeted to users ages 13 to 35 (5 percent of whom were teenagers)." [0]

Google had a similar app. I don't think that makes Facebook's app better, but it's interesting how the media reports on the Facebook app and not the Google one.

[0] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/01/facebook-and-google-...

Can you cite factual sources for your claims?

Cause all I see in the news everyday are opinion pieces and hyperbole

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