Instagram and Threads will no longer recommend political content
engadget.com
engadget.com
I am of two minds on this - on one hand, do we really want Meta, a knowing producer of wildly attention-addictive products, to be the ones directing public discourse? No. Of course we don’t.
On the other hand, it’s clear Meta and the rest of the platforms are legitimately scared, and are going to wind down anything even slightly problematic, which is a bummer for the free web.
On balance this is probably a net positive for society as a whole, so I’m supportive of this change.
It's controversial national issues - that sometimes aren't even happening - and hot takes. There's no governance discourse, there's no actual organising or calls to action, it's just 'x happened, scream about how bad the other side are here.'
If it were actual politics the division problem wouldn't be so bad.
Always has been.
I’m pretty happy about this. I started losing interest in Threads the moment the politics started showing up which didn’t take very damn long.
> Meta will no longer recommend political content to users on Instagram or Threads, according to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri. He said that users will still see political content from accounts they follow, but the apps will no longer “proactively amplify” such posts.
So it's giving people an option, and even better, an opt-in option. That seems like the furthest thing from controversy to me.
For people asking what their definition of political is:
> Mosseri didn’t elaborate on how Meta will determine what counts as “political,” but a Meta spokesperson said it would include election-related topics and social issues.
> “Our definition of political content is content likely to be about topics related to government or elections; for example, posts about laws, elections, or social topics,” the spokesperson said. “These global issues are complex and dynamic, which means this definition will evolve as we continue to engage with the people and communities who use our platforms and external experts to refine our approach.”
And for the people who might be wondering if this will apply to accounts they already follow...
> While Meta will limit its suggestions related to these topics by default, those who do want to see such content will be able to opt-in via Instagram and Threads’ settings. The company said the update won’t affect how people see posts from accounts they’ve chosen to follow. “Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person’s appetite for it,” Mosseri said.
These measures are meaningless because defining what's political can really be a way to just shut the opposition down, no matter which side you are on.
> So it's giving people an option, and even better, an opt-in option. That seems like the furthest thing from controversy to me.
In other words, an echo chamber.
Most "political" content on these platforms is actually ideological content, which is worthless.
The difference between the two is that political content is things that mostly facts about the political processes, and pretty much non existant on any social media. Whereas the ideological content that is prevalent on social media is the narrative pushing, virtue signaling opinions of people that dgaf about truth.