Are Facebook Right to Fight Borderline Content?
In a bid to better the user experience, Facebook has changed its News Feed algorithm to discourage borderline content.
In Facebook’s blog post, where Zuckerberg shared the new update, clickbait content is referred to as “borderline”, meaning it doesn’t technically break Facebook’s rules but people are mistakenly engaging with sensationalist, misleading content.
According to Zuckerberg, people engage more with borderline content compared to other forms of content. Even though Facebook users say they don’t like the content they continue to engage with it.
Speaking about the problem of borderline content, The Facebook founder commented, “We train AI systems to detect borderline content, so we can distribute that content less.
The category we’re most focused on is click-bait and misinformation. People consistently tell us these types of content make our services worse — even though they engage with them.”
“The single most important improvement in enforcing our policies is using artificial intelligence to proactively report potentially problematic content to our team of reviewers, and in some cases to take action on the content automatically as well.”
What You Should Consider
When you’re writing a blog post, for instance, double check that the content within the blog is what people would expect to read after reading your headline.
Bloggers and businesses need to take caution and be extra careful that their content isn’t deceitful, sensationalised or misinforming. Content may be penalised, so your reach would likely drop.
What About Your Voice?
As the news roles out about the new algorithm update, Facebook may face criticism for preventing free expression, particularly from some political groups who depend on borderline content to spread their messages.
“In the next year, we’re planning to create a new way for people to appeal content decisions to an independent body, whose decisions would be transparent and binding. The purpose of this body would be to uphold the principle of giving people a voice while also recognizing the reality of keeping people safe.”
What We Think
If we’re being honest, no one appreciates clickbait headlines. They’re incredibly annoying, because the headline intrigues you yet the content is disappointing.
Clickbait is a problem Facebook has been battling for a while, and the issue certainly won’t go away overnight, but it’s certainly a step-in right direction for the social network.
We’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you think? Is this a good move for Facebook? Will it work? Will Facebook face disapproval? Let us know in the comment section below.
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About the author:
Marie Harwood is a Digital Marketing Assistant at Different Gravy Digital, Hale, Cheshire.
Different Gravy Digital are a full service Digital Marketing Agency operating in the Hospitality & Leisure, Financial Services, Legal & Property sectors. Products and services range from; 3D & 360° Tours, Website Design & Build, Social Media, Video Production, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Content Creation, Email Marketing, Online Feedback / Review Systems and Paid Advertising (Google, Bing and Social Media).
Contact Details:
marie@differentgravydigital.co.uk
0161 706 0004
120a Ashley Road, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 2UN