Facebook is bombarding rightwing users with ads for combat gear
Yet one more interesting article (this one from Jan. 26th) on how the algorithms behind Facebook manipulate its users and divide people.
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Facebook is bombarding rightwing users with ads for combat gear. See for yourself
Igor Vamos
Facebook announced that it will be temporarily banning some ads for gun accessories and body armor. It’s not enough
On 16 January, Facebook announced that it will be “banning ads that promote weapon accessories and protective equipment in the US at least through January 22”. To those of us who have been observing the world of Trump-supporting social media, this announcement is a manipulative piece of whitewashing that obscures how Facebook’s algorithms continue to divide people the world over.
*snip*
My pro-Trump feeds are personalized e-commerce sites for Capitol invaders. The rare ads that do not sell tactical gear and accessories for armed combat pitch survival and security products, from enhanced door locks to backup generators. But the fact that you can buy stuff by clicking the links doesn’t even matter. What matters is what being surrounded by those ads does to your mind.
*snip*
But today that universe seeks and surrounds you. When you first join Facebook you make a few choices of your own. But soon the algorithm starts narrowing your options and deciding what further choices to present to you. Because many of us rely on a limited number of news sources that populate our social media feeds, our information universe becomes more and more niche. For Trump supporters, that universe is often paramilitary
*snip*
The problem we face as a society isn’t just fake news or political advertising. It is the math that drives the whole system. The platforms claim that their advertising algorithms give us what we want. That may be the case with the first few clicks or friends, but very quickly the algorithm is in control. Like the pied piper, it leads us into a land of extremes.
Full story at:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/26/facebook-ads-combat-gear-rightwing-users
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This is exactly how people get teased down the various rabbit holes the internet is peppered with.
