Nobody should be surprised that the Chinese government has accessed, or can force access if they want to, to TikTok's user data.

But more importantly, we have learned that social media can "nudge" user behavior by curating what users see. Foreign adversaries have successfully gamed the hell out of Facebook's system that prioritizes engagement.

Now imagine the foreign adversary actually having control over the algorithm and optimize for nudging user behavior as the main goal. It's scary, and we now now it can be quite effective.

Facebook wasn't really hiding this. It's there in plain sight for those that download their data (as shown in the article).

Not emphasized in the article is that this was possible on Android and not on iOS.

Fun little video about Cambridge Analytica.
The human mind is feeble and easy to manipulate, and the tools and techniques to do it are ever more powerful.

One interesting takeaway:

"Last week, acting on a tip, we logged into Facebook’s automated ad system to see if “Jew hater” was really an ad category. We found it, but discovered that the category — with only 2,274 people in it — was too small for Facebook to allow us to buy an ad pegged only to Jew haters.

Facebook’s automated system suggested “Second Amendment” as an additional category that would boost our audience size to 119,000 people, presumably because its system had correlated gun enthusiasts with anti-Semites."

Interesting correlation. This is based on data mined from a gigantic sample size. If the system says there's a correlation it's because there is, not because it's inferred by a person. Make whatever conclusions you want to make. None are good.

“Their work amounts to what may well be the most far-reaching global censorship operation in history. It is also the least accountable”

Facebook was never prepared for the de facto position of responsibility over speech and communications they find themselves in.

This is interesting in several fronts. First of all, Facebook shouldn't try to present a business move as an altruistic move. It's hypocritical and reminds me too much of a different Internet company. But the net neutrality aspect is also important. It's very dangerous to make a single company the gatekeeper of speech and communications, which is what the Internet serves as a platform for.

Sketchy business models and more.

Very interesting article. One question is unanswered: A few years ago Google decided that Facebook was a huge threat and Google+ was their top priority. Today, that failed miserably yet Google looks as healthy as ever. Do they no longer perceive Facebook and "social" as such as big threat?

The comments are interesting too. Here's my take: If you care about your privacy, I recommend against installing software that runs at all times, on a computer you carry with you at all times, that has all sorts of personal information about you, and many sensors to get data on where you are and what you do; when said software is provided for free by a company that profits from gathering your personal data. How much did you pay Google for Android? How much did you pay Facebook for Facebook Home? How do these two companies make money?

I've been struggling trying to come up with a reliable way of automatically posting links I share on Delicious on my Facebook wall. Delicious people suggested IFTTT. If this shows up on Facebook, then it worked.

IFTTT is a very cool tool for automatic stuff on the internet. You should check it out.

This is really beautiful: select a country, and it visually shows you its relationships with other countries, quantified via Facebook's gigantic data set.

Signs you've lost the war: #hi5 social network let's you login using your #facebook account. http://t.co/srcQwbvq

Eduardo Saverin the ungrateful? http://t.co/rayx33EG #Facebook

Asking computer nerds to design social software is a little bit like hiring a Mormon bartender.

Ouch.

Facebook sucks when it comes to privacy. They walk the fine line between exposing all they can and pissing off your customers more than they should. I recommend you look into this script to help you verify your settings are properly configured.

Very interesting details on the very beginning of Facebook. To me Facebook is a shady, douche-like entity trying to violate your privacy as much as possible without getting into too much trouble. They keep testing the boundaries to see how far they can get. Unsurprisingly, looks like the ethics for the website come directly from the original founder.

Ever wondered how many user Facebook has per country? You're welcome, statistics junkie friend.

I've been spammed by some of my Facebook friends. They send you a message about some video, you click to see it and are taken to yuotube.com (yes, misspelled). There they tell you that you need a new version of Flash and prompt you to download. That, my friends, is the virus. I can see a lot of people falling from it. Virus writers are clever.