Despite employing a small army of contractors to monitor posts, it’s clear the company is no longer fit for purposeWay back in the 1950s, a pioneering British cybernetician, W Ross Ashby, proposed a fundamental law of dynamic systems. In his book An Introduction to Cybernetics, he formulated his law of requisite variety, which defines “the minimum number of states necessary for a controller to control a system of a given number of states”. In plain English, it boils down to this: for a system to be viable, it has to be able to absorb or cope with the complexity of its environment. And there are basically only two ways of achieving viability in those terms: either the system manages to control (or reduce) the variety of its environment, or it has to increase its internal capacity (its “variety”) to match what is being thrown at it from the environment.Sounds abstruse, I know, but it has a contemporary resonance. Specifically, it provides a way of understanding some of the current internal turmoil in Facebook as it grapples with the problem of keeping unacceptable, hateful or psychotic content off its platform. Two weeks ago, the New York Times was leaked 1,400 pages from the rulebooks that the company’s moderators are trying to follow as they police the stuff that flows through its servers. According to the paper, the leak came from an employee who said he “feared that the company was exercising too much power, with too little oversight – and making too many mistakes”.... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is making it easier for people in Germany to report fake news, but it might not be enough to convince publishers that it's willing to help turn the platform into a distribution channel for serious journalism. Publishers have been keen for more discussion with the platform about how to... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2017-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For a while, Facebook was obsessed with live video -- it even paid publishers to make sure there was a steady flow of professionally-shot streams on offer. However, Zuckerberg and company appear to be tempering their enthusiasm a little bit. Recode s... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2017-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The BBC is set to adapt another John le Carre novel, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, after its success with The Night Manager, which scooped awards at the Golden Globes last week. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A roundup of some of our best stories this week: We spoke with publishers about reports that Facebook will start showing ads in the middle of videos. And we spoke with publishers who insist their reporters get an earlier start to their days. Publishers have also found a way to frack more traffic... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2017-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is bringing new publishers into its ad network, including Washington Post, Wenner Media and Univision, and the social network now claims to reach a billion people a month outside its own walls.On Thursday, Facebook announced the updated roster to Audience Network, which has become its... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers are hopeful about the chance to finally turn their Facebook videos into a revenue stream, but creative challenges await them. Ads could bring a welcome source of revenue, but videos will have to be edited with breaks in mind. And most online video that's out there now isn't good... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2017-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher’s short-form Facebook videos have been on the wane after the algorithm has prioritized Facebook Live and the news feed has become flooded with content. Six months ago a well-performing video from The Sun would fetch 250,000 views, now it’s good to get over 100,000. In 2016, The... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2017-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The tale of a hubristic Georgian book editor is an early example of trolling, and a lesson for us allThe case of the 18th-century man of letters John Hawkesworth is not often invoked, perhaps because no one has heard of him. Books of notable Georgians in England go straight from Hawke to Haydon.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The social network has long resisted the "media" label. But with its new Journalism Project, it just took a big step in that direction. The social network has long resisted the "media" label. But with its new Journalism Project, it just took a big step in that... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2017-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In recent months, a lot of ink was spilled to criticize Facebook’s role in the dissemination of news, especially related to the past U.S. presidential election. On Wednesday, the company announced a new suite of initiatives aimed at improving its collaboration with journalists and media... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2017-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a move likely meant to stay on publishers' good side, Facebook is trying out a new way to help users discover more news (real news). Starting Thursday, Facebook will let nearly a dozen publishers—including BuzzFeed, El Pais, Fox News and The Washington Post—include more than one Instant... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2017-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a blog post on Wednesday, Facebook laid out a fairly elaborate plan to promote better media reporting and consumption. Called the Facebook Journalism Project, it includes a local news initiative, new storytelling formats and fighting hoaxes, among other items. With the current debate about... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2017-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Insider, Business Insider’s lifestyle site, has spun off a dozen Facebook pages, including home, art, dessert, beauty -- and even cheese. "People will follow this page because they love cheese," Insider editor in chief Nicholas Carlson said. "And they know exactly what they’re going to get from... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2017-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Look out, YouTube. Facebook is trialing mid-roll ads for videos that are viewed for at least 20 seconds, according to a report today by Recode, which cited unnamed industry sources. The digital giant declined to comment on the report. Simply put, Facebook wants to generate cash from the clips... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2017-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Religion publishers aim to mend broken hearts this season with new books that inject spirituality into the healing process. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook has hired former NBC and CNN anchor Campbell Brown to help with its ties to news outlets, which has been a point of friction. Brown will be the Menlo Park company’s head of news partnerships, she wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. “I will be working directly with our partners to help... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2017-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The appearance of what appeared to be an hour-long torture video on Facebook Live could undermine efforts to get more brands and publishers to try out the feature.On Wednesday, Chicago police confirmed that they were investigating a disturbing assault that was livestreamed on Facebook's video... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Medium, the online publishing company started by Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, is changing its business model and cutting a third of its staff.The company, which has raised $132 million in venture capital from investors including Greylock Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, relied on the same... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YouTube isn't the only site record labels are taking issue with when it comes to copyright infringement. Financial Times reports that music publishers want Facebook to license music that gets posted on its site and take down any user-submitted videos... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2016-12-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media ownership is being overhauled as companies try to figure out their place in a world where 85 percent of digital dollars are going to two companies: Facebook and Google. The platform giants' dominance were factors in AT&T's $85 billion bid for Time Warner and other mega deals that were... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2016-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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