The proof that Facebook is broken is obvious from its very modus operandi | John Naughton

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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There's a secret basketball game going on via Facebook Messenger

Say goodbye to productivity: There’s a seriously addictive game of basketball going on via Facebook messenger, complete with celebratory emojis every time you score. Send a basketball emoji to a friend, or a group. Then click on the emoji to open your game. Boom. It seems simple enough at first.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Memphis' Matt Barnes denies going after Milwaukee's John Henson

DeAndre Jordan wrapped Matt Barnes in a bear hug. Chris Paul held up his phone so that his son could briefly chat with Barnes on FaceTime. But there was something about their former teammate on Saturday that the Clippers didn’t miss: more controversy. Barnes said he did not try to enter the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Blake to republish Paul Daniels' autobiography

John Blake Publishing is to republish Paul Daniels’ autobiography, retitled My Magic Life, as a “tribute to one of Britain’s greatest primetime entertainers”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john blake


March Madness teams are streaming live on Facebook

A quarter of the teams competing in this year’s March Madness men’s college basketball tournament have published a live video on Facebook. For many teams, the appeal of Facebook live video is that it’s easy to setup, often requiring only one shooter, and the reach that Facebook can offer as a... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook appeared #streaming live #live video


APS Awards triumph for OUP, John Smith and Blackwell’s

Blackwell’s, Oxford University Press and JS Group were all honoured at the annual Academic, Professional and Specialist Awards, held at Wotton House in Surrey last night (17th March). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Marketers Still Eager to Increase Spending on Facebook and Google, Study Finds

A record 57% of marketers and agencies are allocating 20% or more of budgets to digital advertising, including 23% who earmark more than half of their spending for digital, according to the most recent in a series of studies published by RBC Capital Markets in partnership with Ad Age. Two... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2016-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital spend #digital advertising #study finds #studies published


‘Super Tuesday 2’ was a big night for publishers streaming live on Facebook

“Super Tuesday 2” was a big night for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton -- and also for news outlets live streaming on Facebook. ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Univision, The Huffington Post and Vox.com were among the many publishers that published a live stream on the platform on Tuesday in an... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Few Words With Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s John Joseph Adams

In the long-running tension between pure entertainment and meaningful science-fiction and fantasy, anthologist John Joseph Adams says, 'We can have both. It just takes more work.' The post A Few Words With Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s John Joseph Adams appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nostalgic memoir Girl in the Spotty Dress to John Blake

John Blake is publishing a "nostalgia memoir", The Girl in the Spotty Dress, by Pat Stewart with Veronica Clark.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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MLB teams embrace Facebook live streaming during spring training

It’s not just news publishers and entertainment gossip sites, MLB teams are also in on the Facebook live streaming craze. The appeal for teams like the San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers is that Facebook live requires little manpower -- one or two people are enough for a typical broadcast.... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New WordPress plugin lets anyone create Facebook Instant Articles

Facebook's biggest news recently has been the global roll out of Reactions. But bubbling away in the background over recent weeks have been changes to the Instant Article program. Initially made available only to larger publishers, Facebook Instant Articles help to improve user-engagement by... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2016-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Battle For Mobile Web Ramps Up as WordPress Creates Plugin to Automate Facebook Instant Articles

WordPress parent Automattic has built a plugin for Facebook Instant Articles that will soon allow everyone in its user base to easily post content on the social media platform's walled garden.Instant Articles delivers content on mobile devices at blazing fast speeds. Come April 12, Facebook will... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2016-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #user base #walled garden #mobile devices #major publishers


WordPress blogs will soon support Facebook's Instant Articles

If you turn to Facebook for your daily news update, you may have come across Instant Articles. A small number of publishers are able to serve up news articles quickly for mobile devices right now, but from April 12th, the technology will be open to a... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2016-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Just Added Data to Help Brands See If They're Driving Offline Sales

Facebook Atlas, the social platform's ad server that extends far beyond its own site and apps, is getting a few noteworthy updates today.  The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company is announcing Offline Actions, which lets Atlas-using marketers upload their own point-of-sale data and view it... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Egyptian student will be allowed to leave U.S. voluntarily after Facebook threat against Trump

An Egyptian student at a Southern California flight school who was facing deportation for a Facebook threat against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will be allowed to leave the country voluntarily, an immigration agency spokeswoman said. During a hearing Friday morning at U.S.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook comments about Donald Trump could mean deportation for Egyptian student

An Egyptian student at a Southern California flight school is being held by immigration authorities and facing possible deportation after allegedly posting on Facebook that if he killed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump he would be doing the world a favor. Emad Elsayed, 23, was taken... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is letting publishers use Instant Articles to collect e-mail newsletter signups

Facebook has been running publishers’ content through Instant Articles for about a year, and now it’s letting some of them test newsletter sign-up messages. The New York Times and Washington Post are among those who are participating. The test seems addressed at the concern publishers have about... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How The Washington Post, Slate and other publishers are using Facebook Instant Articles

It's been almost a year since Facebook launched Instant Articles, giving publishers the promise of fast-loading pages if they gave up control over their content and distribution. With a rollout to all publishers just weeks away, participants including The Washington Post, Slate, LittleThings,... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook co-founder sells The New Republic to rich liberal publisher

After four years of running one of magazine publishing's great trophy properties, Facebook multimillionaire Chris Hughes has found a new owner for The New Republic. Win McCormack, an Oregonian... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2016-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #magazine publishing #win mccormack