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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Another 13 U.K. publishers are signed up to start using Facebook’s Instant Articles, including The Daily Telegraph, The Mirror, The Daily Mail and The Economist, Sky News, sports site 90min.com and The Sun. The BBC and ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is updating its policies for Instant Articles, per a rep with the company, which could mean up to 40 percent more ads for publishers on the platform. Starting today, publishers utilizing Instant Articles will be able to place an ad every 350 words instead of every 500 words, according... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2015-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been ordered to depose in an intellectual property dispute between Oculus and ZeniMax Media, as he has "unique knowledge" of his decision to buy and his valuation of the wearable virtual reality technology company. ZeniMax sued Oculus in May 2014 for exploiting... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Allison’s new series about young women off to college looks to repeat the success of another Boom! Studios series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is changing the advertising policies for its Instant Articles platform, after publishers said restrictions made it too hard for them to generate revenue from content they posted to the social network’s new feature. & ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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European data protection authorities want Facebook to stop using cookies to track people who don't have a Facebook account.As part of a case brought by the Belgian Privacy Commission, a Brussels court ordered Facebook in an interim ruling not to track people in Belgium using its "datr" cookie... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read.I Tried Holiday Shopping on Fa... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's been a big year for Andy Weir, author of acclaimed sci-fi novel The Martian. His bestselling book -- originally published serially for free on his personal website -- was turned into a similarly excellent movie starring Matt Damon and Jessica Ch... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook might be sending less traffic to publishers’ websites now than it did in January, or more traffic, or the same amount of traffic. It depends on who you ask. In recent years publishers have increasingly relied on Faceboo ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Memories being returned and love being rekindled (or not) were the draw for Oncers in the "Broken Heart" episode of "Once Upon a Time," but it may not have brought clarity and it definitely opened up cans of worms for the rest of the season. As we begin, Dark Emma Swan still can't move. Squid... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 15th edition of the media power list finds change in the air, with digital challengers elbowing aside older moguls – but a long way to go on diversity• Women on the rise, but much still to do on diversity• Your interactive guide to the MediaGuardian 100 Back in 2001, when this list was first... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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?As soon as Jeff Bezos heard about Facebook Instant Articles, he wanted to participate. “We saw [Bezos] in Sun Valley,” Dan Rose, the VP of partnerships at Facebook, said in a recent panel at the Paley Int ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oneworld is to publish a book on ‘Jihadi John’ by British journalist Robert Verkaik, the only journalist to have met and interviewed Muhammed Emwazi. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google introduced its Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) program to allow publishers and advertisers to create good-looking mobile content that loads very quickly. The company launched the program in early October with a select set of pa ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writer and editor John Freeman discusses his transition from book criticism to editing Granta, and now, to launching his own journal, Freeman's. The post John Freeman on Transitioning from Critic to Literary Journal Entrepreneur appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook wants to help ease the burn of a breakup.The social media giant introduced new tools Thursday on its mobile app to help users see less of their exes.Now when you change your relationship status to “single,” Facebook will ask if you want to “take a break” from seeing pictures and posts... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Century, an imprint of Penguin Random House, is publishing a "unique" crowd-sourced book by British vlogger Will Darbyshire that aims to get to the heart of modern relationships, called This Modern Love. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For any brands still looking to do some holiday shopping, Facebook is making a list of people whose attentions they might want to buy.Starting on Thanksgiving and running through New Year's Day, Facebook and its photo-sharing app Instagram will let brands target ads to people who publish posts... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is extending its Instant Articles initiative to Android smartphone users in India, about six months after its US debut, reports Mint. Prior to this, the initiative was limited to iOS users in US and Western Europe. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eight years ago, we featured the 22-year-old creator of a site with 19 million users. 1.5 billion members later, the adventure continues.In early 2007, Fast Company senior writer Ellen McGirt got a rush assignment from the magazine's editor, Bob Safian. Both were newcomers to the publication,... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2015-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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