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 ]
News tagged with: #plain english

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The proof that Facebook is broken is obvious from its very modus operandi | John Naughton'


Google's AMP Is Facebook's Instant Articles for the Mobile Web

To hear publishers tell it, Google's plan to help sites' pages instantly load on mobile isn't a shot across the bow at Facebook, which is doing the same thing. It's a shot at keeping the mobile web and the publishers on it relevant at a time when audiences' attentions are shifting to mobile apps... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mobile web #mobile apps #vox media


Facebook Video Ads 'Significantly' Better Than YouTube's: Report

While Facebook's video ad service is still in its infancy -- about 18 months old -- it's already prefered by marketers over YouTube, according to a recent study published by RBC Capital Markets in partnership with Ad Age.Of the 1,000 advertising professionals surveyed, about 11% felt Facebook... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #investment perspective #25% felt #video ads #video advertising


Google AMP battles ad-blocking, Apple and Facebook by cutting load times

Search company unveils Accelerated Mobile Pages in bid to work with publishers, ad companies and rival platforms Google is attempting to counter the threat from ad-blocking and rivals Facebook and Apple by radically improving the loading speed of web pages on smartphones and tablets.Accelerated... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rivals facebook #web pages


Google Unveils Accelerated Mobile Pages, Its Take On Facebook's Instant Articles

On Wednesday, Google announced its Accelerated Mobile Pages project, for which it has partnered with dozens of prominent publishers.In May, Facebook lifted the curtain on Instant Articles, a native publishing platform that hosts articles directly on the social network. For Facebook, which... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2015-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #google announced #prominent publishers #largest source #referral traffic #online publishers #fast-loading pages #attractive option


Facebook to Start Grading Ads' Results Across Its Mobile App Network

Facebook is instituting something akin to employee performance reviews for app publishers in its ad network, grading how well their inventory achieves advertiser objectives like driving downloads or selling product.The company already uses that information to decide which ad buys it doles out to... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ad network #ad buys #audience network #ad units #app developers


My Job In 5: John Chrimes, Freelance ELT writer

Describe your role I create content for English Language Teaching learning materials including course books, apps and online materials. I produce general titles for adults and teenagers to more specialised content for university students for naval officers and sales managers. I mostly write to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #create content #university students #years ahead


Facebook Expands Mobile Video Feature That Helps Content Creators Make Money

In July, Facebook made a big move into YouTube's turf with plans to launch Suggested Video—a feed of curated video clips from brands like Funny or Die, the NBA and Tastemade. After a small test over the past three months, it's now showing up in more mobile news feeds. Clicking on a video from a... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #taco bell #jet blue #platform level #makes sense #super bowl


To compete with Facebook and Google, publishers step up their ad-targeting game

Traditional publishers, tired of competing with Facebook and Google for digital ad dollars, are taking steps to get more personal with their advertising. Among the big topics discussed during Advertising Week was how media companies like News Corp and Condé Nast are getting into the ad tech... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers step #traditional publishers #taking steps #media companies #ad targeting


Facebook's Steve Hatch joins Trinity Mirror board

Social network’s UK and Ireland managing director to assist publisher with digital expansionThe publisher of the Daily Mirror has appointed Facebook’s UK and Ireland chief as a non-executive director to boost its drive into digital publishing.Steve Hatch, Facebook’s first managing director for... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #daily mirror #non-executive director #digital publishing #ireland operation #trinity mirror


Kissner Elected Chairman of John Wiley

The board of directors of John Wiley & Sons has officially elected Matthew Kissner to succeed Peter Booth Wiley, who first announced he would step down as chairman of the board in December 2014. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john wiley


'Star Wars' takes center stage in Facebook's 360-degree video rollout

Facebook has added 360-degree videos to its news feed, an immersive feature the Menlo Park-based social media platform said will capitalize on a growing number of video publishers using the format. And to pique the interest of users, The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) and Lucasfilm have published... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2015-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #star wars #growing number #video publishers #walt disney #force awakens


Facebook Brings 360-Degree Virtual Reality Videos to News Feeds

Stars Wars was first to post a 360-degree video. Photo: Facebook Virtual reality is coming to Facebook news feeds. Today the company rolled out 360-degree videos brands and publishers can post to their pages. Desktop viewers just have to drag their mouse over a clip to change the angle, and... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #virtual reality #menlo park #single day


Facebook now supports 360-degree video

Facebook videos are about to get more interactive.  The social network announced Wednesday it now supports 360-degree videos. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook videos


Facebook videos have fleeting lives

When a brand uploads a new video to Facebook, 94 percent of views it generates in the following week happen on that video, says Visible Measures. The stat shows that while video is booming on Facebook, it’s still difficult for brands and publishers to get people to watch their entire library,... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook videos #visible measures #entire library #popular videos


This Infographic Shows Facebook's Biggest Topics Last Month

On Aug. 24, when Facebook drew 1 billion users on a single day for the first time, the social network's impact on the world of conversation only became more obvious. But what exactly are people using the platform to talk about? To inform our readers, we've started working with Facebook to... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #biggest topics #single day #subject matter


Facebook ramps up video piracy fighting technology

Think of video piracy, and talk of BitTorrent probably isn’t far away. While torrented movies and TV shows account for a large proportion of pirated material, it is far from being the end of the story. Even sites as seemingly innocuous as Facebook can be part of the problem. The social network... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2015-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #large proportion #video publishers


Facebook to crack down on pirated videos

Facebook is improving its technology to better identify videos uploaded to its site without the permission of copyright holders. The move comes amid an explosion in the amount of video viewed on Facebook, posted by regular users, publishers and advertisers alike.  Alongside the uptick in video... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2015-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #videos posted #copyright holders #regular users #video content #recent report #popular videos


Facebook is trying to make it easier to stop video piracy

From user-made clips to content from big media properties, video is all over Facebook (and more people than ever are using the social network). Along with that trend comes the problem of piracy: plenty of video publishers are seeing their work dist... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2015-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #video publishers


Facebook is now working on its own digital assistant called M

Sounding like a character from a James Bond movie, M is Facebook's personal digital assistant. Ready to compete with the likes of Cortana, M will live inside Facebook Messenger and take artificial intelligence a step further. Rather than just helping you to find information or create calendar... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2015-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #artificial intelligence


Facebook Launches M, Its Bold Answer to Siri and Cortana

Facebook’s new virtual assistant, M, can make restaurant reservations, buy a birthday present for your spouse, or book a weekend getaway. The post Facebook Launches M, Its Bold Answer to Siri and Cortana appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2015-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #virtual assistant