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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After the 2012 election, President Barack Obama's digital campaign director Teddy Goff told Time magazine that a tool allowing Obama for America to access the Facebook friends of its supporters "will wind up being the most groundbreaking piece of technology developed for this campaign." This is... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The social network's plans to control even more of the media industry squeezed a collective gasp out of publishers. Was that a last breath?Facebook recently wrapped up a "listening tour," hoping to lure publishers across the United States to deliver their content pages and news feeds to... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The internet powerhouses are using their billions to challenge in sectors far removed from their original business modelsThe webs biggest consumer companies make the bulk of their incomes, and have built up vast assets, from targeted advertising. It accounts for around 90% of Facebooks revenue... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Only one in seven people think the industry is ready for the next stage in the digital revolution, The Bookseller’s 2014 Digital Census has found. The survey, from over 1,100 respondents and taken between September and October 2014, found that just 14.7% believed the sector is prepared for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Given that links appear to be more clickable when shared on Facebook, online publishers have scrambled to become savvy gamers of Facebook’s News Feed, seeking to divine the secret rules that push some stories higher than others. But all this genuflection at the altar of Facebook’s algorithms may... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook's plan to help publishers monetize on mobile sends a shiver down publishers' spines. The post Facebook offers publishers a Faustian bargain appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook and Twitter are losing their communities to the big social networks. Here's how they're trying to get them back. The post Publishers cool on outsourcing community to Facebook appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Murphy started at St. Martin's as a publicity associate, rising to v-p, director of publicity. In May, he was named v-p, publishing strategy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google and Facebook continued to pour millions of dollars into federal political lobbying in the third quarter in attempts to influence U.S. lawmakers and have legislation written in their favor.Google spent US$3.94 million between July and September while Facebook spent $2.45 million, according... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bestselling author John Grisham apologized Thursday for comments he made about what he viewed as overly punitive sentences for those who view child pornography. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More brands are publishing video directly to Facebook instead of to YouTube and then using Facebook for distribution. The post Facebook video isn’t killing off YouTube — yet appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Last month Facebook analyzed a user meme looking at '10 books that have stayed with you.' Now the company's data scientists have done another analysis looking at responses from foreign-language users and have found some different results. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you’re like me, you might stroll past a local coffee shop or book store numerous times before you notice it’s there or go inside. Facebook thinks an ad might give that extra nudge.On Tuesday, the company began rolling out a new feature for local advertising that lets businesses target users... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is taking the wraps off its mobile ad network after saying the early results helped lead to big gains for apps like Shazam and game makers like Glu Mobile, the developer behind Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. The company said today that the Facebook Audience Network is now open to all... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook's mobile ad network is officially open for business.Five months after the social network formally launched its Audience Network with a small set of app publishers and advertisers, Facebook is opening up the mobile ad network to any media buyer and seller. The company is also adding a... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A “like” on Facebook is worth a lot to advertisers there. Now it’s also worth something to advertisers in other mobile apps.Facebook’s having a coming-out party for its “audience network,” an ad network that lets existing advertisers on Facebook also have their ads placed in a large number of... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is no stranger to controversy, nor is the social network unfamiliar with upsetting its users. It seems as though Zuckerberg's baby has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately, and it's not all that long since users vented their fury after it was revealed that their... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google was supposed to uproot digital advertising's foundation. But Facebook may beat the search giant to the punch.Confirming what has become advertising's latest worst-kept secret, Facebook said it will begin applying its user data to ads shown outside the social network through a retooled... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Mack Carter, one of the industry's most influential magazine editors and the longtime voice of McCall's, Ladies' Home Journal and Good Housekeeping, has died at 86 following a long battle with Parkinson's. Mr. Carter was the only person in publishing history to helm all three titles.Mr.... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An editor whose long career in women's magazines included 20 years as editor-in-chief at Good Housekeeping has died. John Mack Carter was 86. A statement from Hearst Corp. said Mr. Carter died... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2014-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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