14/11/16 - Mark Zuckerberg rejects 'crazy idea' Facebook influenced US election result (19)
Post the US presidential election on November 8th, Facebook has come under fire for having fake stories which supposedly influenced the vote to encourage more of the electorate to vote for Donald Trump. While Mark Zuckerberg the co-founder of Facebook denied these claims putting votes down to the 'lived experience' of each voter, it's been said that the algorithmic approach that Facebook has to displaying stories is to blame here. A 'filter bubble,' is created in which people only get to see news stories which reflect their same views and ideologies. Zuckerberg though, has responded to this saying that it's not that the social network doesn't show users stories that differ from their views, but rather the users just don't click on them and that there's a 'diversity of information' that exists on Facebook which is something traditional media simply can't replicate.
With all the allegations that there have been regarding the role of Facebook in the election, I believe it really is time for them to change their approach to displaying stories. The algorithmic method began causing controversy a few weeks ago, however it's surprising that it's even being suggested as a contributor the election result. And while it may also be true that audiences just don't click on these stories and create their own filter bubble of news, perhaps these more oppositional news pieces need to be presented in a much clearer manner.
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