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Facebook reported fake numbers to advertisers

(news.yahoo.com)
618 points elorant | 8 comments | 19 Feb 21 14:34 UTC | HN request time: 1.552s | source | bottom
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sputr ◴[19 Feb 21 15:18 UTC] No.26194057[source]▶
I keep warning small time (ie most) FB page owners who advertise on FB to be very very careful as they are being subjected to a beefed up version of the psychological manipulation that regular users face as they, not the regular users, are the main customers.

Facebooks corporate incentive is to get you to FEEL like your getting good value out of advertising on Facebook and to get you addicted to doing it.

Not to actually deliver results.

So don't trust any metric they show you, because even if its not a total fabrication it's still presented in a way to deceive you to think its better than it is.

Always monitor your ROI and always calculate it using your truly end goal (sales, or in the case of civil society some sort engagement off Facebook that's tightly bound to you mission). Likes, shares, comments and reach should NEVER be the goal. Even if FBs interface is trying to convince you otherwise.

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1. soheil ◴[19 Feb 21 16:22 UTC] No.26194714[source]▶
> subjected to a beefed up version of the psychological manipulation

Can you provide sources or evidence of this?

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2. jjj123 ◴[19 Feb 21 16:27 UTC] No.26194775[source]▶
There is no need for sources on this. This is how design works in modern tech.

You build UIs in a way that improve your own metrics, which in this case is probably ad spend. They’ve likely run hundreds of A/B tests on the way ad data is displayed to try and optimize for that metric.

3. dna_polymerase ◴[19 Feb 21 16:30 UTC] No.26194799[source]▶
Facebook is the company that admitted to fueling the Myanmar genocide. If anyone has to produce receipts it's them.
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4. soheil ◴[19 Feb 21 16:42 UTC] No.26194922[source]▶
As it relates to the ad UI.
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5. dna_polymerase ◴[19 Feb 21 16:55 UTC] No.26195061{3}[source]▶
Read into the books of Nir Eyal. Whatever systemic thing large SV companies do tries to replicate his design patterns.

A company that has a value system as crooked as Facebook's can't be trusted.

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6. orhmeh09 ◴[19 Feb 21 17:20 UTC] No.26195364{4}[source]▶
What is Facebook’s value system? Is it different from other companies’ value systems?
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7. sputr ◴[19 Feb 21 17:50 UTC] No.26195733[source]▶
It's my pet name for "User experience". Because that's what UX is. My sources are: any book on UX or website design :).

In it's good form it's learning how to design interfaces that are intuitive (i.e. they lead you to what you need). In it's bad form it's used to lead you to what the owners want (i.e. conversion to sales in it's purest form, or, in the case of Facebook, something much much worse).

I've been debating publishing a blog calling on the EU to stop using the utterly incorrect term "social network" and start using something more appropriate like "advertising platform" or, even more appropriately something that includes a nod to their primary factor of success - induction of emotional liability and reactivity in humans.

8. hackerfromthefu ◴[20 Feb 21 00:31 UTC] No.26200022{5}[source]▶
Heres some insight into the mind that created facebook

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/embarrassing-and-damaging...

quoted ..

The technology site Silicon Alley Insider got hold of some of the messages and, this past spring, posted the transcript of a conversation between Zuckerberg and a friend, outlining how he was planning to deal with Harvard Connect:

FRIEND: so have you decided what you are going to do about the websites? ZUCK: yea i’m going to fuck them ZUCK: probably in the year ZUCK: *ear

In another exchange leaked to Silicon Alley Insider, Zuckerberg explained to a friend that his control of Facebook gave him access to any information he wanted on any Harvard student:

ZUCK: yea so if you ever need info about anyone at harvard ZUCK: just ask ZUCK: i have over 4000 emails, pictures, addresses, sns FRIEND: what!? how’d you manage that one? ZUCK: people just submitted it ZUCK: i don’t know why ZUCK: they “trust me” ZUCK: dumb fucks