Facebook research has found that algorithms have repeatedly hurt users with less technical skills with annoying content. Some users did not understand how the content appeared in their feed or how to control it. These users were mostly elderly, people of color, low-educated and low socio-economic status.
Two years ago, Facebook researchers conducted a five-question survey designed to assess their users' digital literacy skills.
It has tested users on how well they understand terms like Facebook's app interface and "tagging" someone on social media. Their score was the number of questions they answered correctly. The researchers then compared users' scores over a 30-day period with Facebook's algorithms for the type of content they fed.
They found that, on average, users' scores almost accurately predicted that their feeds contained graphic violence and borderline nudity. Users who didn't answer a question correctly saw 11.4% more nudity and 13.4% more graphic violence than users who answered all five correctly.
"It's very interesting," an employee commented in an internal post about the study. "It's also wise to realize that the 'default' feed experience, so to speak, includes nudity + boundary content unless otherwise controlled."
In another study, Facebook researchers conducted dozens of in-depth interviews and home visits with real people whom they identified as weak users with low digital literacy skills. Annoying posts surrounding the feeds of these users, the study found that they had long been disconnected from Facebook and exacerbated the problems they were already experiencing.
For example, Facebook has repeatedly shown videos of racial slurs against a middle-aged black woman and videos of people threatening children, threatening and killing other people. A person who has joined a Narcotics Anonymous Facebook group has started seeing ads, recommendations and posts about alcoholic beverages. As soon as another person starts following the coupon and savings pages, their feed sinks into financial scandal.
According to documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Congress by the attorneys of Francis Haugen, a former employee of Facebook, there have been several studies conducted by Facebook in recent years whose platform has a low impact on digital literacy skills. A consortium of 17 news organizations, including USA Today, received their revised copies.
Research has shown that Facebook's algorithm harms people less familiar with technology by exposing them to constantly annoying content that they don't know how to avoid. Many of them didn't know how to hide posts, unfollow pages, block friends, or report infringing content. But algorithms mistake their lack of negative feedback for approval and feed them more.
"Low-skilled users lack the ability to deal with uncomfortable content, and instead primarily scroll through it, leaving the user with a bad experience and unaware of the Facebook user's preferences," wrote one researcher.
A small fraction of posts on Facebook - less than one-tenth of a percent of the company's estimates - show infringing content, said Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for Facebook's parent company Meta. He further noted that in his research, users with low digital literacy saw on average less hate content. Research suggests that this may be because users who see hateful content tend to find it, and technology-savvy people may be better able to detect it.
"As a company, we have every commercial and ethical incentive to try to give as many people as possible a positive experience on Facebook," Pusateri said. "The growth of people or advertisers using Facebook makes no sense if our services are not used in a way that brings people closer together."
Facebook has spent $ 5 billion this year on security and safety and has dedicated 40,000 people to working on these issues, he said.
Facebook Literacy: Who Has Trouble?
Users with low digital literacy skills were significantly older, people of color, less educated and less likely to have low socio-economic status, the study found. They were also much more likely to live outside the United States
Between one-fourth and one-third of all Facebook users qualify as low-tech-skilled, the researchers estimated. This included about one-sixth of U.S. users and half of some "emerging market" users.
Angela Seifer, executive director, said: "When you think about who is being hurt by the choices that Facebook and other platforms are making, those who are structurally, historically,