Can Data Lie? Social Media Titans’ Super-Speed Recovery and the Pervasive Disputes (III)

2. Don’t Treat Users Like Products

In essence, the behavior of infringing on users’ privacy is still caused by the psychology of regarding users as “products” and “data”. As advertising becomes the dominant revenue model for platforms, some social media will be particularly interested in maintaining user engagement based on algorithmic recommendations and preference manipulation. The higher advertising revenue requires more users’ hits, which naturally comes from more users’ data. The profit-oriented chain finally leads to the intrusion and even illegal acquisition of users’ privacy. Social product is a business, but it's not a business at all.

3. Encourage Connections Without Clickbait

A common form of clickbait is found on the typical social search page. A user clicks on an image or preview video that suggests a certain type of content, but upon clicking they are brought to unrelated content. It’s a technique that can be used to spread misinformation, which provides an extremely awful experience for viewers who rely on social platforms for their news consumption, instead of traditional outlets when clickbait articles offer fake news or invalid information.

As a result, social media platforms should aggressively ban or limit clickbait. Management at Facebook and other firms often counter with a free speech argument when it comes to stopping clickbait. However, they should consider the intent is not to act as censors that are stopping controversial topics but protecting users from false content.

Objectively speaking, social media is still one of the most popular interactive tools for information transmission and entertainment in the world today. However, the giants always keep their eyes on the distance and the future to watch out for those beautiful data. After all, they can sometimes deceive people. Only by solving users’ real problems can the platform maintain its sustainable competitiveness.