The troubles underscore the difficulty

Yet two years later, Facebook still hasnt been able to shake the notion of bias. But the trending section also proved problematic in ways that would presage Facebooks later problems with fake news, political balance and the limitations of artificial intelligence in managing the messy human world."There are other ways for us to better invest our resources," Hardiman said. Facebook also wants to make local news more prominent. The thinking was that coverage by just one outlet could be a sign that the news is fake.
The troubles underscore the difficulty of relying on computers, even artificial intelligence, to make sense of the messy human world without committing obvious, sometimes embarrassing and occasionally disastrous errors. This tool lets publishers such as The Washington Post add a red label to indicate that a story is breaking news, highlighting it https://www.fivestar-label.com/product/polyester-taffeta-acetate-taffeta-ribbon/ for users who want accurate information as things are happening. Instead, the software algorithm began to pick out posts that were getting the most attention, even if the information in them was bogus.Facebook says the trending section wasnt a popular feature to begin with." The company is also funding news videos, created by outside publishers it would not yet name and original to Facebook, that it plans to launch in the next couple of months. It fit nicely into CEO Mark Zuckerbergs pledge just a year earlier to make Facebook its users "personal newspaper.5 per cent of clicks to the websites of news publishers, according to the company. In early 2017, Facebook made another attempt to fix the trending section, this time by including only topics covered by several news publishers..Troubles with the trending section began to emerge in 2016 when the company was accused of bias against conservatives, based on the words of an anonymous former contractor who said Facebook downplayed conservative issues in the trending section and promoted liberal causes. Its being tested out in 30 markets in the US Hardiman says the goal is to help "elevate great local journalism.
As it winds down the feature, Facebook is testing out a "breaking news" label with 80 publishers around the world.Hardiman said ending the trending section feels like letting a child go.While Facebook got outsized attention for the problems the trending section had - perhaps because it seemed popular with journalists and editors - neither its existence nor its removal makes much of a difference when it comes with Facebooks broader problems with the news.When Facebook launched "trending" in 2014 as a list of headlines to the side of the main news feed, it was a straightforward move to steal users from Twitter by giving them a quick look at the most popular news of the moment.In an interview ahead of Fridays announcement, Facebooks head of news products, Alex Hardiman, said the company is still committed to breaking and real-time news.Ultimately, Facebook appears to conclude that trying to fix the headaches around trending werent worth the meager benefit the company, users and news publishers saw in it."But that was then.In late 2016, Facebook fired the human editors who worked on the trending topics and replaced them with software that was supposed to be free of political bias.Another feature, called "Today In," shows people breaking news in their area from local publishers, officials and organizations.Screengrab from the Facebook timelineThe company claims the tool is outdated and wasnt popular.Seeing a list of the days most popular trends did not always help with this. Trending news that year included the death of Robin Williams, Ebola and the World Cup. It was available only in five countries and accounted for less than 1. Based on data from surveys of people who used it, Facebook says it was becoming less and less useful as people turned to their main news feed as a place to get news. "Fake news" wasnt yet a popular term, and no foreign country had been accused of trying to influence the US elections through social media.
But instead of having Facebooks moderators, human or otherwise, make editorial decisions, theres also been a subtle shift to let news organisations do so."Breaking news has to look different than a recipe," Hardiman said.While Facebook is killing the trending section, it is testing new features, including a "breaking news" label that publishers can add to stories to distinguish them from other chatter. But she said Facebooks focus now is prioritizing trustworthy, informative news that people find useful.According to the Pew Research Center, 44 per cent of US adults get some or all of their news through Facebook.Facebook is shutting down its ill-fated "trending" news section after four years, a company executive told The Associated Press. Zuckerberg met with prominent right-wing leaders at the companys headquarters in an attempt at damage control.