Agree it's overstated but Facebook seemingly played a critical role, no? To me, how much the algorithm change affected the organizing of the groups and the resulting riots is a second order question compared to the role of the platform itself. (cc: @BuzzFeedBen @broderick)
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Replying to @BrendanNyhan @deaneckles and
though, granted, the effect of the platform is a much harder one to answer
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Replying to @BrendanNyhan @deaneckles and
The reporting in the story is pretty specific and compelling. Nobody is suggesting that it exists outside the context of French history and politics.
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Replying to @benyt @buzzfeedben and
So these protests wouldn't be happening if there hadn't been this algorithm change? I don't see any reporting that provides evidence for that, except that there was a recent publicly announced algorithm change.
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Replying to @deaneckles @buzzfeedben and
"Ceteris paribus: these protests would not be happening if not for the algorithm change" is not a possible standard for evaluating human affairs barring multiple universes. How could you ever prove that? Reformation? Maybe happens without the printing press, too.
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Replying to @evanhill @evanchill and
This movement literally started around a Facebook event. It's main symbol, the vest, comes from a random guy's viral Facebook video, the only coordination happening is being done in Facebook groups. There is no movement without Facebook.
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Replying to @broderick @evanchill and
The story is so detailed and rich -- this isn't really a theoretical argument? Nobody is claiming it happened outside the context of French politics and history or that events are monocausal... but read the story! It's full of surprising news.
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Replying to @benyt @buzzfeedben and
I find all the details important and enlightening. I don't like the title, but I hate 99% of the titles I encounter.
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Replying to @zeynep @buzzfeedben and
I agree I learned some facts from the article. But it also repeatedly makes causal claims about the role of Facebook and, more surprisingly, this particular algorithm change that strike me as not close to supported by the reporting.
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I agree that the causal certainty is overwritten/claimed. I also find the latest algo changes to emphasize local/groups potentially consequential for movements—probably not to whether some sort of reaction would happen but to how it would play out.
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