It's Time for Facebook to Share More Data with Researchers
THE MEDIA FERVOR that followed special counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of a Russian internet organization for intentionally sowing discord in the US political system has missed one crucial implication: We still know far too little about the potential impact of social media on individuals and society.
Ironically, this problem could be easily addressed. If Facebook truly embraces the vision, expressed in January by co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, to make products that are “good for people’s well being,” the company needs to provide academic researchers far broader access to its data.
Zuckerberg has voiced his concern about recent findings that social media causes social harm. He has announced that Facebook aims to tweak its search algorithm again, this time so users would experience the most “meaningful interactions” with friends and family, instead of seeing the “most meaningful content”—that is, news (and sometimes fake news).
