Everyone on Facebook can now become an “expert”, as the social media giant has revealed that it will be enlisting the help of its users to curb the spread of misinformation. Facebook Inc. users will now be able to become “experts” to put an end to misinformation. They will be people who are appointed by administrators in the many groups on the social network, who will be responsible for being the voice of reason, and blocking out any misinformation being spread by fellow members of the group.
Outsourcing Its Work?
This happens to be yet another instance when Facebook has outsourced its own job to someone else. Admins from all groups on the platform, dealing in topics ranging from TV shows to politics, will now be able to designate users from within their space as “experts”, who will be tasked with making posts containing correct information on various topics. Their posts will be amplified in such a way so that others can put their trust in them.
This comes even after the Mark Zuckerburg-led firm set up a separate Oversight Board, for counsel on matters that it did not know how to resolve. The Board has often been dubbed as Facebook’s “Supreme Court.” Back then, the reason for the constitution of the Board had been severe backlash from its user base over its strict speech moderation policy. As such, a sum of $130 million had been put into setting up the group which was deemed to be “free” from any internal influence from Facebook. However, the company’s plans of shirking its duties backfired two months ago, when the Board itself came down hard on it, telling it stop quit being “lazy,” and to do its work itself.
This might mean that we shouldn’t put our hopes up too high when it comes to the new “experts” strategy, because chances are high that this tool too, will produce “less-than-productive outcomes,” if it doesn’t tank completely.
Negative Impacts Abound?
Moreover, with only a handful of users being empowered to have dominion over others when it comes to deciding what constitutes “information” and “misinformation,” could, more likely than not, have negative consequences, and that too, most likely in the short term itself.
Nevertheless, it has been quite a while since Facebook started putting more focus on its Groups, in a bid to (in Mark Zuckerburg’s own words), shift attention away from the News Feed.
Source: Business Insider