Letter: We should all 'unfriend' Facebook – Times Union

to the editorNov. 12, 2021 Although Facebook presents itself as a force for good, connecting millions of people to each other, its real goal is surveillance capitalism, an economic system centered around the commodification of your personal data for the core purpose of profit-making. By filtering what you read and see online, Facebook is telling you what to think, what to enjoy and what to consume. This is a very dangerous, anti-social business model. To maximize online engagement,  Facebook uses computer algorithms to amplify anti-social content that triggers fear, outrage and hate. This stoking of anger on social media can easily lead to outbreaks of violence, such as the Jan 6 insurrection. Facebook also spreads misinformation. President Joe Biden has said that social media networks are “killing people” by allowing the spread of misinformation about coronavirus vaccines. By spreading anti-social content and misinformation (including baseless conspiracy theories), Facebook is acting like a contagious virus, attacking our social health and undermining trust, civility, truth and reason — the very DNA of our democracy. Now Facebook wants people to wear goggles to immerse themselves in its artificial reality (metaverse) playpen. There a person can avoid the challenges of trying to solve real-world…
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