This cracks me up. Facebook is testing a new feature that will warn you if you're about to share a post without bothering to read it:
Facebook is meddling with the primal forces of nature! The very existence of the modern internet is based on people sharing things at a rate that precludes knowing anything about them. This hypersonic rate of sharing is the only thing that allows memes to go viral and thus is fundamental to Facebook's continuing survival.
Surely Mark Zuckerberg knows this? So what's the ulterior motive for doing this? To get people mad enough to demand that the warning be removed? To form the basis for some kind of research paper demonstrating that it doesn't make a difference? Or what? The idea that they are genuinely trying to slow the sharing of Facebook content doesn't bear even a moment's scrutiny.
It's a clear attack on wingnut freedom of speech.
Josh Hawley thinks he knows a ((( person ))), then this happens.
Must be like all the voters in WA-3 who swallowed hard & voted for a Mexican-American woman GQPer for the House -- six times since 2010 -- only to have her vote to impeach El Jefe on the bogus charge of inciting ANTIFA to storm the Capitol (which only made MAGA, El Jefe's movement, look bad).
The same reason Trump filed all those election lawsuits and Devin Nunes sues everyone in sight for thoughtcrimes -- it is performative. The point is not to do something. The point is to demonstrate that you are. In a performative lawsuit, you can say things that can get you in serious legal trouble but they are good PR. Same thing here. It doesn't have to work, and in fact it is better if it doesn't. It just has to generate good PR.
Perzackly. “See? We’re doing something, okay? Now shut up and stop bothering us.”
The best bit on SNL right now is Alex Moffatt's Zuckerberg. (Or maybe it's Mikey Day? I get them confused.) & it's not even close.
Actually, I do think this could have some effect.
Vaguely remember Twitter having this last year. I think Facebook is just copying.
Yup. And when Twitter does that, I feel like I'm being scolded by my 5th grade teacher.
The question you want to ask: Why now?
The answer: Because they got mildly scolded in a performative event last week and yesterday a massive bot network was outed by not-Facebook.
PR
Only in America.
Perhaps it is to provide fodder for pundits...
By encouraging people to spend more time reading stuff before they share it, Facebook is also encouraging people to spend more time exposed to their ads. Ka-ching!
As noted above, Twitter also did this for a while, but seems to have stopped. Being Facebook, I naturally ascribe Machiavellian motives to anything they do, so I wonder if it's a ploy to throttle sharing of press articles as part of their war against those content creators.