Facebook Inc Will Let Users Decide What News Sources Are Trustworthy

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Facebook Inc - Facebook Inc Will Let Users Decide What News Sources Are Trustworthy

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Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants the social media site’s users to be the judge of whether something is “fake news.”

Despite a rash of propaganda, scams and misinformation invading the site, Facebook has so far resisted the banning of websites and news sources that regularly push this sort of material.

Instead, Facebook announced that it will use two-question surveys to assess whether the community trusts a source. The site will ask users if they are familiar with a particular news source and — if so — if they trust them.

In this way, Facebook believes it can aggregate data that reflects which sources are actually most trusted.

In a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Zuckerberg explained why the company is taking this position:

“We don’t want to assess by ourselves which sources are trustworthy. I think that’s not a situation that or a position that we’re comfortable with ourselves. I don’t think personally that that’s something that our community or our society wants us to do.”

This news comes shortly after the announcement that Facebook News Feed is being updated to prioritize meaningful interactions and posts from friends and family over public content.

Facebook’s newest announcement does not mean that the company is ignoring its problems. In a Jan. 19 Facebook post, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the issue and Facebook’s role:

“There’s too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world today. Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don’t specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them.”

Facebook Earnings and FB Stock

It remains to be seen, however, what effect this announcement will have on Facebook’s user base and FB stock.

This week, Facebook’s fourth-quarter earnings report beat expectations. Earnings per share were $2.21 versus an expected $1.95 and revenue came in at $12.97 billion versus an estimated $12.55 billion.

But it’s worth noting that daily active users declined in the U.S. and Canada, Facebook’s top markets. And the company cited changes they’d made to the site that reduced time spent on Facebook as the cause.

FB originally fell following the quarterly report, but swung back for a 3.3% increase on Thursday. Shares are down slightly on Friday, but still 2.9% above their pre-earnings price.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2018/02/facebook-inc-users-decide-news-sources/.

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