With Facebook's new algorithm, is Big Brother finally here?

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

By updating its algorithm (which should roll out to everyone within the next couple of weeks), Facebook is now able to determine what interests us, even if we didn't do anything concrete to show him.

How is that possible?

Well, Facebook keeps a wide range of data in real time about user habits. For example, if you scroll your newsfeed and suddenly stop for a couple of seconds to read one, Facebook will notice and will remember that specific subject interests you.

Have you ever started writing a comment on a link and decided not to publish it? Well, even though nobody saw your post, Facebook has taken note of it.

Same thing if you spend lots of time on someone's profile, or if you spend lots of time looking at someone's photos, Facebook remembers all that.

Why is Facebook doing this? Well, it's always trying to send you the best possible content (and ads), so that's just another way for them to get to know your interests even more and try to show you stuff you like.

Here's a real-world example on how Facebook will use its new algorithm. There's a breaking news about a terrorist attack that's killed thousands of people. Someone might be real interested in the subject, but wouldn't want to "Like" that article (it would be frowned upon). If Facebook notices you've spent some time looking at different posts about the subject, they'll be tempted to show you even more posts about the subject.

Whether you like it or not, Big Brother is finally here!