Your former high school classmate has pictures of a new baby, your aunt has video of her great vacation in Majorca, and your presidential candidate has several articles accusing her of killing an FBI agent for leaking emails.
One of these things is not like the others (hint: it's the last one), but Facebook will share them all if it thinks they'll please you. It will even promote them further if it thinks that other users will find them interesting as well. To the algorithms that control the site, what matters is the "connection" you make with others via these snippets of information. Whether that connection is based on something true is an entirely different question.
In the current kerfuffle over whether the fake news and misinformation that proliferated on the site might have influenced the outcome of the 2016 election, Facebook's difficulty in acknowledging whether it's simply a provider of pleasant connections or a public utility with real obligations has come to the fore.
As originally conceived, Facebook's value was limited. In its 2006 mission statement, the company claimed that its purpose was simply to "connect people through social networks," providing an engaging, friendship-enhancing experience. It was a lifestyle site--its limitations on what could be shared revolved mainly around whether content made the site a welcoming space for users.
As the site has grown in size, however, its aspirations have changed. Yes, you can still see pictures of your former classmate's baby (or not, if you don't think she's that cute), but you are also encouraged to share experiences and connect in a way that "makes the world more open" and changes society. Today Facebook's mission is to make the world more open and connected and to allow people "to discover what's going on in the world."
Facebook now bills itself as a force for good, and its influence and reach are defining aspects of its value proposition: Sparking a revolution in Egypt. Publicizing police brutality. Registering millions of users to vote. When we think about how the company functions today and what it signals as its future aspirations, it's clear that the social network is no longer just in the business of lifestyle-focused, surface-skimming connection.
Unfortunately, taking responsibility is an unappealing prospect, and understandably so. As Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on his own Facebook page, "identifying 'the truth' is complicated." Acting as an arbiter of fact--an important role to play, but one nearly impossible to fulfill successfully--opens you up to criticism and anger, something Facebook experienced this year in its tiff with conservative groups over possible bias in its "trending topics."
Advertisers may not like it when the company takes a seemingly partisan stand. Countries with restrictive regimes probably won't, either.
But at this point Facebook knows that it's more than a platform for pleasantries or consequence-free connections. If it aims to be something larger, it needs to consider the responsibilities of its new role and to put new values into action.
Editorial on 11/26/2016