Scientists have just published a paper that reveals that Facebook researchers conducted a social experiment with their users in 2012, one that the users didn't know about at the time.
The social media company altered the news feeds of hundreds of thousands of users. Feeds were tweaked to reflect either a more "positive" or "negative" content. The idea was to see if more messages of one type or another could influence a person's mood.
Tom Proietti, visiting scholar in media at St. John Fisher College, says there is a common reaction to this news among many Facebook users. "The reaction is, 'This is creepy. This is people investigating us.' At the other end, I've heard people say this is a form of social engineering. We probably could also say that Facebook itself is a form of social engineering. So, a study that confirms it or experiments with it, I'm not surprised at all."
Proietti says if you are you use Facebook or any other type of social media, you should understand that you give up all control of the information you exchange.
