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Social Networks Facebook IT News Technology

Facebook Now Battles Clickbait On a Post-by-Post Basis (engadget.com) 45

Facebook is taking further steps to decrease the reach and prevalence of clickbait headlines on its social network. Facebook says it will target clickbait on an individual post level and not just by analyzing the bulk posts of a page. It will also look at two distinct signals: whether a headline "withholds information or if it exaggerates information separately." From a report: This should "more precisely" downplay the number of misleading stories cluttering your timeline, the social network says. Moreover, it's promising a more exacting approach when it looks at individual headlines. Until now, Facebook examined clickbait titles in a holistic way: it looked for both the exaggerated language ("you have to see this!") and deliberate attempts to withhold info ("eat this every day").
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Facebook Now Battles Clickbait On a Post-by-Post Basis

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  • by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 ) on Thursday May 18, 2017 @01:04PM (#54443001)

    Thank you for starting the title with "Facebook", so I know I can skip the whole thing.

  • by gmack ( 197796 ) <gmackNO@SPAMinnerfire.net> on Thursday May 18, 2017 @01:04PM (#54443013) Homepage Journal
    Ban all sties that require you to share the page before it lets you read the actual content.
    • Wait what? I've *never* seen that. I've seen plenty that flash up the article and while reading it take it over with frigging adverts, or ones that are unreadable because of the shit they plaster on the screen, but I've never seen anything asking you to share something before you even can read it.

      • by gmack ( 197796 )
        I've seen it more than once. It's a clickbait headline that goes to a "like us on facebook to continue" where you can't see the content until you do what they want" I don't go for it, but some of my friends seem to fall for it regularly.
      • The "Basic" version of the JollyGood Sans font [jollygoodfonts.com], intended to resemble neat hand-lettering, is available without charge. Its download page requires "payment" with a share on Facebook or Twitter through the Pay with a Tweet platform [paywithatweet.com] before the download can proceed.

        I ended up using Craig Rozynski's Comic Neue [comicneue.com] instead.

  • by SeaFox ( 739806 ) on Thursday May 18, 2017 @01:14PM (#54443103)

    You Wont Believe what Facebook is Doing to Stop Clickbait.
    Facebook Stops Clickbait with this One Weird Trick (of actually reading posts).
    Facebook Fights Clickbait Headlines -- Marketers Hate Them!

  • Facebook is specifically pushing clickbait in it's trending articles. Hypocrites, all of them!

  • Clickbait headlines should be trivially easy to recognize. If Facebook is serious about filtering them, it should immediately be obvious to Facebook users when they turn the filters on.

    Has anyone actually seen a change or is this just PR bullshit?

  • by thomn8r ( 635504 ) on Thursday May 18, 2017 @02:10PM (#54443601)
    that is all
  • FakeBook programmers discover the difference between AND and OR. News at 11:00...
    /s

    As for "holding back information", FakeBook is one of the best at keeping information off the Internet. Without an account they don't let you see much of anything. But then, I don't want my logical mind polluted with all the fake news stories my family keeps sending me from there. FakeBook would do well to stop blocking "BS Detector" browser plugins, and instead embrace it and make it mandatory.

  • That would be a good start wouldn't you think?

  • With Facebook being a major supporter of net neutrality and not letting corporations pick winners and losers, rather creating laws that give the public that choice, doesn't this whole thing seem a bit hypocritical?

    Just saying...

  • by gfxguy ( 98788 ) on Thursday May 18, 2017 @03:05PM (#54444147)
    Now if only Slashdot would stop posting click-bait stories, it might actually improve my online experience.
    • by Anonymous Coward
      Slashdot stories are among the least clickbaity...
  • Facebook is clickbait. By definition, since that's how they make money.

    ...laura

  • To reduce clickbait on Facebook.

Keep up the good work! But please don't ask me to help.

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