Facebook to emphasize friends, not news, in series of changes

By David Ingram and Paul Sandle  1-12-2018

SAN FRANCISCO/LONDON (Reuters) – Facebook Inc (FB.O) on Thursday began to change the way it filters posts and videos on its centerpiece News Feed, the start of what Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said would be a series of changes in the design of the world’s largest social network.

Zuckerberg, in a sweeping post on Facebook, said the company would change the filter for the News Feed to prioritize what friends and family share, while reducing the amount of non-advertising content from publishers and brands.

Facebook, which owns four of the world’s most popular smartphone apps including Instagram, has for years prioritized material that its complex computer algorithms think people will engage with through comments, “likes” or other ways of showing interest.

Zuckerberg, the company’s 33-year-old co-founder, said that would no longer be the goal.

“I’m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions,” Zuckerberg wrote.

The shift was likely to mean that the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement would go down in the short term, he wrote, but he added it would be better for users and for the business over the long term.

Advertising on the social network would be unaffected by the changes, John Hegeman, a Facebook vice president, said in an interview.

Facebook and its social media competitors have been inundated by criticism that their products reinforce users’ views on social and political issues and lead to addictive viewing habits, raising questions about possible regulation and the businesses’ long-term viability.

The company has been criticized for algorithms that may have prioritized misleading news and misinformation in people’s feeds, influencing the 2016 American presidential election, as well as political discourse in many countries.

Last year, Facebook disclosed that Russian agents had used the network to spread inflammatory posts to polarize the American electorate.

Congress is expected to hold more hearings this month, questioning the role social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) and Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) YouTube play in spreading propaganda.

Read more here

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A True Candidate For Liberty: Michael Snyder For Congress Needs Your Help

Editor’s Note: Michael Snyder has long been an advocate for liberty and real change. Now we can help him make a difference where it counts – in the Halls of Congress. We urge you, our readers, to help the political revolution that started last November to continue. As you know, it takes money to run a successful election campaign against the establishment, so any donation, large or small, will go a long way towards helping the Michael Snyder for Congress campaign. The following is an urgent request from Michael.

I really need your help. As most of you already know, I am running for Congress in Idaho’s first congressional district, and because there is no incumbent the race is totally wide open. I announced that I was running on July 4th, and so September 30th is my very first FEC quarterly reporting deadline. All over the country, prominent Republican donors and key conservative organizations will be judging the strength of my campaign based on how much money I raise this quarter. If I don’t raise enough, I risk losing national support that I otherwise could have received. And even though hundreds of people have been donating from all over the country, we are lagging behind where we need to be, and so I am praying for a $25,000 miracle over the next seven days. If you would like to help this miracle become a reality, you can contribute at this link…

https://www.michaelsnyderforcongress.com/contribute.html

Over the next week, I will be meeting with some of the most influential conservatives in the entire state of Idaho. I will post new articles when I can, but because my schedule is going to be absolutely packed this week it will be tough to get something new posted every day.

As I travel around the state and meet with top conservatives, there are certain points that virtually everyone agrees upon…

-I am the most conservative candidate in this race by a wide margin.

-I have the best message of any of the candidates, and it isn’t even close.

-My team is extremely effective at getting my message to the voters.

-If we can get that message out to every voter in this district the way that we need to, we will win this election.

-The major thing that could keep us from winning the election is a lack of resources.

Because we have the best message, we don’t have to raise more money than the other guys.

But we do have to be at least on the same playing field, and you can help us do that by donating here…

https://www.michaelsnyderforcongress.com/contribute.html

We have been bringing in lots and lots of small donations, but it takes a huge pile of those small donations to keep up with the enormous checks that the professional politicians in this race have been pulling in.

They may not have as many donors as I do, but when wealthy individuals are writing $2700 checks to them it adds up fast.

$2700 just happens to be the max donation that an individual can make to a candidate per campaign cycle, and even though we have had hundreds of large donors to the campaign, we haven’t had anyone donate at that level yet. If you would like to be the first, you can do so here…

https://www.michaelsnyderforcongress.com/contribute.html

Since there is no incumbent, we have a golden opportunity to send a true conservative to Congress. If you are not familiar with my campaign yet, here are some of the things that make me different from the career politicians…

-I am openly calling for all of the RINOs (Republicans in name only) to be voted out.

-I have made an unbreakable pledge to vote against any bill that contains even a single penny of funding for Planned Parenthood.

-I want to abolish the income tax, the IRS and the Federal Reserve.

-I want to repeal the major federal gun laws that are unconstitutionally restricting our 2nd Amendment rights.

-I want to build the wall and do all that I can to stop illegal immigration.

-I want to abolish the Department of Education and return control of education to the local level.

-I would fight like mad to stop the reckless borrowing which has put us 20 trillion dollars in debt.

-I would fight for a 100% repeal of Obamacare and to restore free market principles to our healthcare system.

-I want to clean up the corruption in Washington, institute term limits, and make our Congress critters live by the same rules that apply to everyone else.

-And I am unashamed to say that I am running on a pro-liberty platform and that I want to restore the constitutional Republic that our forefathers fought and died to establish.

You can read much more about my issue positions right here, and if you believe in what we are trying to do, I would like to ask for your support for our campaign…

https://www.michaelsnyderforcongress.com/contribute.html

Thanks to you all, we have the best looking brochures of anyone running for any public office in the entire state, our signs are starting to go up along the major roads, and our videos have already been viewed by thousands upon thousands of voters.

We are beating the other candidates to the punch in just about every area that you can imagine, but without sufficient resources we will be greatly limited in what we are able to do moving forward.

What happens over the next seven days is going to go a long way toward determining who wins this race. My opponents are making a huge push for donations as well, because they are facing the same critical deadline that I am facing. Most people don’t realize that we don’t just influence the outcome of elections at the ballot box.  We also vote with our dollars, and I very much need all of you to stand with me right now…

https://www.michaelsnyderforcongress.com/contribute.html

As I have said before, if every single one of my readers donated just $10 today, we could be done funding our campaign tomorrow.

Every single dollar makes such an enormous difference, and if you were ever going to stand with us, now is the time. This September 30th deadline is a make or break moment for our campaign, and we really need to find a way to raise at least $25,000 over the next seven days.

I believe that it is possible, and I am asking for your help. If a thousand of you stepped forward and donated just $25 to the campaign, we would be able to meet our goal.

I would like to thank everyone that has joined the campaign so far. More volunteers, donors and social media warriors are stepping forward on a daily basis, and we would have never been able to come so far in such a short period of time without your help.

Now this campaign is getting ready to go to the next stage, and so we need more of you to step forward and join the team.

On my own, I could never do this, but if we stand united and work together we are going to absolutely shock the world.

BARBARIANS AT THE SCHOOL HOUSE DOOR

[snip]

Today we are a divided society. Freedom verses control. Can anyone deny that there are powerful forces that seek to change how we think in order to fulfill a revolution to literally change our entire society? We have observed massive changes in our culture over the past ten years. Free enterprise is racist and evil. Private property ownership is a social injustice. Individual thought is dangerous. Marriage and sexual orientation are in great turmoil. Free speech is a threat. The mere mention of a certain presidential candidate can send college students into turmoil requiring therapy and major thumb sucking.

Do you think these changes are just happenstance? No, they are the result of a carefully orchestrated takeover of the public education system with the specific purpose of creating a new kind of citizen for the future. One that doesn’t challenge authority and official dictates. How do you create such a product? Keep them ignorant of history, philosophy and contrary ideas. If you don’t know there is even a question then you will never ask it.

Printed books can be dangerous as they can’t be changed. If allowed to remain they can be discovered by future generations. In printed version, their message remains intact, ready to spark questions to a hungry mind.

The Founding Fathers studied all kinds of government styles and philosophies before deciding on our Republican form. They wanted one that would protect the freedom of thought, movement and our ability to benefit from the fruits of our own labor. Individuality, private property and free enterprise were the roots of the government they chose. To keep the freedom which these policies created, the Founders fully understood that knowledge was key. Thomas Jefferson said, “If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.”

Today, the revolution in our classrooms has robbed the children of the philosophy behind our founder’s actions. They have never been taught that private property ownership is the only true way to eradicate poverty. They have no idea that free enterprise is the true system that gives then freedom of choice and control over the quality and quantity of products and services we purchase. And as they color their hair purple, dress in outrageous fashions, and take on the usual youthful defiance to claim their individuality, they slavishly cling to their public school teachings that individuality is selfish and must be controlled. They do so automatically because their ability to think and reason has been removed through lack of knowledge.

Behavior modification, social justice and an all out assault on attitudes, values and beliefs have replaced academics in the public education system as it churns out the perfect global village idiots. Leaving old books and their anti-revolutionary ideas lying around is a danger to their revolution. Soon, books with contrary ideas will not be available in your favorite E-book. Google will not provide the answers in a search. Facebook will censure contrary postings. Oh, wait, all of that is already happening.

I read the report on this trashing of books with great interest because such action was a major part of the plot of my recent political thriller ERASE. In my fictionalized world an evil force called LEAP was systematically taking over the publishing industry, slowly eliminating outlets for printed books and replacing them with their own E-book version. LEAP even made a massive gift to the schools across the nation by giving every school kid a LEAP iPad to replace their school books. The only problem was that now LEAP controlled the content and could change it at will.

I wrote ERASE to be fiction. I didn’t intend to provide the forces of evil with a “How To” manual! Yet, now my fiction has certainly become reality and it’s growing in schools across the country.

In one scene of ERASE a teacher asks the question, “How do they think they can stop knowledge, it’s there, no matter what? The answer came back to him, “They stop knowledge by banning it.” In our modern age, controlled by technology, book burning is no longer a necessary tool for tyrants. All they need to do is press a button and knowledge, history, indeed entire societies disappear in an instant.

Read more at: American Policy Center

If you believe in the mission of Oath Keepers, to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, please consider making a donation to support our work.  You can donate HERE.

No Matter Who Wins Election Tomorrow, Americans Want Change

November 7, 2016   |   admintam

(RPI) I have said throughout this presidential campaign that it doesn’t matter much which candidate wins. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are authoritarians and neither can be expected to roll back the leviathan state that destroys our civil liberties at home while destroying our economy and security with endless wars overseas. Candidates do not matter all that much, despite what the media would have us believe. Ideas do matter, however. And regardless of which of these candidates is elected, the battle of ideas now becomes critical.

The day after the election is our time to really focus our efforts on making the case for a peaceful foreign policy and the prosperity it will bring. While we may not have much to cheer in Tuesday’s successful candidate, we have learned a good deal about the state of the nation from the campaigns. From the surprising success of the insurgent Bernie Sanders to a Donald Trump campaign that broke all the mainstream Republican Party rules – and may have broken the Republican Party itself – what we now understand more clearly than ever is that the American people are fed up with politics as usual. And more importantly they are fed up with the same tired old policies.

Last month a fascinating poll was conducted by the Center for the National Interest and the Charles Koch Institute. A broad ranging 1,000 Americans were asked a series of questions about US foreign policy and the 15 year “war on terror.” You might think that after a decade and a half, trillions of dollars, and thousands of lives lost, Americans might take a more positive view of this massive effort to “rid the world of evil-doers,” as then-president George W. Bush promised. But the poll found that only 14 percent of Americans believe US foreign policy has made them more safe! More than 50 percent of those polled said the next US president should use less force overseas, and 80 percent said the president must get authorization from Congress before taking the country to war.

These results should make us very optimistic about our movement, as it shows that we are rapidly approaching the “critical mass” where new ideas will triumph over the armies of the status quo.

We know those in Washington with a vested interest in maintaining a US empire overseas will fight to the end to keep the financial gravy train flowing. The neocons and the liberal interventionists will continue to preach that we must run the world or everything will fall to ruin. But this election and many recent polls demonstrate that their time has passed. They may not know it yet, but their failures are too obvious and Americans are sick of paying for them.

What is to be done? We must continue to educate ourselves and others. We must resist those who are preaching “interventionism-lite” and calling it a real alternative. Claiming we must protect our “interests” overseas really means using the US military to benefit special interests. That is not what the military is for. We must stick to our non-interventionist guns. No more regime change. No more covert destabilization programs overseas. A solid defense budget, not an imperial military budget. US troops home now. End US military action in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and so on. Just come home.

Americans want change, no matter who wins. We need to be ready to provide that alternative.

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This article (No Matter Who Wins Election Tomorrow, Americans Want Change) by Ron Paul originally appeared on RonPaulInstitute.org and was used with permission. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.