The Facebook Study

Figure 1

Ethical use of technology is always paramount by researchers

Sad FB User

! WARNING Knowledge has serious consequences if put into action.

In 2014, Facebook conducted a study which violated the code of ethical research concerning research subjects in more than one way, it also manipulated the rates at which information would be receieved or whether it was ever received of over 689,003 active Facebook users, and more importantly, without their knowledge or consent. What was the purpose of this research? Well, it was to determine whether or not they could carry emotions from one person or group to others by manipulating positive or negative news and delay the news when an exchange might become heated. More to come on this, but it’s been a long day and for more information, see the References section

Later, those that were observant heard about how

References:

Kramer, A. D., Guillory, J. E., & Hancock, J. T. (2014). Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks. Proceedings of the National academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(24), 8788..