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We unleashed Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms on blank accounts. They served up sexism and misogyny
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
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I have a ~3year old fb account because I have to use messenger. I don't use FB almost at all (I even sparingly accept friend requests) and have turned off ~anything that provides targeted content (I live in EU).
Since about last year (or possibly even before), my feed is about 35% Ikaria ads (a Greek island, I'm from Greece), 10% porn, 10% sexist-misogynistic stuff, 15% sexist-misogynistic porn, 15% christian stuff and the rest random stuff.
At least this might confirm that turning off targeted content works..🤷
I use Facebook because my relatives are spread out across the world and that's the way I know to stay in touch and also my brother, who is neurodivergent, mostly likes to communicate to the family as a whole that way and I want to be able to stay in touch with him too. On top of that, I'm stuck in a town I hate with no friends here and some old friends from my hometown are there so I can talk to them.
Anyway, ever since my brother started talking about how he was taking various hallucinogenic substances and calling himself a psychonaut (he's almost 60, he got into it very late), most of the ads I see are for shroom gummies, ketamine and boner pills. I've done my "psychonaut" stuff back when I was in my teens and twenties. I'm not interested in the former two and the latter is, thankfully, not necessary yet.
The funny thing was that maybe 4 or 5 years ago, I kept getting shown an ad for a wooden hurdy-gurdy kit. Like the medieval instrument. I have no idea why. I have never expressed an interest in playing the hurdy-gurdy, listening to the hurdy-gurdy or building anything out of a wooden kit. It became a joke with me and my friends for a while.
You know, you can just use Messenger on its own, on desktop web or mobile. I also need to use Messenger in some limited capacity and I have no idea what my feed looks like :)
You mean without a fb account? I think you're right, but I think this wasn't possible when I made the account ~3years ago.
About desktop web, I'm only using the website on my pc (and I have isolated the app on work profile on my android, while turning off ads with an lsposed module).
Oh, no, I mean I have an account, but I never (...exceedingly rarely) go on Facebook itself. messenger.com is just the messenger with no feed or other features, and there's a standalone mobile app called Messenger as well, same idea. I use those when I need to interact with someone over Facebook so that I'm not exposed to most of the crap.
I don't know anything about using it totally without any account.
Ahhh, yeah. I too use the messenger app on mobile and the messenger website on pc.
I just happen to open facebook (I have an open source front end client) from time to time out of boredom, because it's kinda amusing how bad my feed is :)
Ah okay, lol. Sounds like you've got it under control.