COVID19_23

Things appear on your Facebook timeline for a number of possible reasons: you put them there; a friend of yours put them there; a page you ‘follow’ put them there or because they are ‘Sponsored’. That’s how Facebook works.

You directly choose what you post on your own timeline. You choose who your friends are and also which pages you choose to follow. So, apart from those pesky ‘Sponsored’ ads, you think you control what’s on your timeline? Wrong.

Let’s look at how the sponsored ads work. You will no doubt have seen this content when you scroll your FB timeline. If you like umbrellas, for example, miraculously ads for umbrellas appear on your timeline. It’s not magic, it’s just a manifestation of how you and your data are being sold in the social media market. Every scroll, Like and Share you make is logged and the profile created from these preferences is collated and sold to the highest bidders. If you have a profile that makes it likely that you will like umbrellas, then sponsored ads for umbrellas miraculously appear.

But not all that is being sold in this sponsored content is as innocuous as umbrellas. Ideologies, belief systems, fake news and spin are all for sale. And your data directs just as much of this to your timeline as umbrellas!

And not all of this sponsored spin and ideology is clearly and conveniently marked as ‘Sponsored’ on your timeline. Actually, virtually none of it is clearly marked. It creeps on to your timeline surreptitiously and convincingly blends in amongst those pictures of fluffy kittens, requests for plumber recommendations and witty memes. It gets there because those pages you choose to follow sneak them in. And, via the Share route, if it has sneaked onto a friend’s page, it then appears on your page. If you then Share it, like wildfire, it is on all the pages of your friends in a single click.

Let me give you an example.

Suppose you choose to follow a page called ‘The Great Outdoors’ (I’ve not checked if this is a real page and so apologies now if it is). Innocent enough. Lots of stuff about the outdoors – raincoats and stuff.

What you don’t realise is that ‘The Great Outdoors’ page is a front for the Raincoat Association (again, I am using this as a fictitious organisation and apologies if it actually exists).

One day, The Great Outdoors posts on your timeline a story: “Umbrellas are b***ards”.

Now, it turns out you are a closet umbrella hater. Actually, it’s not so closet as FB has determined this from your clicking behaviour and sold your data to the Raincoat Association (that’s probably how ‘The Great Outdoors’ page found you in the first place!). The raincoat mob, through their sweet fluffy page ‘The Great Outdoors’, know that if they post the “Umbrellas are B***ards” story on your timeline it will resonate with you. And what do you do? You Share it. All of a sudden the Raincoat Association has a free marketing agent doing their work for them. The story then finds your umbrella hating friends, they onward Share the story. Before long, FB is ablaze with umbrella hatred. Sponsored hatred and you have been the conduit.

And don’t be fooled that posting a “Umbrellas are b***ards” story will change the opinion of umbrella lovers. All it will do is polarise opinion. Umbrella haters will become more convinced of their convictions by seeing their views in print. Umbrella lovers will become incensed that anyone could hate umbrellas and fuel their loathing of raincoats. Those stories don’t sway opinion they just enflame anger and tear us apart. They are not persuasive. They are not informative. They do not stimulate debate. They just make angry people angrier.

If a post stirs an emotion it will spread. If that emotion is anger or fear, both of which fire-up your quick-acting sympathetic nervous system, then it will be spread quickly. Fear begets fear; anger begets anger. And that is how many of these sponsored spin posts work.

“Umbrellas are ruining the economy”
“Umbrellas are privatising the NHS”
“Umbrellas voted for Brexit.”
“Umbrellas signed the Lisbon Treaty without asking YOU first.”
“Umbrellas are lining their pockets at your expense.”

Each different spin but each spread by the Share button on FB, each spread by creating anger. Don’t be a puppet in someone else’s marketing war.

So how should we manage this? Well, I propose some rules for pressing that Share button:

1. If it is promotion of a friend’s or colleagues business, charity or endeavour – Share away

2. If it some lovely, eye-catching or witty photo taken by one of your friends – liberally Share

3. If it is factual info – please though check with an independent source that it is indeed factual as there is a lot of quackery out there – then Share. Quackery is big business and so be very cautious that it isn’t in fact sponsored spin parading as fact.

4. If the post is text and you know personally the author of the words and know that they are genuine, without sponsored spin then Share.

Anything else, DON’T SHARE. If you are happy that these potentially anger-provoking posts appear on your time line, great. But leave them there – don’t litter anyone else’s timeline with them. Unless that is, of course, you add to the Sharing process with some thoughts, some wisdom, some insight that will add to the debate, then rule 4 above applies. Add a perspective. Add supporting evidence. Mention a counter-point. Don’t just blindly Share.

So please, please, please keep your finger off that Share button unless you really are going to enlighten your friends with it. Overuse it and all you are doing is spreading aggression and negativity on FB.

And maybe here is the test. If you are poised to press the Share button then consider if you met any (or all) of your Facebook friends for coffee, would you show them the post you are about to Share without comment, or addition or analysis. If the answer is probably not, then don’t Share.

POSTSCRIPT: If this post echoes with you, DO Share it! In that way we can perhaps create a little corner of FB with a little less hatred and anger.