Zuckerberg Says Idea That FB Fake News Helped Trump is 'Crazy' (FB)

Zuckerberg Says Idea That FB Fake News Helped Trump is 'Crazy' (FB)

How did Facebook Inc.’s (FB) platform contribute to Donald Trump’s election?
That question has occupied social media observers since the election results came in. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg thinks it is a “crazy idea” to presume that the fake news on the social network helped elect Donald Trump. “Personally, I think the idea that fake news on Facebook influenced elections in any way is a pretty crazy idea,” he said at a conference yesterday. “Voters make decisions based on their lived experience.”

But Facebook is responsible for an increasing mind share of that “lived experience.” The average amount of time spent by users on Facebook has increased from forty minutes in 2014 to fifty minutes this year. During this period, the social platform has also become the dominant source for news for most Americans. Facebook initially used human curators for its trending news section but switched to algorithms in September. (See also: Facebook Accused Of Censorship Against Donald Trump).

However, news distributed by algorithms can reflect a one-dimensional perspective and reinforce inherent biases. For example, a study conducted by the Wall Street Journal earlier this election season found differences between Facebook feeds for liberal and conservatives. Combine these facts together and you have a platform capable of influencing a massive cross-section of the population. Both political parties seized on the opportunity during this election. However, the number of documented cases of misinformation spread by the Trump campaign was much higher as compared to the fake news spread by Clinton’s campaign.

Zuckerberg said that the accusation against Facebook amounted to a “profound lack of empathy for Trump voters.” “I think it you believe that (the charge against Facebook), then I don’t you have internalized the message that Trump supporters are trying to send in this election,” he said. To be sure, this is not the first time that a social media platform is supposed to have influenced election outcomes. Facebook was said to have a played a significant role in helping elect President Barack Obama to his first and second terms. (See also: Social Media Networks That Are Cashing In On The 2016 Elections).