Facebook messed with users for science

[pzarquon]

Facebook wanted to see if it could affect its users' moods. Well, I definitely feel grumpier.

Facebook Research Dances Around Informed Consent
"The results of a 'massive experiment on Facebook; were published in The Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences. They showed evidence of 'emotional contagion' by exposing some users to more positive news stories than usual, and others to more negative stories...

The problem is 'informed consent,' a fundamental principle of research involving human subjects... This critical issue is dismissed by saying that all Facebook users agree to be studied simply by using Facebook."

[mel]

Re: Facebook messed with users for science

The same thing can happen here and it only takes a few people in some of the politically charged threads to make others feel grumpy. Best to stay in "safe" areas I have learned.