Facebook apologises for manipulating users' emotions during 'powerful' experiment

FACEBOOK has apologised after admitting to carrying out an experiment into users' emotions without their knowledge.


Facebook has apologised for the experiment

The social media site altered the tone of people's news feeds to show either positive or negative posts in January 2012.

The site then took a note of people's responses to see whether it had an impact on what they posted.

A paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists of the United States (PNAS) found the users were affected by "emotional contagion".



Facebook was able to carry out the shocking experiment because users have to agree to terms and conditions including letting the site carry out "troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research and service improvement."

Facebook's Adam Kramer, who co-authored the report on the research, said it was "important" to look at the "common worry" that people who saw friends' positive statuses felt "left out".

In a post on the site, he said: "At the end of the day, the actual impact on people in the experiment was the minimal amount to statistically detect it - the result was that people produced an average of one fewer emotional word, per thousand words, over the following week."

Mr Kramer also admitted that Facebook had not clearly stated its motivations in the paper, and apologised to people who were upset about it.




Adam Kramer

Labour MP Jim Sheridan has called for an investigation into the matter.

The member for Paisley & Renfrewshire North told The Guardian: "This is extraordinarily powerful stuff and if there is not already legislation on this, then there should be to protect people.



Brett Dixon, director of digital marketing agency DPOM, said what had happened was "perilously close" to subliminal advertising.

He said: "There's a reason this insidious form of manipulation is banned - it is an abuse of people's freedom to choose.

"Whether it appeals to the head or the heart, all advertising seeks to influence people's mood. But there's a big difference between influence and control.

"But let's keep some perspective. This was a research project, not the birth of some social media thought police."