I got furious today. My wife is livid. It has nothing to do with our relationship, but we both got exposed to the latest “improvement” in the Facebook news feed algorithm. Ok, it helped that we poured a glass of wine to cool down, but really, it’s 9 AM! I find I am following the respected Dr. Nussbaum’s advice every time I open Facebook. Ernest and Julio are happy, as my wine bill is skyrocketing. But I am going to have to go into rehab if this continues.
(There is no Dr. Nussbaum. He or she is a figment of my imagination. But the name translates to “Nut tree. Appropriate.)
It turns out that the “improvement” might have been a test, an experiment, directed at a select set of Facebook users. They may have been interested in seeing if they could “engage users more. Nevertheless, it had a decided impact on my mental health. I just realized I had been a lab rat.
Naturally, I wanted to know if I had signed an agreement to be a lab rat. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to sort through the ever-changing, take-it-or-leave-it license agreement. But I doubt that there is an explicit agreement to be a part of a psychological experiment. A good lawyer will find a way to weasel the words to show that I have, in fact, agreed to be a lab rat, but this is hardly “informed consent.”
I joined a clinical trial a few years ago. It was led by a prestigious group of doctors working out of one of the top teaching hospitals in the country. I signed all kinds of releases, was assured that there was limited potential for side effects and that my personal information was safe. I believe them. I am happy to contribute to ethical experimentation done by educated practitioners.
I am not happy to be a lab rat for a bunch of techno-geeks in silicon valley. There may be psychologists that are part of their team, or there may not be. It might just be a marketing geek, or a software engineer, or perish the thought, a data scientist! I have no idea. And neither does anyone else. Yet this team is experimenting with my brain, my emotions, my life, my mental health — time for another wine.
If a pharmaceutical company wants to test a drug, there are established protocols. Safety tests come first. Then efficacy tests, and finally double-blind, placebo-controlled trials overseen by the FDA or other agencies. None of that here. Nope! Concept to implementation with the simple click of the “enter” key. As long as it “engages users more,” it is a winner.
Facebook and its immediate relations (WhatsApp, Instagram, etc.) are psychoactive drugs. The FDA should control them. Put Facebook under their tutelage, and see what happens. Then have another wine. Thank you, Dr. Nussbaum.
