During the past week, we witnessed many articles and reports claiming that Facebook is not really unbiased when it comes to crafting its Trending Topics section. In response, the social media network has come forward with more information on how the Trending Topics mechanism works, in an attempt to shed some more light in the wake of recent press revelations.
In a lengthy Newsroom blog post, Facebook tried to get more candid about how Trending Topics sections work. More specifically, there is a sophisticated set of guidelines in order to ensure that the content provided in the Trending Topics section helps “people discover content that is both popular in the world and meaningful to them.”
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Facebook bases their creation on 3 different factors: an algorithm, a dedicated Trending Topics team and personalisation. The algorithm identifies topics that have recently spiked in popularity on Facebook – topics that have high mentions over a short period of time. Then, the Trending Topics team validates the topic by cross-checking with sources, and finally, a personalisation algorithm places the trending topic in your sphere of interests, based on the pages you have liked, your feedback, and other factors. Each user sees different Trending Topics.
With US elections coming up, and a complex international state of affairs, Facebook is attempting to steer clear of the reports that accuse it of biased information. If you want to learn more about how Trending Topics work, you can find additional information here.
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