For the past few days you’ve probably noticed that Facebook has gotten really colourful – at least people’s profile images have. This, following the US Supreme Court’s decision to turn same-sex marriage into a constitutional right.
Millions of users across the globe celebrated the decision, by adding a rainbow-colored overlay on their profile pics. Now, some say that this is just another one of Facebook‘s social experiments. Well, is it?
Also Read: #IllRideWithYou And The Importance of Twitter In Social Movements
If you look at the facts, Facebook can tell a lot about each of its users – anything from their general interests and music preferences, to their voting habits even. That, plus the fact that Facebook engineers have done this kind of thing before, and that it is a lot more interesting and useful to be able to now understand how Facebook enables social movements and how it could contribute to social change.
It was in March of 2015 that Facebook actually published a paper titled “The Diffusion of Support in an Online Social Movement,”. Written by Stanford Ph.D. candidate Bogdan State, and Facebook data scientist Lada Adamic, the paper looked at and analyzed predictors of marriage equality preference when everyone was adding the “equals” sign as a profile picture back in 2013. This was an attempt to understand whether people can organise online and how their activity can affect social movements on social media.
If you like our stories, there is an easy way to stay updated:
Follow @wersm
For many years it has been clear though that citizens have been using their profile images to support protest movements. This has of course happened on both Facebook and Twitter on several occasions. Where many would dismiss this behaviour as “slacktivism”, it is actually not. The person who changes their profile image might take a risk for identifying with a certain group or cause. In itself, this is an act of support that takes courage on his or her part.
If you like our stories, there is an easy way to stay updated:
Follow @wersm
In any case, Facebook has denied that the latest is in any way shape or form an “experiment”, so the answer is no – Rainbow profile images are not an experiment. However, we can see how the results of this social movement can be fed into it’s current research on this issue. Sometimes, Facebook doesn’t have to organise it’s own experiment… sometimes they just happen.
You might also like
More from Facebook
Facebook NPE Team Introduces Hotline, A New Competitor For Clubhouse
Facebook Hotline is a slightly different take on Clubhouse that puts more power in the hands of attendees who can …
Facebook Is Testing QR Codes For Peer-To-Peer Payments In The US
In the US, Facebook has begun testing Venmo-like QR codes to facilitate peer-to-peer payments using its app.
Introducing Facebook Dynamic Ads For Streaming
Facebook has announced Dynamic Ads for Streaming - a new ad solution that will help streaming brands highlight their content …
Facebook Data Breach: Did They Get Your Data?
The latest Facebook data breach concerned over 533 million users. We help you check if your personal data was compromised.
Facebook Analytics Will Disappear On June 30
Facebook will retire its Analytics tool on June 30, the company announced in a Business Help Center post today.
Facebook Expands Supports For Unemployed Or Furloughed Ad Agency Professionals
The Rise Initiative Facebook began in Brazil to aid ad agency professionals is now expanding to Canada, Italy, Singapore, and …
LADbible’s Facebook Community Group Netflix Bangers Hits 1 Million Members
Netflix Bangers, the Facebook community run by, global publisher LADbible Group, has today hit the milestone of one million members.
Facebook Expands Support For 2FA Security Keys On Mobile
You can now set up two-factor authentication and log into Facebook on mobile using a security key.
You Can Now Control Who Comments On Your Facebook Posts
Facebook has introduced a new feature that lets you control who can comment on your posts when shared in the …