How Facebook Plans to Fix Facebook, With More Zuckerberg and Less Apologies
It is odd, and that is why you see many Mark Zuckerberg on the Facebook Newsfeed. It is a PR machine, AI-fueled, and it is called Project Amplify.
Zuckerberg's Project Amplify
It could have been one of those stories while Mark was in the shower, and he had an epiphany, an AHA moment perhaps? So why wouldn't he use Facebook to "fix" his image and thus "fix" his company, the multi-billion social media giant — Facebook.
I have found it odd, and I am not alone when more Zuck was becoming a daily visitor on my feed, the funny videos, and the memes that come after.
At first, I also thought, oh, Mark is finally living a fun life or that like everyone else, the pandemic has changed his perspective about what is essential in our lives, and that we all have limited time here on earth and just enjoy the ride while we can.
But now The New York Times is reporting that it is all planned or contrived, and we are all taken for a ride — again.
The plan is to fix Facebook, and it is called — Project Amplify.
Project Amplify — Make the Newsfeed work for Facebook
The effort, which was hatched at an internal meeting in January, had a specific purpose: to use Facebook’s News Feed, the site’s most important digital real estate, to show people positive stories about the social network.
The New York Times said Project Amplify was an idea that Mark himself approved. The idea is simple, to make Facebook look favorable to the public, Mark had enough of the countless apologies the company has to issue to defend itself.
A lot has been said already about how Facebook failed, from privacy and Trump's hate speech, which for a time Mark refused to do anything until it was too late.
Even his most loyal "friend" or lieutenants, as they are called inside the offices of Facebook, are out to save the "King." On Jan. 11, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer — and not Mr. Zuckerberg — told Reuters that the storming of the U.S. Capitol a week earlier had little to do with Facebook.
As you noticed, Facebook is on the offensive. They were never that "combative" against Trump when he was spewing lies that could very well ignite the U. S. Capitol seige.
But now, with Project Amplify, Facebook is using the same tools of misinformation and disinformation to make Facebook look good, and while sharing good vibes, family videos no matter how hilarious they may look like in the beginning show how cunning the people behind the biggest social media platform are, and this is where it becomes dangerous.
Zuckerberg’s Plan to Repair Facebook’s Image: More Zuckerberg By Alex Heath and Sylvia Varnham O’Regan of the Information.
During a companywide Q&A with Facebook employees last Thursday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg turned to a question about a recent uptick in posts on his Facebook page, including a joke he made referencing the actor Vin Diesel a few days prior. He acknowledged that his public persona has been “really serious,” bordering on “squarely robotic,” but said that “life is too short to be serious all the time,” according to a transcript of his comments reviewed by The Information.
It was a memorable admission for the 36-year-old co-founder of the social media giant, who has posted mostly sober commentary on his Facebook page in recent years as the company has become mired in regulatory and PR nightmares. But lately Zuckerberg’s posts have taken a whimsical turn, touching on everything from new Facebook products to memes. “Do you ever get so excited about what you’re working on that you forget to eat meals?” he wrote two weeks ago.
As Zuckerberg told employees, he is trying to “engage with more of the product work” and make sure the company is “doing what we can to also highlight and focus on some of the positive parts of what we’re doing.”
His comments summarize what has been evident to any observer of Facebook lately: Mark Zuckerberg has decided to take back control of his company’s battered image. His decision is backed by a 2021 Facebook communications planning document, according to a person who viewed it.
Last words
If Facebook is allowed to use NewsFeed to amplify pro-Facebook news items, blog posts, videos, and memes, and push down any news about its bad behavior, in itself it becomes the world's most significant enabler of fake news, falsity, and mind control by changing the opinion of its users, doesn't it ran contrary to what a social media platform should be?
A place where truth and authenticity is rewarded not punished?