WTF has happened to Facebook?

[DoComeToMeKitty]

Well I know Facebook has pretty much had it's day anyway. But lately, my feed is full of the most disgusting, racist hate videos and also videos of dogs apparently on their last day before being put down. It's sick

I keep clicking 'not interested' but it just keeps on coming. Why the hell are those stupid videos on Facebook anyway??? It seems to be completely impossible to get rid of them.

Whenever I report anything, nothing is done about it. Now it appears to have taken over as a propaganda platform for the far right.

AIBU to think if Facebook need to get a grip on this?

I think it needs to he shut down, all be it temporarily until they can get a handle on all the crap.

Not to mention the stupid videos of women cleaning their kitchens! What is the actual point?

don't even engage with the "see less of these" options. Literally just ignore them, don't click on anything within them, don't read any of the comments or click on any of the posters' names. Even just by trying to persistently get rid of them, you are still engaging with it.

Similar - community info, things relating to hobbies or such that I've previously shown an interest in.

Nothing unpleasant.

Yep. I rarely go on it now. I want the old Facebook where all I saw was stuff from friends and family.

It’s fast becoming a cesspit. They should have an option to not see ads and things for people you don’t follow.

I am more annoyed I don't see much of my friend's posts... it is seems to be mostly ads and sponsored stuff.

I also don't see what is "sick" about someone posting videos of their dog during their last day before being PTS. I think it is rather sweet.

I honestly haven’t noticed any huge difference in Facebook recently? Except that I do think some things are more likely to be shown to me because a friend has interacted with it these days. So maybe get rid of any racist friends 🤣 I don’t see any of that stuff? If there is anything political on there it’s mildly left wing, and basically right in line with my general political leanings.

Currently my feed shows me mostly posts from close friends and family, Facebook groups I am in and interact with a lot, adverts for books or local events I might be interested in (often they are right!) and reels from comedians or about ballet/dance generally, gymnastics, singing/music, crafting, travel, dogs, little kids being cute, TV shows or actors/comedians I like and other random stuff I aimlessly click on out of vague interest on Facebook 🤣

I did read that any interaction with stuff on there including to say you dislike it or want to see less of it, or any pausing to read something out of sheer shock/horror or whatever is taken as positive engagement and will end up showing you more of the same. So like a pp said just stop interacting altogether or even pausing to read the stuff you don’t want to see. And interact more with stuff you do want to see.

If you’re 55+, Reform-curious and enjoy memes about days gone by when ‘we was poor but happy,’ then it’s for you.

If not, and you like photos go with Instagram. If you prefer video and have a limited attention span, there’s TikTok.

And if you enjoy shouting into the void, X or Bluesky could be for you.

I don't use WhatsApp either as you have to agree to share with FB, I used to WhatsApp in the old days when it started

Do adblockers not work, sometimes you have to try a few different ones.

But you didn't really think that Facebook wasn't a thing anymore because you and your friends don't use it did you?

Asking that on a thread where posters are describing their user experience comes across as a little sneery. Maybe you didn't mean it that way but you must be able to see it's a daft thing to ask

23yo DD considers anyone age 40+ to be a boomer (nb: that includes many millenials who I believe actually coined the word boomer). Poetic justice imho.

Just now, 1st 10 posts in my feed are

1. 58yo cousin about politics
2. ad for product I just purchased from same seller
3. moan in hobby group
4. 54yo friend about life lessons (spiritual)

5... aunt about politics 6...ad i can tolerate for hobby I have 7.... old family friend about politics 8... Family news from cousin born in '64: cute kiddies !, best post of the morning 9... random suggested group ad (politics) 10 ... Resistance account that was moribund until Jan 20th, news & updates

The political views I can tolerate or agree with.

If you don't search for anything you will still get a stream of reels but it won't be influenced by things you actually like, and you are mpre likely to get negative things.

if you are not payimg you are not the customer

Facebook is free to use and you pay for it by having you attention drawn to "content" chosen by algorithm. You can't just "not have" that aspect - your attention is the product that they are selling. All you can do is influence the algorithm's choices.

My Facebook is the same as ever - I use it daily to run my business and keep in touch with friends and family.

I do get ads in my feed but they're mainly posts about cats, dogs, horses, photography and cruise ships!

Never seen anything about Russia or Putin, but then I never click on anything to do with that or read about it either. If your browsing habits show you're interested in that kind of thing then that's what Facebook will show you.

It's absolutely horrible. I don't get the racist or incel content, it's mostly just really inane, brain rotting stuff like videos of pranks, recipe hacks, cleaning tips, animals... stuff that adds nothing to your life and sucks away rhe hours.

Mark Zuckerberg is bereft of morals and has made it clear he's not interested in fact checking or basically anyone coming to harm from his toxic platform.

Honestly - people who are getting stuff they don't like? There's a reason. It's designed to keep you engaged - so there is no benefit to them to show you stuff you don't want to see.

You, or someone else who uses that devices, MUST have been engaging in similar stuff online for it to pop up in your FB feed.

I can pretty much predict what will appear in mine based on my browsing history. It is so easy to get the feed you want - all you have to do is actually engage with the content you want to engage with. Like or comment on a friends page, or in a group you want to be active in, and FB will show you more of that friend and that group.

You are not a helpless recipient of these things you hate @DoComeToMeKitty - you have invited them into your feed in some way. I've literally never seen anything like that in mine.

You can get that if you only use your friends feed. Some ads, but nothing nasty or ‘suggested’.

I don’t get any of that stuff despite committing the crime of being 55+. I’d suggest if you are getting stuff about Reform it’s because you are engaging with it. Even if you have so far managed to be under 55.

I don't get any of this. I get a few crappy ads but i don't get anything racist or anything

I haven’t seen any of the vile ones mentioned.
But then I only use FB any more for a members-only craft group, and the odd post from a family member.

Sounds like a lot of people are just viewing the generic newsfeed that comes up when you open Facebook. You need to click on feeds and then choose friends/groups/pages depending what you want to see. Sometimes I forget and think to myself what is all this rubbish, and then I remember to change to friends feed and it shows me all my friends posts!

Meta is sucking up to Trump and co. Because that is where the money is, and they do not care about the fallout on society.

My Facebook is nothing like that! It’s full off ads for mobility programmes, stuff against anti-Semitism, gorilla videos and funny baby videos.

You get what you pay attention too. Even if you are pausing whilst feeling disgusted, the algorithym doesn’t know you were feeling disgusted, just that you gave it some attention, so it feeds you more of the same.

It’s like a child, it feeds off any attention, whether good or bad.

There is no conspiracy here. You have unwittingly created the content you see.

They changed their hate speech policy to try and get into the pocket of Trump and the “free speech” brigade. This is now the reality. AI then learns and generates this kind of content so you will see it more and more. Depressing.

Yesterday FB showed me a post from the Russian foreign ministry! I hate the Russian government and follow many Ukrainian pages.

@thiswilloutme you’re correct, we are in control of our feeds but you have to understand how it all works, I read that many of the very inflammatory posts are done just to get engagement, not only from people who will “like” it but also the people who text with the angry emoji etc. or argue with people in the comments over it. Any attention is good for Facebook whether positive or negative so they feed you more of anything you’ve paused on or engaged with and don’t factor in whether you’ve liked or hated the content.