Data Mining and Manipulation

Advancements in computer algorithms have presented a myriad of ethical and morality questions. While the implementation of computer algorithms in software products provides real-time feedback to help design better user-interfaces and experiences, algorithms can also be used as a weapon, to unintentionally inflict harm to millions of clients, as in the 2010 case when Facebook manipulated its users' emotions. This monumental Facebook case presents a discussion for examining transparency,__________,_________, embedded in computer algorithms.

Algorithm Development

Algorithms are mathematical and logic processes that serve as instructions for processing data or performing calculations. Algorithms have experienced major breakthroughs that have allowed it to replace traditional data mining technologies. Data mining technologies have historically used statistical modeling software such as HP's Vertica Analytics Platform and powerful computers to process large amounts of data. These traditional tools offer great analysis but at great costs. These technologies are extremely expensive especially considering HP's Vertical Software costs nearly $100,000-$150,000 per terabyte. Algorithms provide a resource effective solution that cuts back costs, physical space, and time.

As the "Internet of Things" drastically multiplied over the years, traditional data mining software and computers became inefficient. As such, there was a growing need in commercial markets to develop new technologies that were able to process and analyze data quickly and cheaply. Algorithms within the context of Mathematics and Computer Science, were refined and found to help alleviate some of the logistical problems in data mining. Even though algorithms have been around since the dawn ages, Computer Science algorithms have recently seen development and application to technological platforms. The benefit of algorithms is that it filters out data real-time and automatically. Algorithms allow developers to build in implementation directly into the application/website and allows developers to incorporate the algorithms' analysis in real-time.

Applications

Algorithms are widely used in the field of consumerism. Financial companies have long used mathematical algorithms to determine portfolio investments, predict stock change, and inform clients of possible future decisions. However, the social media site Facebook has recently pioneered the data mining industry over the past decade with its implementation of a variety of algorithms in collecting and processing data from 1.23 billion active users. It has especially pioneered machine learning algorithms to analyze the online behavior of a user's status updates, comments, likes, and groups. The most famous Facebook algorithm is the news feed algorithm. By effectively drawing patterns from the sustained usage of millions of users, Facebook designers and developers are able to get feedback on design changes and functionalities. This in turn helps Facebook create a more user-friendlier social networking site that attracts and retains more users. [[File::Edgerank-socialbakers.png|200px|thumb|left|Facebook News Feed Algorithym]]

2010 Case of Data Manipulation

[[File:Facebook-eye-e1403978392750.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Monumental Facebook Ethics Case

Overview

In 2010, Facebook was involved in a controversy that revolved around its News Feed algorithm used to manipulate users. A team of Facebook data scientists, led by Adam Kramer, sought to know if displaying all "negative" or "positive" statuses, pictures, news, and comments were to alter the behavior in the same way a user was influenced. For users flooded with inspirational quotes, ideas, pictures, and upbeat statuses, were they more likely to conform to the behavior of the environment and even adopt the same mindset? Thus, this team of data scientists set out on a research project in collaboration with PNAS that altered the News Feeds of 689,003 users. Facebook did not need the consent from these "guinea pigs" as they had agreed to the terms and conditions outlined in the Facebook's data use policy. It explicitly states that user information will be used "for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research and service improvement".

The experiment that was carried out involved the Facebook algorithm that generates what users see in the News Feed. Developers modified the architecture to help these researchers with their study. This experiment was conducted between January 11th-18th, 2012. Over the course of the week, data mining technologies and algorithms filtered forward either strictly "positive" or "negative" feeds. The result, according to Adam Kramer, was contagious, "When positive expressions were reduced, people produced fewer positive posts and more negative posts; when negative expressions were reduced, the opposite pattern occurred." Facebook concluded that the emotions exhibited by a user's community directly influences his/her own behavior on the social network site, as evidenced by the PNAS research paper published, "We show, via a massive (N = 689,003) experiment on Facebook, that emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same emotions without their awareness. We provide experimental evidence that emotional contagion occurs without direct interaction between people (exposure to a friend expressing an emotion is sufficient), and in the complete absence of nonverbal cues."

Public Perception

Public perception of this research study initially caused widespread anger and terror. People didn't see Facebook researching how News Feeds' algorithms change users' perception and behavior on the site, but rather how Facebook has become a moral agent in emotionally manipulating its users.

Facebook's Response

When universities conduct studies on people, they have to run them by an ethics board first to get approval — ethics boards that were created because scientists were getting too creepy in their experiments, getting subjects to think they were shocking someone to death in order to study obedience and letting men live with syphilis for study purposes. A 2012 profile of the Facebook data team noted, “Unlike academic social scientists, Facebook’s employees have a short path from an idea to an experiment on hundreds of millions of people.” (Update 6/30/14): Cornell University released a statement Monday morning saying its ethics board — which is supposed to approve any research on human subjects — passed on reviewing the study because the part involving actual humans was done by Facebook not by the Cornell researcher involved in the study. Though the academic researchers did help design the study — as noted when it was published — so this seems a bit disingenuous.

In its initial response to the controversy around the study — a statement sent to me late Saturday night — Facebook doesn’t seem to really get what people are upset about, focusing on privacy and data use rather than the ethics of emotional manipulation and whether Facebook’s TOS lives up to the definition of “informed consent” usually required for academic studies like this. “This research was conducted for a single week in 2012 and none of the data used was associated with a specific person’s Facebook account,” says a Facebook spokesperson. “We do research to improve our services and to make the content people see on Facebook as relevant and engaging as possible. A big part of this is understanding how people respond to different types of content, whether it’s positive or negative in tone, news from friends, or information from pages they follow. We carefully consider what research we do and have a strong internal review process. There is no unnecessary collection of people’s data in connection with these research initiatives and all data is stored securely.”

Ideally, Facebook would have a consent process for willing study participants: a box to check somewhere saying you’re okay with being subjected to the occasional random psychological experiment that Facebook’s data team cooks up in the name of science. As opposed to the commonplace psychological manipulation cooked up by advertisers trying to sell you stuff.

See Also

• Censorship
• Information Ethics
• Information Transparency
• Facebook Privacy Policy