Fighting in Pike: Meta begins to examine the “community comments” tools

The wisdom of the masses instead of a factual test: Matta announced this week that it will start checking the use of a new tool called “Community Comments” on Facebook, Instagram and Thirds in the United States starting March 18. The tool will gradually replace the company’s external fact program since 2016.

The tool, which is essentially similar to the existing service on the X (former Twitter), is intended to allow users themselves to add and rank comments that give more connection to the content posted on the various platforms. For the purpose of developing, Meta will use X’s open previous algorithm created by the company of Elon Musk.

Company CEO, Mark ZuckerbergIn January this year, this program announced this plan and replaced a new tool based on the wisdom of the masses. Now, the company has officially announced the start of the experiment, when in the first stage the comments will appear partially and randomly for various users, even outside the waiting list of comments.

The decision to move to the “community comments” method, among other things, is based on the criticism of the past on Meta’s factual test programs, which were subject to political biases by the external bodies that operated them. Meta made it clear that the new system was designed to reduce the biases and rely on the extensive user community.

In the same time, Alongside the planned launch, Meta Mark Zuckerberg CEO and X CEO of X Elon Musk with ongoing criticism and even past accusations about the distribution of Pike News and misleading content on their platforms. Zuckerberg suffered a particularly acute review around the US presidential election in 2016 and 2020, with Facebook being charged with taking sufficient steps to prevent false information spread on the network.

Musk has recently faced public and political criticism that Network X has become a space where it is easier to distribute misconceptions, especially after canceling various control mechanisms after purchasing the company.

Currently, about 200,000 users have signed up to participate in the program as commentbs. The list is still open to other those interested, but there are basic admission conditions, including a minimum age of 18 and a verified phone number. Users who are authorized to write comments will be able to do this on almost any type of content on platforms, including posts of politicians, public figures, and even senior executives at Matta itself. However, comments cannot be added.

The comments themselves will be limited to up to 500 characters and will require a link to the source that will support their reliability. In order to prevent specific aggregate biases or promotion, the comments will only be published if a wide agreement between users with a variety of opinions, and especially among users who usually do not agree with each other. In addition, the system will follow each commentary rating history to assess the quality of the context they provide.

Meta will initially use the existing X algorithm as a basis for its system, but it means in the future to develop an independent version, which may include changes and adjustments according to the unique needs of Facebook, Instagram and Lord. The company noted that they choose to rely on X’s algorithm because it is available in open source, allowing them to learn from the experience accumulated in the use of the original network X.

Contrary to the previous fact program, the comments will not remove content or restriction, but will add the connection to the famous content on the various platforms. In addition, there will be no possibility of appealing notes that will appear alongside a certain content, but on the other hand, the comments will also not lead to any punishment or restriction of the original writers.

US experts responded and said that “community comments” are a tool that provides helpful contact, but does not constitute a full substitute for professional factual examination.

In the first phase, the tool will only be examined in the United States, and Meta intends to expand its use across the state after making sure it works properly during the test period. Later, Meta plans to launch the “community comments” in other countries, but until then the external fact program will continue to operate in the other countries.