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Here's the thing about Trending Now and the Far/Alt/Conspiracy-Theory right... they are way more unified and better able to create trends.
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To be clear, to make a topic go 'Trending' requires a pattern of posting and perhaps particular people, but only 1,000 posts minimum.
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It's just dozens of identical posts or reposts between sites with the same headline and content.
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Note: The far right distrusts mainstream media. Conspiracy theorists distrust MSM. As a result they coalesce around fewer headlines.
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That's not like... a criticism... it just *is*.
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As a result a small group of conspiracy theorists, w/o even trying, can take over a legit topic like Sept. 11. Which is what keeps happening
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Also a factor, conspiracy theorists are totally a market-targeting-ready customer vertical, so there's that too. bluechoochoo/774358422074425344
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If you were worried about Facebook's bias, subtly altering topics that create the Trending SERPs is way worse than human editor bias BTW
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Somewhat related: "half-baked quiche" is my new fav descriptor for buggy software. slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/08/how_facebook_s_trending_news_feature_went_from_messy_to_disastrous.html
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Also, for those of us paying attention, that Siri joke has been at the top of the last 3 Apple Trending Topics mashable.com/2016/09/09/facebook-trending-topics-sept-11/#e_F_Dr0vVaqm
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Maybe not the tippy top, but way up there every time.
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Anyway, the bigger problem isn't that Facebook is presenting a 9/11 conspiracy, it's that people keep freaking sharing one.
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The inevitable problem of social trends is people are more likely to be malicious or foolish in clusters of the type that screw analysis