Facebook stops its newsfeed experiment, YouTube goes after conspiracy theorists, and Kim Kardashian West’s new prank show is picked up by Facebook.
First up from Google Trends is news that Facebook has begun the process of ending its experiment that removed professional or business news posts from user’s news feeds. The company toyed with the idea to encourage more interaction between Facebook friends, but many called the move “Orwellian” and said it increased fake news and misinformation by essentially creating two news feeds. While the experiment was only being tested in six countries, the backlash from news organizations in those countries was swift.
Next up from Reddit, YouTube is taking the high road after the Parkland shooting tragedy by spending the weekend taking down conspiracy theorist and alt-right channels. It issued many warning strikes and partial suspensions to gun-focused channels as well, in an effort to properly moderate content being published on its platform. YouTube came under fire last week when a conspiracy theorist video suggesting that Parkland massacre victim David Hogg was a crisis actor hired to push anti-gun agendas went viral and became the top trending video on the site.
And last but not least from Twitter, an unscripted series from Kim Kardashian West that features famous people getting pranked by their kids has been picked up by Facebook’s video platform. The 10 episode series, called “You Kiddin’ Me”, will also crowdsource top prank ideas from the Facebook community. The series will available soon via mobile, desktop, and Facebook’s TV apps.
Hashtag Trending is produced by IT World Canada. Today’s episode is sponsored by Cogeco Peer 1, the company that enables businesses to unlock their IT potential. Learn more at CP1.com.
If you enjoy Hashtag Trending, please be sure to give us a rating and a review on Amazon, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever else you get your podcasts from.