Ah. I see what's going on here. We're talking past each other.
You're talking about what is profit maximizing for Facebook. I'm talking about how their algorithms produce results which are absurd on their face. (I'm pointing and laughing at these, because they're funny, but that's just an elaboration.)
Both can be--and clearly are--true at the same time. The world is full of social absurdities. Having Facebook algorithms mirror them makes them easier to see and funnier to point out.
Or their "highest expected payoff" guess could be funny. That's worth pointing and laughing at, too.
I don't think I ever claimed that they weren't trying to maximize profit, only that they looked silly to me while doing so. I'm quite sure they don't much care they look silly to me, and I don't much care that they're trying to maximize profit except that I can point at their silliness while they do so.
(There is a more minor point that I am not talking about the advertisements, and you are. Suggested pages are not advertisements. On Facebook, the two are quite distinct. But that is a relatively minor point and an error which someone else also made in an earlier post.
As I mentioned in that thread, the advertisements have not been as absurd as the suggested pages. Mostly they've obviously been driven by demographics and are much more widely cast.)
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Date: 2013-04-10 09:43 am (UTC)You're talking about what is profit maximizing for Facebook. I'm talking about how their algorithms produce results which are absurd on their face. (I'm pointing and laughing at these, because they're funny, but that's just an elaboration.)
Both can be--and clearly are--true at the same time. The world is full of social absurdities. Having Facebook algorithms mirror them makes them easier to see and funnier to point out.
Or their "highest expected payoff" guess could be funny. That's worth pointing and laughing at, too.
I don't think I ever claimed that they weren't trying to maximize profit, only that they looked silly to me while doing so. I'm quite sure they don't much care they look silly to me, and I don't much care that they're trying to maximize profit except that I can point at their silliness while they do so.
(There is a more minor point that I am not talking about the advertisements, and you are. Suggested pages are not advertisements. On Facebook, the two are quite distinct. But that is a relatively minor point and an error which someone else also made in an earlier post.
As I mentioned in that thread, the advertisements have not been as absurd as the suggested pages. Mostly they've obviously been driven by demographics and are much more widely cast.)