Facebook Asks Users About Coronavirus Symptoms, Releases Friendship Data To Researchers (reuters.com) 24
Facebook said on Monday it would start surveying some U.S. users about their health as part of a Carnegie Mellon University research project aimed at generating "heat maps" of self-reported coronavirus infections. From a report: The social media giant will display a link at the top of users' News Feeds directing them to the survey, which the researchers say will help them predict where medical resources are needed. Facebook said it may make surveys available to users in other countries too, if the approach is successful. Facebook said in a blog post that the Carnegie Mellon researchers "won't share individual survey responses with Facebook, and Facebook won't share information about who you are with the researchers."
Not representative. (Score:4, Insightful)
Because it specifically excludes those, who act the smartest about this whole thing.
Aka those that wouldn't touch Facebook with a ten foot pole.
Re: (Score:1)
Not to mention the ChiCom bots flooding it with false positives to cause panic. This is folly.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not a huge fan of Facebook, but my use of it is way up, because that's the only place that I can connect with some of my friends and family. It's an easy place to give updates about yourself without having to call or text every auntie to say, "look at my cat! I'm working from home!" Is that an important thing to share? Yeah, kind of. It makes a lot of people worry less when they can see that you're healthy and staying inside. I know it makes me feel better when I can see that my connections are living i
Re: (Score:2)
Instant messaging applications, for instance: Telegram, Viber, Signal and (Facebook-owned) WhatsApp.
Personally, I see no use for Facebook.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, no. Trying to wrangle dozens of family members and friends on 3-5 different messaging apps would take up too much of my day.
The fact that YOU don't see any use for Facebook doesn't mean it's not useful. I don't know if I have more friends and family than you, or if my friends and family just happen to like Facebook more, but I've got a small list of people that I can text and have conversations with, and everyone else will have to watch my Facebook feed.
Laughable promises (Score:3)
Facebook won't share information about who you are with the researchers
Anyone who continues to fall for this claim deserves what they get.
Re: (Score:1)
Anyone who continues to fall for this claim deserves what they get.
Get what? Better response to COVID-19?
For once, can we put the "Facebook is evil" aside? We are all in the same situation. Mark Zuckerberg, researchers, you and me all want the same thing: get rid of the disease. So what if researchers know who I am? Most likely they don't care, and it is not in the interest of anyone involved for Facebook to hand out such sensitive data.
Oh, Hell No! (Score:1)
For once, can we put the "Facebook is evil" aside? We are all in the same situation. Mark Zuckerberg, researchers, you and me all want the same thing: get rid of the disease.
I don't know about you buddy, but I'm definitely not in the same boat as Zuckerburg et al. I'm now unemployed. I don't have millions or billions of dollars to fall back on or acquire the very best of medical care, the ability to fly away aboard my personal jet to my personal seclude paradise. All the while continuing to erode the privacy of the masses and make millions/billions more dollars while the masses are at their lowest moments.
Great for you that you're on Zuckerburg's boat. But, for me, wondering ho
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know about you buddy, but I'm definitely not in the same boat as Zuckerburg et al. I'm now unemployed. I don't have millions or billions of dollars to fall back on or acquire the very best of medical care, the ability to fly away aboard my personal jet to my personal seclude paradise. All the while continuing to erode the privacy of the masses and make millions/billions more dollars while the masses are at their lowest moments.
Sure, Mark Zukerberg is in first class and we are not, but it is still the same boat.
And yes, he has more chance of survival than we do thanks to better medical care, but it doesn't make him invulnerable. Many notable people have died of COVID-19, and though unlikely because of his age, he could be on that list too.
About his "secluded paradise", it is nothing more than a comfortable option for quarantine. He is rich and he has it better than most, no denying it, but I guess he also likes traveling the world
Data of idiots (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"This kind of reporting has been fucked up so many times only a complete idiot would participate."
So I expect about a billion will do it.
Re: (Score:2)
This kind of reporting has been fucked up so many times only a complete idiot would participate.
And now you know the reason the survey is on Facebook.
I'd consider answering these... (Score:2)
...if it was anywhere else than Facebook.
Re: I'd consider answering these... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Since you explained it yourself, place the survey somewhere with no Facebook integration.
For the purposes of my statement, consider "than Facebook" to mean the site itself, and its integrations and tracking cookies.
Facebook as corporate entity, not Facebook as web site.
Re: I'd consider answering these... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
No, there exist sites with no integration with Facebook, still.
Well we now have a population map (Score:4, Informative)
See XKCD [xkcd.com]
I love it when people try to use Heat Maps to try to find trends, that are not there, it is just a higher population so the number is higher.
Crime in States and Cities with a Higher Population is higher than in rural districts. It must be those Evil LiBeRaLs who tend to be in political control of those cities making the crime so much higher. Not that fact we have thousand of people all living right next to each other.
FB finding new and creative ways... (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Wrong thing for the right reasons still is wrong (Score:1)