Will these APPs mislead us?
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google-known as the Big Four-now, dominate many aspects of our lives. If you are using a smartphone, your phone system must come from Apple and Google. Over the decades, they have acquired hundreds of companies to promote them to become the most powerful technology giants in the world. You may already know many acquired companies, such as Zappos, IMDb, Twitch, and Goodreads, all of which are owned by Amazon.
There are currently 3 billion people using online social media, accounting for about 40% of the global population. According to some research reports, we spend an average of two hours a day on these platforms to share, like, tweet, and update posts. This means that 500,000 tweets and Snapchat photos are shared every minute around the world. Social media has played a vital role in our lives, so will we sacrifice our mental health, physical health and waste time for this?
Frances Haugen filed a complaint with the federal law enforcement agency. She believes that there is a conflict of interest between what is suitable for the public and Facebook. Facebook has chosen to optimize for its own interests time and time again. We know that social platforms are where we share information. If this place is covered by smog news, then it loses its original meaning.
Furthermore, if this platform gradually grows and becomes so large that we can no longer check and balance it, what a terrible phenomenon will this be. When we live in an information environment full of anger, hatred, and polarized content, it will erode the trust of our citizens, erode our confidence in each other, and erode our ability to care about each other. At this time, we will think about whether Go and look at it again.
Researchers found that the vast Facebook robot farm has posted more than 200,000 misleading posts. According to Paul Bischoff of British cybersecurity company Comparitech, the network includes 13,775 individual Facebook accounts, each posting about 15 times a month, resulting in more than 50,000 posts per week. We heard Zuckerberg’s notes refuted Hoogen’s claim that the company puts “profits above people” and defended the company’s introduction of “meaningful social interaction” into news feeds. We here are adults, and when adults are misled by false news, let alone how minors deal with such unclear information.
The United States is launching a series of antitrust investigations against large technology companies (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon). Antitrust actions are not only to punish bad behavior in the past but also to ensure future competition, for consumers choose this brand because they like it, not just the only one. For example, Google seems to have many advantages in machine learning. Still, in terms of increasing revenue and profits, the company has not yet developed a genuine second initiative. Therefore, anti-monopoly behavior can undoubtedly increase the pressure on enterprises, and at the same time, encourage them to create more research results and improve themselves.
Reference：https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2021/amazon-apple-facebook-google-acquisitions/
https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2021-05-12/doc-ikmxzfmm1896204.shtml
https://www.36kr.com/p/1723828305921
