Facebook Predicts Your Political Stance Based on Your Activity

It’s fair to say that Facebook isn’t enjoying a great time at the moment. The company is stumbling from controversy to controversy; it’s gotten flak for everything from fake news to influencing elections.

But although its problems are well-documented, it still has more than two billion users. And many of those people use the service to debate and discuss politics (despite 31 percent of Facebook users saying they’d unfriend someone who talks about politics too much).

Given so many users talk about politics, Facebook’s algorithms can make a reasonable assumption about your political beliefs—which party you vote for, which politicians you support, which ideology you have confidence in, and so on.

So, the million-dollar question: Has Facebook got it right?

How to See What Facebook Thinks of Your Politics

To find out what Facebook thinks about your political beliefs, you need to dig deep into the settings menu. Follow the instructions below.

  1. Log into Facebook.
  2. Click on the small arrow in the upper right-hand corner.
  3. In the dropdown menu, click on Settings.
  4. In the menu on the left-hand side of the screen, select Ads.
  5. Scroll down and expand the Your Information section.
  6. Click on the Your Categories tab.

You’ll probably see lots of tags covering many of your interests, but somewhere in there, you will find a label(s) about your political leaning.

Remember, these are not tags you’ve added yourself. Facebook adds you to the categories based on your online activity. If the tag is wrong, you can fix it. Just click on the cross next to the tag in question.

Finally, keep in mind that there are much better ways to get your political news than via Facebook’s news feed.

Image Credit: Mactrunk/Depositphotos



from MakeUseOf https://ift.tt/2qqyY8W
via IFTTT