But the creepy part of the whole thing? None of these Facebook users were aware their News Feeds were being manipulated. It also means that an algorithm was perfectly capable of messing with people’s emotions for a whole week.
However, the study is covered under the Facebook Data Use Policy, which users must agree to before signing up for the site’s service. The policy gives the company the right to access and use information people post to the social media site, and according to A.V. Club, the policy also lists a number of potential uses for this data, “including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research and service improvement.”
So if you felt depressed for one week back in 2012 without knowing why, that mystery may have just been solved.
[Image courtesy of Gil C/Shutterstock]