Bits: Facebook Has a Bug. Can It Be Fixed?

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, April 26, 2017 [For the latest updates, go to nytimes.com/bits »]( [To get people to see opposing points of views, Facebook might have to do the unthinkable — disregard the likes and dislikes of its users.]( To get people to see opposing points of views, Facebook might have to do the unthinkable — disregard the likes and dislikes of its users. Philippe Wojazer/Reuters [Confronting the News Bubble Problem]( It is tempting to say there are two kinds of people these days: those who are [willing to spend $425 on designer jeans]( that have been stained with pretend mud and those who get actual mud on their jeans. Through the prism of Tuesday’s internet outrage — pricey jeans that were decorated with fake mud and offered by the retailer Nordstrom — let’s try to understand what critics said was the biggest problem at Facebook: The social media service’s highly successful and highly algorithmic news feed has split its members into two camps. On one side, the so-called elites see only news that fits with their urban, most likely progressive viewpoints. On the other side are those who see only news that fits with their suburban or rural viewpoints. People who buy designer clothes and pretend to do hard work versus people who actually get their hands (or jeans) dirty. [But as Farhad Manjoo points out]( in a deeply reported magazine piece, fixing those news bubbles isn’t quite so easy. Facebook is driven by data, and in order to get people to see opposing points of views, it might have to do the unthinkable — disregard the likes and dislikes of its users. But then what? “If Facebook were to take more significant action, like hiring human editors, creating a reputational system or paying journalists, the company would become something it has long resisted: a media company rather than a neutral tech platform,” Farhad writes. That’s exactly what some critics have said Facebook should do. — Jim Kerstetter Read More Feature [Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug?]( By FARHAD MANJOO Mark Zuckerberg now acknowledges the dangerous side of the social revolution he helped start. But is the most powerful tool for connection in human history capable of adapting to the world it created? State of the Art [Why Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook]( By FARHAD MANJOO Instagram, now with 700 million users, resembles Facebook in 2009 to 2012, when it went from being something people used occasionally to something they use every day. [Father in Thailand Kills 11-Month-Old Daughter Live on Facebook]( By PAUL MOZUR After broadcasting himself dangling the girl by the neck from a building on the resort island of Phuket, the man killed himself, the police said. ADVERTISEMENT More From The Times Tech Fix [Why Your Next Wi-Fi Setup Should Be a Mesh Network]( By BRIAN X. CHEN Unlike stand-alone routers that lose signal the farther you move away from them, mesh stations piggyback on one another to create a continuous wireless link. Tech We’re Using [The Difficulties of Reporting When China Limits Your Internet]( By JANE PERLEZ Jane Perlez, The New York Times’s bureau chief in Beijing, on the apps she uses and how she manages to work in spite of the Great Firewall. [Huawei, Chinese Technology Giant, Is Focus of Widening U.S. Investigation]( By PAUL MOZUR American officials are looking at whether Huawei, a maker of smartphones and cellular equipment, broke trade controls on Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. [Twitter’s Business Shrinks, but Investors See a Glimmer of Hope]( By MIKE ISAAC The company posted its first decline in revenue since its initial public offering in 2013, but its results still beat investors’ low expectations. [Pope Francis Urges TED Audience to Nurture Ties With Others]( By RUSSELL GOLDMAN The pope made his remarks in a recorded video talk that was shown Tuesday at the TED conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. Tech Tip [Sharing More Than 140 Characters on Twitter]( By J. D. BIERSDORFER Posting an image of a web page with highlighted text lets you make your point and share bigger thoughts than the standard character limit allows. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [newsletters@nytimes.com](mailto:newsletters@nytimes.com?subject=Bits%20Newsletter%20Feedback%20223). ADVERTISEMENT LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. FOLLOW BITS [Twitter] [@nytimesbits]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Bits newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018