Facebook says it was “unprepared” for the ruckus stirred up around its emotional contagion research, and that there were things “it should have done differently.” Does that include asking for informed consent next time? 
Tag Archives: emotional contagion
Did Facebook’s emotion experiment break the law? ICO probes
Did Facebook’s emotional manipulation study break data protection laws? The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office is to investigate the experiment, which caused outrage after it manipulated the feeds of close to 700,000 users to determine how they reacted to positive or negative news.
Facebook shrugs as ’emotional contagion’ research outrages its users
Some users saw a dash more positive items in their feeds; some received a more grim daily dose, as the researchers cut out happy tidings. The researchers’ conclusion: yes, emotional states are contagious, and no, seeing friends post happy news does not necessarily make people want to jump off ledges. The internet’s reaction: how dare you manipulate emotions without informed consent?