Facebook ‘labels’ posts by hand, raising new privacy questions
The intention, says the social media platform, is to understand how the types of things users post are changing
Hyderabad/San Fransisco/Frankfurt — Over the past year, a team of 260 contract workers in Hyderabad, India, has ploughed through millions of Facebook photos, status updates and other content posted since 2014. The workers categorise items according to five “dimensions”, as Facebook calls them. These include the subject of the post — is it food, for example, or a selfie or an animal? What is the occasion — an everyday activity or major life event? And what is the author’s intention — to plan an event, to inspire, to make a joke? The work is aimed at understanding how the types of things users post on its services are changing, Facebook said. That can help the company develop new features, potentially increasing usage and ad revenue. Details of the effort were provided by employees at outsourcing firm Wipro over several months. The workers spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation by the Indian firm. Facebook later confirmed many details of the project. Wipro decl...
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