Meta won’t allow users to opt out of targeted ads based on AI chats

US users stuck with AI ad targeting as EU users win more control over their feeds.

See full article...

 

[RamboIT]

Frak Meta and their ever increasing AI slop. Pitiful.

 

[johnlsenchak]

Facebook has become a huge waste of time, Meta Slop !

 

[laitpojes]

Bravo EU for pushing back on this awfulness.

 

[pidgin8]

Ad based monetisation was a mistake. I can’t think of anything that has been more harmful to society than free-but-engagement based business models.

 

[Frodo Douchebaggins]

Roses are red
Mountain Dew is a weird sort of greenish-yellow
I’d rather stimulate my prostate with a broken cocktail stirring stick
than use a facebook product
and I’m not a poet.

 

[Nafun]

I was on FB (pre Meta) fora hot minute years ago. Then I got locked out for some unknown reason. (No, I did not post anything controversial, I barely used the thing.) "Meh, don't need it" I thought. Haven't been on since and in retrospect, best thing that could have happened...

 

[chaos215bar2]

Ars asked Meta why the initial notification doesn't directly mention AI, and Meta spokesperson Emil Vazquez said he "would disagree with the idea that we are obscuring this update in any way."

And Mr. Vasquez is either lying or has his head so thoroughly up Zuckerberg's rear end he can probably see the light at the other side.

 

[Granadico]

Ad based monetisation was a mistake. I can’t think of anything that has been more harmful to society than free-but-engagement based business models.

I still don't think any amount of moderation or other fix can solve social media's issues because the root of the issue is ad based monetization. When the way to make money is to get as many views as possible, it's going to lead to abusive practices to get more views. If you have to pay up front and the company has it's money based on how many people keep the subscription, then a lot of that abuse incentive disappears. (Enshittification is the issue with that as we're seeing with streaming).

Beyond that, the entire concept of social media is damaged because people's social lives shouldn't be viewed as entertainment. Being able to keep track of a bunch of people's updates in life in an RSS feed-esque way is a cool idea, but that's not really what social media is anymore.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Here he is, the curmudgeon in the room. Doesn't matter to me, I don't use any social media save this site here! The whole idea is vile.

 

[hillspuck]

I still don't think any amount of moderation or other fix can solve social media's issues because the root of the issue is ad based monetization. When the way to make money is to get as many views as possible, it's going to lead to abusive practices to get more views. If you have to pay up front and the company has it's money based on how many people keep the subscription, then a lot of that abuse incentive disappears. (Enshittification is the issue with that as we're seeing with streaming).

It's the same reason we have been unable to make news media not (generally) suck under unfettered capitalism. Even with journalists around that want to do solid work, the system fights against them.

 

[jtwrenn]

In Mother META, product is YOU!

 

[chaos215bar2]

I still don't think any amount of moderation or other fix can solve social media's issues because the root of the issue is ad based monetization. When the way to make money is to get as many views as possible, it's going to lead to abusive practices to get more views. If you have to pay up front and the company has it's money based on how many people keep the subscription, then a lot of that abuse incentive disappears. (Enshittification is the issue with that as we're seeing with streaming).

Unfortunately, even upfront subscription revenue doesn't really solve this problem.

The fundamental problem is allowing monetization of user data. Consider, you pay upfront for your car and the manufacturer has every incentive to try to get you to buy another, yet they still get caught regularly snooping on and selling their customers' driving data, including extremely sensitive data like engine start locations.

The entire practice of monetizing personal data is a cancer on free and open society. Advertising is just one example.

Beyond that, the entire concept of social media is damaged because people's social lives shouldn't be viewed as entertainment. Being able to keep track of a bunch of people's updates in life in an RSS feed-esque way is a cool idea, but that's not really what social media is anymore.

The problem is, we've allowed a handful of companies to gain a monopoly on serving the role of the proverbial town square. Yet, we refuse to recognize the power and responsibility that comes with that role and regulate how they operate to serve the public good, instead allowing these companies to spread hateful and divisive rhetoric in the name of profit.

Unfortunately, the time to do that was a decade ago. At this point, they've used their position to put their thumb on the scale just enough in the name of the bottom like that it will be extremely difficult to convince large portions of the population that there's even a problem, let alone that any given solution isn't an attempt to trample on their rights to "free speech".

 

[Carewolf]

Well. Not using their terrible ai still works as opting out,no?

 

[uncaughtexception]

You could opt out of being a facebook user. I don't think using meta is mandatory yet.

 

[Tomcat From Mars]

I was on FB (pre Meta) fora hot minute years ago. Then I got locked out for some unknown reason. (No, I did not post anything controversial, I barely used the thing.) "Meh, don't need it" I thought. Haven't been on since and in retrospect, best thing that could have happened...

A friend sent me a link to sign up soon after it came out of its university invite only phase. I was feeling lazy at the time and didn't want to create an account. Still never made that account.

 

[Minty Beets]

Welp, my days of never using Facebook or Meta products are coming to a middle.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I’m so glad I stopped using Meta products after the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

 

[sporkinum]

I don't think I have ever seen a Meta ad other than a poster for their shitty glasses at the Walmart optician. Let them do what they will. It should hasten people leaving them.

 

[MilanKraft]

You could opt out of being a facebook user. I don't think using meta is mandatory yet.

I gave up trying to understand this years ago, after all the whistle-blowers made it 100% clear Facebook was intentionally: addicting people on a dopamine level; promoting the absolute most toxic voices in political discourse; etc etc... and then ZuckerBorg did his annual treck to Congress, threw up his arms with the latest "oh, we're just a platform Senator; we really don't have much control over anything and we're so worried about free expression" bullshit, and then somehow everyone just fucking shrugged.

Like what is the deal you apathetic &!^@? Do we not care about platforms intentionally addicting our kids or destroying our political discourse for ad dollars? Is there just no other way to share your God damned swirly-latte and kid's soccer practice pics?? Is the conversation there about life just so damn stimulating and informative you can't live wihtout it?? Does your iPhone Messages app no longer allow group texts to the 7 people who are actually your friends and love you, as opposed to the other 477 who are total fucking strangers?

Boggles... the... mind.

DE-LETE FACE-BOOK and watch your life improve and your kids' lives improve. It's really not complicated.

 

[JustYourAverageJDP]

I used social media to keep up with my friends. My friends and I don't use social media anymore so my accounts have gone dormant. I occasionally doom scroll but I don't post organic content anymore, haven't in years.

I use LLM's but I haven't ever used meta or twitters LLM's.

I opted out by not using their services. We are a minority, but I do wonder if engagement will peak and then collapse as AI slop takes over and users reject it. My friends are getting sick with the political rage bait that seems to be dominating social media, this temporary increase in doom scrolling may be at the detriment of long term trust and use in these products.

People used to subscribe to cable and then there was a wave of cable cutting. I wonder if young people will cut the cord to "social media" that is dominated by AI slop and influencers.

Its a bold assumption that people will continue to use media platforms that continue to enshittify.

 

[jimmy.j.r]

for all those folks that are mad about this, you know you can shut off your account at any point.

I imagine it's not easy to do bcuz that stuff is about as addictive as heroin.

but yea besides overcoming brutal addiction, it's not tremendously hard to do it.

 

[MrTom]

head of Facebook Tom Alison described "the future of Facebook" as being all about developing "the world’s best recommendation technology"

So...They want to be the best at recommending ads and products for people to purchase?
Don't we already have that...Google...

 

[virtualkiwi]

I don't have Facebook or Instagram, and only begrudgingly have Whatsapp because it's hard to communicate with some people otherwise.
My sole use of AI in it was to have a play with it's cartoon avatar generation feature once, and I prompted it to generate images of a demonic Mark Zuckerberg. and one or two other prominent purveyors of AI.
I'm not sure quite what targeted content that might generate.
If ads come to Whatsapp I'm gone anyway. Already have Signal for those more sensible.
Ironically, most of the people I need to keep Whatsapp for are evangelical friends, you know the type who're worried about some beast ensnaring humanity and putting numbers on their right hands or foreheads.
Mark Zuckerberg did try really hard with the forehead thing with his whole Metaverse thing, but people didn't really engage with wearing headsets all the time, but they seem to be fine with the creepy app in your right hand thing.

 

[terrydactyl]

for all those folks that are mad about this, you know you can shut off your account at any point.

I imagine it's not easy to do bcuz that stuff is about as addictive as heroin.

but yea besides overcoming brutal addiction, it's not tremendously hard to do it.

I gather there are many whose families insist on communicating via FB. Leaves them in an conundrum.

 

[KrookedRooster]

conversations with Meta AI about topics such as their religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership "will not be used to target ads, Meta confirmed.

Has everyone already forgot Cambridge Analytica? I'm not concerned about your ads. I'm concerned about where else this data gets sent to. As soon as it is out there I do not trust that it stays anywhere safe. "Private" to me is still submitted to somebody to make FB "better."

Selling our souls for peanuts here and most people do it gladly.

 

[RickRoyLeonPrisZhoraRacha]

Hi Meta Ai, let's chat about how you are a clanker. And that Donald J. Trump is suffering from dementia. And that he needs to release all the Epstein files. And deport Elon and Melania, along with her mother to El Salvador Spa (encampment).

 

[engbull]

I gather there are many whose families insist on communicating via FB. Leaves them in an conundrum.

While not for everyone, ostracization does have its advantages. Just sayin'

 

[Deny_Deflect_Disavow]

Bend the knee to the overlords.

Today it’s ads. Tomorrow it’s suggestions. Day after tomorrow it’s probably demands or orders.
Today it’s Facebook and Instagram. Tomorrow it’s TikTok. Day after tomorrow it’s probably every commercial enterprise.

 

[YetAnotherPoster]

Meta insists AI is the future of Facebook, but not in EU

Good, that means they can get rid of that bothersome blue circle in the chat list in Whatsapp and stop feeling the text in chat searches to it.

 

[no_free_lunches_for_ai]

I still don't think any amount of moderation or other fix can solve social media's issues because the root of the issue is ad based monetization. When the way to make money is to get as many views as possible, it's going to lead to abusive practices to get more views. If you have to pay up front and the company has it's money based on how many people keep the subscription, then a lot of that abuse incentive disappears. (Enshittification is the issue with that as we're seeing with streaming).

Beyond that, the entire concept of social media is damaged because people's social lives shouldn't be viewed as entertainment. Being able to keep track of a bunch of people's updates in life in an RSS feed-esque way is a cool idea, but that's not really what social media is anymore.

Even "subscription based" companies are happy to boost their profits with ads (see almost every streaming service available). Especially when the before-mentioned companies have become de-facto monopolies or hold huge swaths of the "pie" in their respective markets.

 

[Berserk]

Really sad that enshittification goes faster and faster for each new technology shift. AI is still in its infancy but already getting twisted to sell ads.

 

[raxadian]

"How to delete Facebook" will be trending again.

 

[Green RT]

cat /etc/hosts
# Filter google tracking
127.0.0.1 www.google-analytics.com
127.0.0.1 google-analytics.com
127.0.0.1 ssl.google-analytics.com
# Block Facebook
127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 facebook.com
127.0.0.1 static.ak.fbcdn.net
127.0.0.1 www.static.ak.fbcdn.net
127.0.0.1 login.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 www.login.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 fbcdn.net
127.0.0.1 www.fbcdn.net
127.0.0.1 fbcdn.com
127.0.0.1 www.fbcdn.com
127.0.0.1 static.ak.connect.facebook.com

 

[rbryanh]

Meta won’t allow users to opt out of targeted ads based on AI chats…

Meta won't allow their cows to eat without being milked. I'm shocked, I tell you… Shocked.

So tweak your own tender pink nipples until you squeal in delight and stay out of their damned barn. What they make from what you give them is pure poison. The fact that it poisons everyone every day, every day, doesn't mean you're any less responsible.

 

[Sarty]

Beyond that, the entire concept of social media is damaged because people's social lives shouldn't be viewed as entertainment. Being able to keep track of a bunch of people's updates in life in an RSS feed-esque way is a cool idea, but that's not really what social media is anymore.

Social networks were an interesting, and I would say moderately valuable, technology product. They mutated and/or metastasized into social media, which was an awful concept from day one.

Nobody who doesn't actually know you/affirmatively seek your connection needs to see your posts. No one needs to broadcast their dumbest, most fleeting takes out into the wide world. No one needs to be today's main character.

 

[Chinsukolo]

Really sad that enshittification goes faster and faster for each new technology shift. AI is still in its infancy but already getting twisted to sell ads.

I guess it's on its way to diarrhea, you know just shit moving faster...

Diarrheification?

 

[Fatesrider]

I still don't think any amount of moderation or other fix can solve social media's issues because the root of the issue is ad based monetization. When the way to make money is to get as many views as possible, it's going to lead to abusive practices to get more views. If you have to pay up front and the company has it's money based on how many people keep the subscription, then a lot of that abuse incentive disappears. (Enshittification is the issue with that as we're seeing with streaming).

Beyond that, the entire concept of social media is damaged because people's social lives shouldn't be viewed as entertainment. Being able to keep track of a bunch of people's updates in life in an RSS feed-esque way is a cool idea, but that's not really what social media is anymore.

You make some valid points, but I think it's even more basic of an issue.

Humans are tribal animals, who get along best with people they decided are part of their tribe. And since tribes form around common interests, backgrounds, politics, believes and what not, one can be part of many different tribes.

But what's MISSING in social media is privacy. It ALL hangs out, and that's not usually a good look. Most people don't compartmentalize their lives when it comes to social media. And that lack of compartmentalization that crosses over into interests and such that are NOT mutually in common create friction.

And a LOT of people present an entirely different persona online than they do IRL, which compounds the issue because sometimes that IRL persona leaks into the online world.

As tribal animals we seek "like minded" people - which is subject to individual interpretation. So those we "tribe up" with may eventually fall apart because we weren't "like minded" enough. And that fosters disappointment, if not resentment, when it happens due to the emotional investment usually put into those relationships.

I mean, people commit suicide because their group decided they didn't like them, or get swatted for the same reason. People are reliable assholes if you interact with enough of them.

If you don't have rules in your social media, then shit goes sideways FAST. And those rules have to be enforced, and clear, and narrow so people stay on topic and within boundaries that they otherwise would not bother with making.

Fundamentally, we don't need to know each other's shit to get along, if we have common interests and express them in a common venue with universal rules for behavior. It's when people decide the rules don't apply to them, and aren't stopped or silenced that the whole thing goes south. And that can happen with the most lax of rules, or the most strict. But usually when the rules are strict, the drama tends to end quickly.

But social media doesn't generally have narrow enough rules to keep the drama from happening. And that's the biggest issue with it.

 

[lp0_on_fire]

Well they can't possibly do worse than they're doing now, this is all of zero interest to me.

At present my feed features the following:

Ads for Dyson women's hair care products. (I'm a man with very short hair)

Strange videos of a strange woman shopping at Costco

Videos of a woman trying on old child sized Halloween costumes

Ads for condos in Denver

Ad for Temu France

Ad for Ikea in an indeterminate english speaking country other than the US with a very unappetizing breakfast.

Ad for medical office accounting software

Urban explorer pictures of a derelict Delta regional jet

AI video of a cat attached to a quadrocopter drone.

Ad for a curry restaurant in London. (I was actually in London recently, but I don't like curry)