7/9/2015 FACEBOOK: The Psychology Experiment You Consented to in FB's Terms of Service Business Ethics in the News Santa Clara University

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FACEBOOK: The Psychology Experiment You Consented to inFB's Terms of ServiceThursday, Jul. 17, 2014

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For one week in 2012, half a million Facebook users took part in a massive psychologicalexperiment aimed at discovering if emotions could be spread through social media. Theproblem? Users had no idea it was happening. It turns out Facebook routinely runsexperiments on users; in fact every Facebook user has been a subject at some point, whether itbe slight modifications in formatting or major feature changes.

Just about every Internet service does experiments, but this one altered users’ news feeds tohighlight items with either positive or negative emotional content, and then measured if itaffected the emotional content in each user’s future posts.

While it is agreed the experiment was legal, critics argue this type of testing crosses the line,particularly when consent is buried in a terms of service. Facebook researchers have taken tosocial media to apologize for the study, but the company’s official statement is that Facebookusers agree to these types of experiments as part of the terms of service. Does Facebook needmore explicit consent for this type of experiment? For all experiments?

Kirk: The beauty in this unfortunate case is that it rests at the intersection of researchethics and business ethics. While every study involves influencing the subject's emotional state e.g. which color do people respond better to? this experiment went one step further bymaking emotional manipulation its sole purpose. The problem here is with the blanket consentthat Facebook is hiding behind. While legally permissable, companies should act in the spirit ofthe law and ensure users know what they are getting into: especially with experiments that are

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Business Ethics in the News

7/9/2015 FACEBOOK: The Psychology Experiment You Consented to in FB's Terms of Service Business Ethics in the News Santa Clara University

http://www.scu.edu/r/ethicscenter/ethicsblog/businessethicsnews/20119/FACEBOOK:ThePsychologicalExperimentYouConsentedtoinFB'sTerm… 2/3

this controversial. What right does Facebook have to know what I am feeling as I'm using theirservice?

Patrick: Let's not forget that Facebook is a forprofit company, offering a free service.We should all anticipate that Facebook will go to great lengths to monetize their product. Auser's emotional state while using Facebook has direct implications for the amount of time theyspend on the site and how interactive they are: both of which are critical to get companies topay for advertising on Facebook. Yet there is still a concern that this experiment was beyondthe pale: if emotions can spread through Facebook, can idealogies and political views as well?It's clear that the law is not just behind on regulating these emerging industries; it's alsobehind on regulating the experiments that shape their future.

Facebook Tinkers With Users' Emotions in News Feed Experiment, Stirring Outcryhttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/technology/facebooktinkerswithusersemotionsinnewsfeedexperimentstirringoutcry.html (NY Times)

Facebook Researcher's Apology https://www.facebook.com/akramer/posts/10152987150867796

A Framework for Thinking Ethically http://bit.ly/ethicsframework (Markkula Center)

NEXT POST: When do startups have to grow up and embrace diversity?http://www.scu.edu/r/ethicscenter/ethicsblog/businessethicsnews/20069/STARTUPETHICS:WhenDoStartupsHavetoGrowUpandEmbraceDiversity?

Posted by Patrick Coutermarsh

Comments

Rushi said on Jul 18, 2014

On the face of it, the Facebook exploited the intrinsic faith its users have on "honesty",some thing which seems to come easily along with nonpersonal nature of social media.But there is something to be said of the people who presented this case for discussion.The picture accompanying the case is itself misleading, designed to create negativity of a"psychological experiment". Thus, the guys who wrote and presented this case fordiscussion are themselves guilty of "manipulating" a response by giving an unconnectedpicture to link it with what FB did. As for manipulating emotions, be it social media orany sort of mass communications, is that not what it is basically intended to do? Thisparticular one is simply perhaps validating some theories at FB and improving theirstrategies, a sort of market survey. Every one in any sort of public communications doesit. While clearly specifying to FB users what was being dome, how different it is fromwhat media, educationists, governments, and NGOs do? The reason why FB needs to bemore transparent and explicit is the added responsibility which comes with sheer reachin terms of numbers, diversity, geographical spread of its users, and most being willing toshare than what they may do in normal eyeball communication. Likejavascript:ilike(4892,5) 4 people like this.

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Patrick said on Jul 21, 2014

Rushi, that's an excellent point. I agree that the framing of the "study" was amisstep for Facebook; if anything because the lack of a consistent and upfrontnarrative created a void that was replaced with blog headlines. Nonetheless, thestudy goes beyond normal market research, I'd argue, in part because the findingswere published an in academic setting claiming a development in social psychology. Like javascript:ilike(4896,3) 2 people like this.

Reply

w+J said on Dec 9, 2014

why? Like javascript:ilike(5036,3) 2 people like this.Reply

shhhh!!!!!! said on Dec 10, 2014

this is a very long answer to a very easy question, its not illegal Like

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7/9/2015 FACEBOOK: The Psychology Experiment You Consented to in FB's Terms of Service Business Ethics in the News Santa Clara University

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javascript:ilike(5057,2) 1 person likes this.Reply

Kevin Greenberg said on Nov 6, 2014

I believe that this proposes a very broad ethical question involving the obviousness of theterms in which you agree to be used in various consumer experiments without beinginformed you are being observed. I think that if the gave the information and you choseto accept it then it is up to you in order to agree or disagree. Like javascript:ilike(4981,3) 2people like this.

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Sam Wallace said on Dec 9, 2014

The Facebook terms of service is an agreement stating what/ can happen during the useof the Facebook site. If people have chosen not to read these terms they should not becomplaining about their lack of being informed. Like javascript:ilike(5040,2) 1 person likesthis.

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Jace Carver and Walker Louthan said on Dec 9, 2014

This asks a separate question. although it is legal, should it be? they do ask if you agreebut, if you disagree they won't allow use of the app. they need to be up front with theirintentions instead of hiding them. Users deserve to have knowledge about surveyspertaining to their online profiles and information. On the other hand users shouldexpect this type of situation when the download and use social media web sites. All in allthe right thing to do would be to make sure that the users are aware of the surveys theyare taking part in. Like javascript:ilike(5055,3) 2 people like this.

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Lindsay Allen said on Dec 14, 2014

I agree, they won't allow you to use the app. if you don't take the survey and that is notright. I feel it is another way to get more information about you than they are alreadygetting from you. They do not go in depth like in fine print that is used. Likejavascript:ilike(5063,1)

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Ashwin. J said on Apr 26, 2015

From a legal standpoint Facebook did not violate any laws, but they were clearly awarethat users are not going to read tens and twenties pages worth of service agreementsbefore making a profile. Facebook took advantage of that fact and slipped in this clausethat made us into test subjects. Ethically, each of us have rights and our emotionalintelligence is our own and ours to keep and use as we deem fit. Facebook should havemore explicitly asked its users to partake in such an experiment. Like javascript:ilike(5181,1)

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