Meta planning on shutting down popular post tracking tool
3 Min Read
Meta will be shutting down CrowdTangle in light of researchers using the data to show that the platform's far-right user base is way bigger than it intends to show.
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CrowdTangle will reportedly last through the upcoming midterm elections in the US
Researchers have long been using a Meta-owned tool, CrowdTangle, to track the spread of viral stories on Facebook, including in efforts to detect misinformation. However, it seems that research days are over, as Bloomberg has reported that Facebook removed development from the tool and is planning on shutting it down.
Facebook pulling development support from CrowdTangle - and eventually shutting down the tool - jeopardizes the work of journalists and researchers who used the public information to report on what is popular on the platform. In particular, journalists have used the tool to show the high engagement with right-wing news sources on Facebook.
The results that researchers have curated, such as Kevin Roose of The New York Times, have several times been at odds with the data made public by Facebook, which shows that the platform is trying to hide evidence about its user base.
Roose had written an article for The New York Times in July exposing "data wars" within the firm, with CrowdTangle founder and CEO Brandon Silverman noting that Facebook should share more data before leaving three months ago.
The head of Facebook's News Feed, John Hegeman, said that the lists compiled by researchers were not an accurate representation of the platform's content and user base. He did acknowledge that the data showed accurate engagement, but the data did not "represent what most people see on FB," he claimed in a Twitter thread.
According to Hegeman's assertions, a better way to show what people see on the platform would be through data showing which posts get the most reach, but the company doesn’t usually share that data directly.
Facebook acquired CrowdTangle in 2016 with the declared intent of helping publishers "surface stories that matter, measure their social performance, and identify influencers."
The tool tracks the performance of stories across other networks, too, such as Instagram and Twitter.
The Bloomberg report cites how voter advocacy group Common Cause has used it to find misinformation, which it later reported to Twitter and Facebook for removal.
A Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg that CrowdTangle would still be in service through this year's midterm elections, claiming that the firm had plans to provide "even more valuable" tools for researchers.
Facebook has been time after time engulfed in scandals that involve freedom of speech, and its hiding of what its users interact with - mainly far-right content - is a mere attempt at appealing to the average consumer without jeopardizing its leftist and liberal bases. This would allow it to make revenue off the far-right base and the disinformation it spreads.
