Facebook tool tells whether you unknowingly helped the Russian propaganda machine

Many people in US see reasons to believe that the Russian propaganda machine in media (both online and offline) was used massively to skew the skew outcome of the 2016 US Presidential Elections. They also believe that in addition to making a wave in favor of a candidate, the Russian propaganda decreased people's confidence in the democratic process.


Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter became a handy tool for this propaganda, and many people knowing or unknowingly, became part of the rumors, lies and partial information. With mounting pressure on Facebook and Twitter to regulate the social content on their networks, the Social networks have regulated their TOS, content guidelines.

Now Facebook has launched a new tool which enables you to know whether you had unknowingly created and shared some content on Facebook which helped the Russian propaganda; OR if you have shared or liked the content directly from some known propaganda users, Pages. If you shared the content from a non-propaganda user, Page, then you will NOT know whether you played role in spreading the Russian designs. On this virtue, the new new Facebook propaganda spotting tool is limited.

Ideally, the said Facebook tool must not be tagged as one helping you spot Russian propaganda accounts. Instead, it must be known as a Facebook tool which helps you know whether you unknowingly liked some Fake Russian Account or; liked or shared the propaganda directly from these Fake Russian accounts.

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Facebook tool tells whether you unknowingly helped the Russian propaganda machine

Anil Singh Saturday, December 23, 2017

Facebook Snooze makes Temporary 30 Day silencing Possible!

We knew that Facebook has been testing the snooze option for some months now. The snooze option works simply. If you don't like the Facebook shares of a particular person, group or page, all you have to do is select the "Snooze or Unfollow" option from a dropdown menu besides the post. What makes snooze different from Unfollow is that it just mutes the shares from that Facebook user. It doesn't unfollow the Facebook user. It's much like the Twitter Mute feature, which silences an obnoxious tweeter from your timeline. Now Facebook is reported to have refined its "Snooze" option. Instead of permanently snoozing a Facebook user on Facebook , you can silent him/her, get away from him/her for 30 days. Once done, no shares, Likes from that person will feature on your timeline for the next 30 days. You can extend the snooze period from time to time.

Temporarily muting a Facebook user may prove to be a useful feature.

With so much noice on social networks, a snooze or mute feature in any social network seems quite useful. Although it might be designed keeping in Facebook marketers in mind who may need to pay attention to a certain news at any point of time, the option seems to be useful for ordinary Facebook users as well. There are certain times when one needs to snooze (keep silent/ make distance) from an annoying Facebook Friends. Such occasions can be when someone is looking for a new job, is one vacations or is spending quality time with near and dear ones.


The options such Facebook Snooze or Twitter Mute are better features than Unfriending. As Unfriending someone might not go well with the other person. But if you're a political figure or a Leader you must not follow someone whose behavior you don't approve of.

This is how Facebook defines its Facebook Snooze:

“We’ve heard from people that they want more options to determine what they see in News Feed and when they see it,” noted Facebook product manager Shruthi Muraleedharan, in a blog post. “With Snooze, you don’t have to unfollow or unfriend permanently, rather just stop seeing someone’s posts for a short period of time. The people, Pages, and groups you snooze will not be notified. You will be notified before the Snooze period is about to end, and the setting can also be reversed at any time.”

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Facebook Snooze makes Temporary 30 Day silencing Possible!

Anil Singh Saturday, December 16, 2017

Online Social Networking Tips by Ankit Fadia | New Book for Professionals

Ankit Fadia is a popular techie in India. He had the distinction of being the youngest hacker in India. A distinction which gave him the opportunity to get a job at Infosys (If I remember correctly) and become India's sweetheart. Young men and women are familiar with him. A large section of these 20 year olds are his fans as well. You can call Ankit Fadia the Chetan Bhagat of Tech World. Ankit has written a couple of books on hacking (or ethical hacking) , internet tips. His latest book is on Social media. The book teaches you 50 ways you can use Social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. to improve your professional life.

Since Ankit Fadia writes for 20 somethings, his new book , titled Social : 50 Ways to Improve Your Professional Life on social networking skills or social media tips for professionals is just Rs 140.

The book is good for readers with very basic understanding of Social landscape online. But that is understandable, going by the fact that, professionals in jobs other than Tech based, seldom have more than basic knowledge of anything online. The book is not for those with considerable knowledge of social networks. 

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ankit , Books , fadia , networking , new book , Online , social , tips

Online Social Networking Tips by Ankit Fadia | New Book for Professionals

Anil Singh Wednesday, September 3, 2014