READ: 3 to read: Gamifying Facebook’s ‘hate speech’ | Kill comments? No way | Soul-destroying platforms. PDF, EPUB online free reviews.

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Oct. 14, 2017: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

Gamifying the decision process: What does Facebook consider ‘hate speech’?: The NYT created a wonderful quiz, which illustrates how Facebook decides what is or is not hate speech — and I guarantee Facebook’s reasoning will leave you shaking your head. But it also shows how creating a game can frame an issue far more effectively than a text story. Check it out, not just because of what it shows about Facebook’s sometimes bizarre reasoning, but because it’s a marvelous use of gamification.

2. Actually, do read the comments — they can be the best part: Andrew Losowsky of Mozilla’s Coral Project argues (convincingly) that newsrooms which drop comments are shortsighted. Yes, trolls require a lot of time to police. But civil commenters are your most engaged readers. Why close comments and let social media reap the benefit by exiling that wonderful community? Newsrooms need to do a lot more to build community, not destroy it. A good read.

3. Oh joy: How platforms are eating the souls of newsrooms: Franklin Foer, former editor of the New Republic, argues that the very identity of newsrooms is being destroyed by the platforms they embrace to drive traffic. It’s an interesting thought. Foer has some has serious cred on the topic because he was brought into The New Republic by a billionaire co-founder of Facebook. But heady early days turned into nightmares. Foer argues that the creative force of magazine was blunted by a stultifying embrace of data and algorithms. An Q&A with Hope Reese of NiemanLab.

Bonus: Facebook’s blind tinkering with democracy: Atlantic writer Alexis Madrigal’s terrifying yet thoughtful take on Facebook’s effect on democracy. A chilling read.