What’s New This Week?
The Emoji Resistance
The revolution (well, the outpouring of anti-Trump frustration on social media) has an icon: the upraised fist emoji. How do we know this? Thank data scientist Hamdan Azhar who founded data journalism lab Prismoji. Azhar analyzed emoji use by the top protest hashtags, and found the fist to be “a signature emoji of progressive protest.”
Facebook’s Illegal Ad Problem
Last fall, Pro Publica pointed out that Facebook allows advertisers to exclude users – by race, gender and other protected categories – from seeing housing and employment ads. This goes against federal fair housing and employment laws. Facebook announced last week that they launched an automated system for dealing with this issue, reports Washington Post.
Playing to the Trolls
Outrage is an efficient marketing tactic, writes Ryan Holiday in Observer. And he makes a really good point. Angry tweets and media coverage are helping the alt-right trolls reach a broad audience… for free. The alt-right “doesn’t care that you hate them—they like it. It’s proof to their followers that they are doing something subversive and meaningful.” Interesting read.
Tweeting the Super Bowl
The stats are in for the Super Bowl. Millions posted about the big game on Facebook and Twitter, but not enough to break the 2015 record, reports TechCrunch. Social experts weigh in on what this means for social media habits. And it wasn’t because the game was boring. (Even I stuck with it to the end… except to watch PBS Masterpiece for most of the second half.)
Advice of the Week
Behind the Scenes in Facebook Targeting
Analytics firm Luna Metrics dissects how Facebook ad targeting works. The blog post has great examples and is easy to follow. The article includes a link to see what Facebook thinks your interests are. (Mine somehow included “Rocky Balboa”).
Cool Visualization of the Week
Well, this one isn’t a “visualization”… it’s a song. NPR’s Science Friday interviewed scientists, composers, and programmers about their work with data. Featured, is “data-driven DJ” Brian Foo, who turns data on topics ranging from income inequality to land loss in Louisiana into songs. Listen to Foo’s work, including a song with diversity data from Hollywood blockbusters.