Facebook adding location information to wide reaching posts in the US
Facebook istrialling a new feature in the USthat gives users more information about the origins of popular posts on Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram.
Facebook said it would do this “starting specifically with Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts that are based outside the US but reach large audiences based primarily in the US.
Although Facebook claims it’s an update that “makes pages and accounts more transparent”, it appears that this is largely limited to simply saying which country the post originates from. The image examples provided by Facebook above and below imply that the new feature would notify the user in the US that the post was from Brazil, with the idea that this informs the user not to apply its political stance to US politics.
It’s another small addition to Facebook’s services that the company hopes will help “our broader efforts to protect elections and increase transparency on Facebook and Instagram so people can make more informed decisions about the posts they read, trust and share.”
With the US Presidential election later in the year, Facebook’s PR machine will be on high alert after theCambridge Analytica scandalaround the 2016 election, where Facebook’s platform was reportedly abused to distribute propaganda.
Author: Henry Burrell, Contributor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, Henry covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
