The red line in this Facebook graph shows how actions that deemed risky spread differently online. 'The point of this tool is not to get information about people.'īut, as a report in the Atlantic out, the site has long been involved in research to better see how information spreads in a social network.įor instance, in March 2013, the company published a study that looked at the factors that predicted support for marriage equality on Facebook. This led Atlantic to speculate that by setting up its own tool to let people filter their profile picture, Facebook could gain unprecedented insight into how to influence people.įacebook, however, immediately denied the claims.Ī spokesperson for the site told : 'This was not an experiment or test, but rather something that enables people to show their support of the LGBTQ community on Facebook. 'The question is, how long will it take for people to change their profile pictures back to normal.' He joked: 'This is probably a Facebook experiment!' The reports were sparked by a throwaway comment by MIT network scientist Cesar Hidalgo on Facebook.
