The Military Is Already Using Facebook to Track Your Mood
July 2nd, 2014Via: Defense One:
Critics have targeted a recent study on how emotions spread on the popular social network site Facebook, complaining that some 600,000 Facebook users did not know that they were taking part in an experiment. Somewhat more disturbing, the researchers deliberately manipulated users’ feelings to measure an effect called emotional contagion.
Though Cornell University, home to at least one of the researchers, said the study received no external funding, but it turns out that the university is currently receiving Defense Department money for some extremely similar-sounding research — the analysis of social network posts for “sentiment,” i.e. how people are feeling, in the hopes of identifying social “tipping points.”
The Minerva website provides some broad insights into the current concerns of the security state.
http://minerva.dtic.mil/funded.html
The Guardian asks more direct questions (why).
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/jun/12/pentagon-mass-civil-breakdown