Are we getting the whole picture?

When logging into Facebook, are we really getting the information we at first requested?

The worldwide social network started out as a smart communication tool for students, but has developed into a million dollar business putting commercial forces at the front row, and the users at the back.

Facebook has grown into, what we today think of as the mother of all social networks, and also the ones who sets new standards. But what has Facebook really grown into? Our goal (the users) is to connect and stay in touch with people by being friends and being members of groups of our interest. In addition we like to follow pages and sites that contains content that we care about, like sports, hobbies and other interests.

The thing is; Facebook isn't really showing us the whole picture. You should think that you would get news from all the people your friend with, and from all the pages you liked through you newsfeed? That, unfortunately, is not the case. But why, you ask? Well, there are a number of reasons for Facebook to just give you a limited view of what you really want - but it all comes down to one thing; cash is still king.

The likeness between who we are in real life, and what we seems to be like through our Facebook profile has grown closer to each other as time has passed by. As the development of Facebook has widened its request for details from our lives, our lives has become more accessible through Facebook. If your Facebook profile appears to be successful, then so is your actual life too! The more likes, the more friends, the more followers is indicating to the world around you that your life is pretty good! This is good news for Facebook, because this is what generates the huge income of the so-called social network.

Just recently Facebook updated their Facebook app, removing the possibility to easy access the latest news in your newsfeed. So instead of getting the latest updates and shared content, the feed will present you with the most popular content. In this article you can read further about it.

Through advanced algorithms Facebook denies us to see everything thats posted, even though its posted by our friends or by pages we like. The reason of this is to make us, the users, pay to promote our photos, updates and pages.

Derek Muller has been kind to break this down for us in these two videos;

The first about the newsfeed algorithm:

And the second one on how Facebook makes its profit

Mullers analysis has currently of the algorithm has currently 1,6 million views on YouTube, and has been recommended by news sites like Business Insider.

The Federalist has also looked into this in a way more mathematical way - absolutely worth reading if you're interested to go a bit deeper into the algorithm.

So - what are your thought of all this? Is it just something we should accept and move on, or is there alternatives. Because leaving Facebook, thats just too crazy, isn't it?