Sheryl Sandberg's Facebook, apologized for the secret psychological tests carried out by company to almost 700.000 users 2012. The fact is annoyed by members of the social network, as well as by the experts involved in the matter.
The experiment was revealed by a scientific study που δημοσιεύθηκε στο τεύχος Μαρτίου του Proceedings of National Academy of Science. The scientific journal reports that Facebook hid "a small percentage" of emotional words from its members' News Feeds, without their knowledge, to test what effect it would have on their posts or "likes".
The statement from Sandberg, his deputy chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg, is an important event since until Tuesday the social network declared that the experiment was legal and fully covered by the terms of service accepted by its users. The secret tests will land the company with an investigation by the UK's Information Commissioner, while the study's publishers have said they will investigate whether any breach of ethics has taken place. Psychological experiments with human subjects should inform the participants – as well as independent researchers, which Facebook appears to have failed to do by arguing that its terms of service implicitly cover such experiments.
