Facebook Emotional Contagion Experiment Revealed

confirmed Importance 9/10 ~1 min read 4 sources 5 actors

Intelligence Penetration Media Capture & Control Digital & Tech Capture

Facebook conducted a massive psychological experiment on 689,003 users without explicit consent, manipulating their news feeds to study emotional contagion. Researchers Adam Kramer, Jamie Guillory, and Jeff Hancock published findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealing how algorithmic content manipulation could influence user emotions. The study triggered significant ethical concerns about research consent, user manipulation, and the power of social media platforms to conduct psychological experiments.

Sources & Citations

[1] Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - Original Study · Jun 28, 2014 Tier 2

[2] Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Complaint · Jul 3, 2014 Tier 2

[3] Facebook's Emotional Contagion Study - Ethical Implications · 2016 Tier 2

[4] NPR - Facebook Manipulates Moods for Science · Jun 30, 2014 Tier 1

Tiers Tier 1 court records & gov docs · Tier 2 established outlets · Tier 3 regional & specialty press · Tier 4 opinion or single-source. Methodology →

Cite this entry

The Cascade Ledger. “Facebook Emotional Contagion Experiment Revealed.” The Capture Cascade Timeline, June 28, 2014. https://capturecascade.org/event/2014-06-28--facebook-emotional-contagion-experiment/