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| Facebook pays people to close their accounts |
As part of Facebook's recent research into the impact of social media platforms on democracy, the company appears to be pushing users to withdraw from its products ahead of the 2020 US presidential election.
Earlier this week, Facebook announced that it was working with outside researchers to study the impact of social media products on society during the upcoming US presidential election.
Facebook is expected to have around 200,000 to 400,000 users participating in the project. After signing up, the company can see how users interact with its products (including Facebook and Instagram).
Facebook stated in a post: We need more objective, honest and experience-based research to continue developing whatever is good for democracy on social media platforms and to mitigate unpopular problems.
"This is why we announced a new research partnership to better understand the impact of Facebook and Instagram on key political attitudes and behaviors in the 2020 US elections," she said.
Externally, the project was led by two independent researchers, Professor Talia Stroud and Professor Joshua Tucker, who chaired the first Committee for Social Sciences. Based on their experience, the two professors selected 15 additional researchers to work together.
The screenshot published by The Washington Post showed a popup on Instagram asking users to provide the amount they were required to pay to deactivate their Facebook and Instagram accounts before voting.
The company offers $ 10, $ 15, and $ 20 options per week. Some users may need to disable the feature for a week while others may need to leave the platform for six weeks.
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that as part of the investigation, the company pays users who conducted the survey or deactivated their accounts.
Anyone who chooses to sign up will receive compensation, whether they take a survey or disable their account for a period of time, which is a kind of academic research, said Liz Burgos, a spokeswoman for the company.
According to the company, the social media giant will not publish its research results until the middle of next year.