As part of the latest Facebook study of how social media platforms are affecting democracy, the company pays people to close their accounts ahead of the 2020 US presidential election.
So Facebook is now going to pay people to deactivate their IG and FB accounts before Election Day. It’s part of the research experiment announced Monday but WOW. This notice went out this week. pic.twitter.com/tV7DAw8F5I
— Elizabeth Dwoskin (@lizzadwoskin) September 3, 2020
And earlier this week, Facebook announced that it has partnered with outside researchers to study the impact of its social media products on society during the upcoming US presidential election.
Facebook expects about 200,000 to 400,000 users to participate in the project, and once subscribed, the company will be able to see how users interact with its products, including Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook explained in a blog post: “We need more objective, fair and trial-based research to continue to amplify all that is good for democracy on social media platforms, and mitigate what is not.”
“It is for this reason that we are announcing a new research partnership to better understand the influence of Facebook and Instagram on key political attitudes and behaviors during the 2020 US elections,” she added.
Externally, the project is led by Professors Talia Stroud and Joshua Tucker, two independent academics who serve as Chairs of the First Social Science Committees, and the two professors selected 15 additional researchers to collaborate in this effort, based on their experience.
Screen shots published by The Washington Post show a popup on Instagram asking users to specify how much money they would like to receive in order to deactivate their Facebook and Instagram accounts before the election.
The company is giving options of $ 10, $ 15, and $ 20 per week, in which some users will be required to deactivate for one week, while others may be required to leave the platform for up to six weeks.
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the company would pay users who completed surveys or deactivated accounts as part of its research.
According to the company, the social media giant does not expect to publish the results of its research until at least the middle of next year.
