BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • Trending

#BBCtrending: 'I'm not a lab rat!'... reaction to #FacebookExperiment

  • Published
    30 June 2014
Share page
About sharing
A woman with the Facebook logo reflected on her sunglassesImage source, Getty Images
BBC Trending
What's popular and why

It's emerged that Facebook "manipulated" the amount of positive and negative news in the feeds of almost 700,000 people as an experiment. Here's a taster of the reaction on social media.

"I am NOT a lab rat!"

"Creepy and disturbing"

"This is bad, even for Facebook."

As the tweets above show, many are clearly outraged on hearing news that Facebook - together with Cornell University and the University of California - carried out a study to see if people's moods were affected by reading a positive, or negative newsfeed. The answer appears to be "yes", although the effect isn't huge.

According to the study, external, which was published earlier this month, people reading more positive newsfeeds used very slightly more positive words themselves on Facebook, and vice-versa.

What has angered many Facebook users is that none of those taking part in the test were told they were being experimented on.

Facebook says this is perfectly legal under their terms of service. But, following the furore, Adam Kramer, one of the Facebook scientists involved, wrote in a Facebook post, external that he was "sorry for the way the paper described the research and any anxiety it caused".

That didn't stop the hashtag #Facebookexperiment being used on Facebook, external and Twitter, external. "Wait a second, maybe the Facebook study is itself an experiment to see if it will make me write angry things on Twitter," tweeted, external Emily Nussbaum of the New Yorker.

A Facebook logoImage source, Getty Images

Some commenting on the BBC World Facebook page, external didn't see what the fuss was about. "I think Facebook would be stupid not to do it," wrote Andrew Farley. "What an opportunity to learn about humanity."

But a few threatened to leave Facebook. "We should conduct a mood experiment on Facebook. 1. We all leave. 2. Someone asks them how they feel about it," was one tweet, external for example. Whether many will follow through on that threat is unclear. Back in 2010, a "Quit Facebook Day" was organised in protest at the company's privacy policies, but was widely regarded as a flop, external.

"We are reliant upon these technology platforms, and we cannot easily give them up," says Professor Ralph Schroeder at the Oxford Internet Institute. Schroeder calls the Facebook test "very troubling". "If this had been a study conducted within academia, I doubt very much it would have got ethical approval," he told BBC Trending.

Most importantly, he says, it shows how powerful "big data" is. It's not too much of a leap, he says, to imagine a "brave new world" where social platforms, governments or others, might try to condition our feelings and emotions - without us even knowing. Academics and regulatory bodies need to monitor this closely, he says.

Reporting by Cordelia Hebblethwaite, external

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external

All our stories are at bbc.com/trending

More on this story

  • Why does Facebook want you to vote?

    • Published
      22 May 2014
    A screengrab of a logo on Facebook showing a ballot going into a box

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Germany to stop arms sales to Israel that could be used in Gaza after takeover plan approved

    • 7564 viewing7.6k viewing
  • Boy, 15, found guilty of murdering fellow pupil

    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • NCA to investigate police officer sex abuse claims

    • Published
      9 minutes ago

More to explore

  • Cacio e pepe: Good Food pasta recipe sparks fury in Italy

    pasta in a bowl with cheese and pepper
  • Big Mags: The paedophile-hunting granny who built a heroin empire

    Mags Haney outside her home in the Raploch talking to two police officers. The photo from the mid 1990s shows Haney with short bleached blond hair and big earrings. She is wearing a pink cardigan and and orange t-shirt. A number of locals are standing around watching the scene
  • What we know about Israel's plan to take over Gaza City

    Palestinians hold out pots and bowls, jostling to reach the front of a line as they await meals distributed by aid groups in Gaza City
  • Faisal Islam: Why has the Bank of England cut rates?

    Andrew Bailey, Bank of England governor, looks straight at the camera. he's wearing glasses and a dark suit.
  • India's immigration raids send ripples through slums and skyscrapers alike

    A woman stands in a slum in Delhi
  • Watch: See where China plans to put its controversial mega-embassy

    A composite image of Damian Grammaticas and the proposed China embassy
  • Weekly quiz: Which baby names took top spot?

    A stock photo shows a baby looking directly at the camera while pouting as they prop their head up on an outdoor chair with bokeh depth of field behind.
  • Who is most likely to challenge Liverpool this season?

    • Attribution
      Sport
    Liverpool celebrate with Premier League trophy
  • Summer Essential: Your family’s guide to the summer, delivered to your inbox every Tuesday

    concentric circles ranging from orange to yellow to represent the sun, with a blue sky background
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Boy, 4, dies after being hit by bus as he walked out of hospital

  2. 2

    Boy, 15, found guilty of murdering fellow pupil

  3. 3

    New signs found of giant gas planet in 'Earth's neighbourhood'

  4. 4

    NCA to investigate police officer sex abuse claims

  5. 5

    MP mistakes charity rowers for 'illegal migrants'

  6. 6

    Teenager who lost his legs in crash will 'never forgive' driver

  7. 7

    Big Mags: The paedophile-hunting granny who built a heroin empire

  8. 8

    Is Perrier as pure as it claims? The bottled water scandal gripping France

  9. 9

    Britons booking 'later, closer, shorter' UK breaks

  10. 10

    Cacio e pepe: Good Food pasta recipe sparks fury in Italy

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Your latest reality TV obsession has landed on iPlayer

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Destination X
  • Jacob Elordi stars in explosive war drama

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    The Narrow Road to the Deep North
  • Inside the front-line fight against cybercriminals

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Panorama: Fighting Cyber Criminals
  • A rare glimpse into the world of rope access

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Our Lives: High Stakes
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.