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Are you tired receiving those Facebook messages about, say, your buddy Rich's new row of corn in FarmVille? or something unnecessary information from other group or fan page. Well, Facebook CTO Bret Taylor told Fast Company earlier this week that it's just those kind of messages the company focused on while looking to cut down on spam in the system way down.
Such spam was down 95% in 2010. That's an impressive declarations. But the backstory to how the company accomplished that feat reveals some of the internal thinking that could be key to Facebook's ability to continue to grow efficiently and become an all-around ever-stronger product in the years to come.
The spam Facebook was targeting were those annoying messages from the likes of FarmVille or Mafia Wars that used to pollute users' NewsFeeds. And yet Game companies liked them, because they raised awareness and helped recruit new users.
Apparently, Facebook decided not to go the law and order route. They didn't start writing out long lists of rules about what kinds of messages would be allowed and what kinds wouldn't.
Specifically, the system tracks whether recipients hide certain messages or mark them as spam, or whether they click "Like" on the message or comment on it, or whether they actually click through to see the application itself.
Facebook CTO Bret Taylor said, Facebook has been able to cut its policies the law-and-order rules developers must follow by half. It doesn't need as many. Facebook simply evaluates applications based on their real-world performance, rather than by anticipating every possible eventuality and developing legislation around it.
Such spam was down 95% in 2010. That's an impressive declarations. But the backstory to how the company accomplished that feat reveals some of the internal thinking that could be key to Facebook's ability to continue to grow efficiently and become an all-around ever-stronger product in the years to come.
The spam Facebook was targeting were those annoying messages from the likes of FarmVille or Mafia Wars that used to pollute users' NewsFeeds. And yet Game companies liked them, because they raised awareness and helped recruit new users.
Apparently, Facebook decided not to go the law and order route. They didn't start writing out long lists of rules about what kinds of messages would be allowed and what kinds wouldn't.
Specifically, the system tracks whether recipients hide certain messages or mark them as spam, or whether they click "Like" on the message or comment on it, or whether they actually click through to see the application itself.
Facebook CTO Bret Taylor said, Facebook has been able to cut its policies the law-and-order rules developers must follow by half. It doesn't need as many. Facebook simply evaluates applications based on their real-world performance, rather than by anticipating every possible eventuality and developing legislation around it.
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