Since here's yet another thread about Facebook, I'll ask somewhat unrelated question I already asked on HN, but never seen an answer: can somebody explain, why the scandal around Cambridge Analyica (and, "suddenly", a bunch of other rumors about FB) escalated just now, even though we knew about FB, Cambridge Analytica & Trump for about a year at least (well — I knew for a year, sure lots of people knew earlier)?
I suspect I know the answer, but I have faint hope that it's not true and somebody can provide a bit more "sane" explanation.
For me, it was because a year ago there was only one source for this info, and it was a somewhat dubious one (Vice). I assumed after the initial report that what CA did was more in line with Obama’s tactics, which were more benign and standard. It’s only recently become totally clear that the worst of the reports were true.
Can't say I am 100% sure of it, but around 1 month ago Facebook switched the news feed algorithm from promoting posts from pages you like, to promoting posts from your friends.
I suspect I know the answer, but I have faint hope that it's not true and somebody can provide a bit more "sane" explanation.