UPDATED 21:57 EST / JULY 13 2021

POLICY

Facebook introduces ‘Experts’ to cut down on misinformation in Groups

In an effort to reduce the amount of dubious information appearing in Facebook Inc.’s Group pages, the company said today it will now let experts decide what is true.

The feature, called “Group Experts,” will allow administrators to choose certain people they feel are knowledgeable on a given subject. When those people post something or comment on a topic, their expert badge will be there for all to see.

“There are more than 70 million admins and moderators running active Facebook groups around the world,” the company said in a blog post. “Many of these groups are home to subject matter experts who love to share their knowledge, from fitness trainers to highly skilled crafters.”

All administrators have to do is go through their group’s member list and decide to whom to allocate the expert badge. Members can turn down the appointment or if admins later think they might have been a bit hasty with the choice, they can take away the badge.

Facebook said right now it’s testing a feature that will let some people identify as experts in a certain area, after which they will appear on the platform when group admins are looking for someone to invite to the group. That will be applicable only to fitness and gaming in the early stages of the test.

As for what makes someone an expert, that’s anyone’s guess. Facebook said that though some people might claim to be knowledgeable on a certain topic, their posts and comments will also be subject to the company’s third-party fact-checkers.

Once experts are on board, there are additional features, such as the ability to start a Q&A session or open one of Facebook’s new Live Audio Rooms. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg kicked off a Q&A himself in a group dedicated to talking about owning dogs, named “The Dogspotting Society.” This was all rather tame compared with what might happen when political and cultural issues are discussed by experts and other members of the group.

Photo: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash

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