Being Facebook Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

Facebook on Thursday announced it had developed a framework for conducting research on its 1.3 billion or so users. The announcement clearly is a response to the onslaught of criticism the company received this summer, when it blithely reported the findings of a study about how News Feed content affected a user's mood. In carrying out that research, Facebook withheld certain posts and promoted others to see how users would react. When its methodology became public, reactions were immediate and harsh.