SOCIAL
Meta Releases Latest, Baffling ‘Widely Viewed Content’ Report
Okay *cracks knuckles* let’s see what the most popular links were on Facebook over the last quarter.
Today, Meta has published its latest ‘Widely Viewed Content Report’, which highlights the most-viewed organic content in Facebook Feeds by US-based users throughout the first quarter of 2022.
Meta came up with the report to counter the narrative that its algorithms help to amplify right-wing and extremist content, which is largely in response to this Twitter profile which highlights the most shared Facebook links each day, and has been widely quoted in such criticism.
The top-performing link posts by U.S. Facebook pages in the last 24 hours are from:
1. TMZ
2. 11Alive
3. E! News
4. Ben Shapiro
5. ABC News
6. TMZ
7. People
8. The Hollywood Reporter
9. Good Morning America
10. Bloomberg— Facebook’s Top 10 (@FacebooksTop10) May 15, 2022
Meta published its first Widely Viewed Content Report last August, and since then, it hasn’t really helped to dispel any such concerns, with many of the links included in its most-shared listings removed by Facebook’s moderators for violating platform policies.
So how does this latest update fare on this front?
Not great:
As you can see in this element, which lists the most widely viewed links from Facebook referrals in Q1, two of the top shared URLs were eventually found to be in violation of Facebook policy – after they’d gleaned a cumulative 60 million impressions via Facebook traffic.
That’s not ideal – but don’t worry, Meta has also updated its methodology on this element to ensure that it more accurately reflects what users are actually seeing in the app, with links that don’t render previews no longer being counted in this category moving forward.
The above listing uses the old methodology, while this listing uses the new process:

Oh. That’s not any better.
As you can see, 6 of the top 20 most shared links on Facebook in Q1 were eventually found to be in violation of Facebook’s policies, but they had already received a collective 112 million views before Facebook’s moderators removed them.
So the report shows that Meta is amplifying questionable content, but we have no way of knowing exactly what that content is or was because Meta has chosen not to report the details.
Though it did provide this explanation:
“In this report, there were pieces of content that have since been removed from Facebook for violating our policies of Inauthentic Behavior. The removed links were all from the same domain, and links to that domain are no longer allowed on Facebook.”
Further investigation has found that the domain in question is a spammy news site called Naye News, which has never appeared in Facebook’s listings before.

But Facebook itself chose not to report the full detail, avoiding the full context here.
So the value of the report is…?
This has been the key question about the report since its inception, with Meta actually scrapping an initial version of its Widely Viewed Content listing because it reinforced the existing criticisms of the app, rather than helped to dispute the negative impacts of Facebook’s amplification.
It’s hard to see this data doing anything else, with Facebook’s own internal insights showing that content against its own rules is getting huge reach, even if it is eventually removed.
In looking at the other links on this list, there are COVID conspiracy theories, Minion memes, political activist films, and ‘Zillow Gone Wild’.
It’s not great – and while Meta says that the most popular links ‘ranged from humor, culture, to DIY’, the truth, in its own data, is that misinformation, divisive content and other material that violates its own rules is being amplified by its systems.
Of course, Meta says that this is still only a fraction of what people see in its apps.
“Even though our most viewed content might have a very large number of content viewers, as measured as a percentage of all of Facebook content viewers, they represent only a small fraction of total views in Feed in the US that quarter. In short, it is uncommon for different people to see the same content in their Feed.”
That may be true, but the impact is still significant – and as we’ve noted previously the comparative flaw in this report, versus the daily top 10 most shared links listing, is that this is the most shared content over a three month period, when news stories will only be relevant day-to-day. Sure, you might see a recipe post get more clicks, cumulatively, over a month, but a divisive news story will only generate traffic for a tiny fraction of the time, making direct comparisons difficult.
Meta does also share a listing of the most viewed domains to provide some transparency on this front, but the variability of the specific URLs within each also makes this hard to measure.

What YouTube clips were being shared? What TikTok clips? What tweets? In aggregate, this may show that, say, Fox News is not as popular as the daily Top 10 list may suggest. But it’s still not overly transparent as to what Facebook’s systems seek to amplify.
Which is the key element here. Meta’s essentially trying to shift the narrative that its algorithms amplify divisive, questionable, harmful content – yet its own data doesn’t really reflect that. The fact of the matter is that the content that performs best on Facebook is content that inspires emotional response, and anger is a key driver in inspiring engagement activity.
News publishers have shifted their approaches to lean into this, knowing that if they take a more partisan stance, that will trigger even more debate, and drive stronger sharing performance in the app. So while Meta may be keen to point out that such content ‘represents only a small fraction of total views in Feed’, the indisputable truth is that the entire news ecosystem has been changed by Meta’s algorithmic amplification, which incentivizes more divisive, argumentative and misleading takes.
Meta can try all that it wants to put its hands in the air and say that it’s a people problem, that it’s not responsible for what people share in its apps. But the attempt to counter these criticisms with its own, alternative, selective reportage is, as displayed in this data set, largely useless.
There are real problems with the online news ecosystem, and the incentive systems that digital platforms have embedded. Acknowledging such is a key step in finding solutions – whereas countering such in this form seems like a stubborn, protectionist approach that avoids the core problems at play.
You can read Meta’s Widely Viewed Content Report for Q1 2022 here.
SOCIAL
Elon Musk reinstates far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on X

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been reinstated on X, formerly known as Twitter, by company owner Elon Musk – Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Joe Buglewicz
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, on Sunday reinstated far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on the social media platform, a year after vowing never to let him return.
Jones, who claimed that a December 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut that killed 20 children and six educators was a hoax, was banned from the platform — then still known as Twitter — in 2018 for violating its “abusive behavior policy.”
He was also sued by families of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting and ordered by a judge in the case to pay up more than a billion dollars in damages last year.
Musk had himself promised never to let the Infowars host back on the social media platform, which he bought last year for $44 billion.
But following a poll Musk conducted on X asking whether Jones should be reinstated, to which some two million users responded, he flipped that decision.
“I vehemently disagree with what he said about Sandy Hook, but are we a platform that believes in freedom of speech or are we not?” the SpaceX founder said on X.
But Shannon Watts, founder of the group Moms Demand Action group which pushes for tighter gun laws, said that “defamation is not free speech.”
Musk’s decision comes the same week that the Sandy Hook families commemorate the 11th anniversary of the December 14 shooting, which Jones alleged was staged to allow the government to crack down on gun rights.
Jones’ followers harassed the bereaved families for years, accusing parents of murdered children of being “crisis actors” whose children had never existed.
It also came a week after Musk had responded to advertisers pulling out of X because of far-right posts and hate speech, including an apparent endorsement by Musk himself of an anti-Semitic tweet.
Asked whether he would respond to the advertising exodus, Musk said in an interview with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin that the advertisers could “go f*** yourself.”
Jones, who has a million followers on X, returned to the site with his first post re-tweeting Andrew Tate, the controversial former kickboxer facing rape and human trafficking charges in Romania, in which he hailed Jones’ “triumphant return”
US media reported that as of Sunday, the account of Jones’ controversial show Infowars was still banned.
SOCIAL
Instagram Launches New ‘Close Friends Only’ Podcast to Showcase Celebrity Users

Not sure if this will be a valuable addition, or another stream that’ll fade out pretty quick, as Meta stops paying attention to it.
Today, Instagram has launched a new podcast called “Close Friends Only”, which it says will present “the latest on culture – from memes and icks, to fashion and friendship – all from your favorite celebrities.”
And they’ve gone big out of the gate, with the first episode featuring Ice Spice in conversation with Doja Cat.
The conversation sees the two stars discuss their favorite memes, their favorite animals, celebrity crushes, experiences in flirting on IG, their juiciest DMs, and more.
Which will no doubt get a heap of attention, and will help make Instagram a bigger focus for youngsters seeking to replicate their idols. But in terms of practical advice or tips, yeah, there might not be a heap there.
But it could be worth tuning in anyway, in order to get the lowdown on the latest trends, from some of the people that are leading the way on cultural shifts.
But then again, as noted, it’ll be interesting to see how IG follows this first episode up, and whether they keep running regular episodes of the podcast with more celebrities.
Either way, it’s an interesting promotional vehicle for IG, especially given that it’s focusing on musicians, as TikTok becomes an even more critical platform for music promotion.
Maybe, then, this will be Instagram’s counter to that, but again, we’ll have to wait and see whether more episodes arrive.
SOCIAL
Who is HRH Collection founder and YouTuber, Alexandra Peirce?

ALEXANDRA Peirce proves there’s no such thing as bad publicity, garnering more fans and subscribers every time she posts one of her infamous video rants.
Peirce, known better by her social media pseudonym HRH Collection, has been an internet mainstay for years, and her fame only continues to grow after sharing more of her contentious takes online.
Who is Alexandra Peirce?
Alexandra Peirce is a social media personality, influencer, and jewelry designer.
Peirce was born on May 13, 1984, in the US.
She currently resides near Los Angeles, California.
Before launching her famous YouTube channel, Peirce graduated from college in 2007 with a degree in political science.
In 2009, she earned a master’s degree in international business.
While in graduate school, Peirce studied abroad in Shanghai, China, where she says she “fell in love with all things Asian.”
Peirce returned to the US during the peak of the 2008 economic recession, forcing her to move in with her parents.
Despite applying for countless jobs, she couldn’t land a position, leading her to create her YouTube channel.
Peirce post her first video, a “What’s in my bag” vlog where she walked viewers through everyday items she carried in her purse.
Peirce kept the channel going even after landing a job in accounting, posting videos and designing jewelry pieces during lunch breaks and after hours.
Fueled by her growing subscriber count, her design hobby would eventually turn into a full-fledged company, HRH Collection.
While Peirce now runs her jewelry line full-time, she is even better known on the internet for her viral videos, which typically show Peirce sitting in her car, ranting about anything from current events and pop culture trends to hairstyles and holidays.
Her videos are often cut up and reposted on TikTok, where select sound clips go viral.
Some of Peirce’s most well-known tirades include her take on beachy waves – “it’s not the vibe, stop!” – and her controversial views on Women’s Day – ““I think it’s stupid. I really do.”
Nevertheless, Peirce has amassed a legion of hardcore fans and haters who can’t help but watch her scream and shout her opinion on just about everything.
Peirce’s controversial videos (and views) have been compared to other un-cancellable influencers, like Trisha Paytas and Theo Von.
Who else could get away with yelling: “Shut up! Stop being fat! Stop being ugly!” at her viewers, who keep coming back for more?
It seems like no matter what she posts, or how many people disagree with her, viewers can’t help but leave her videos wanting more.
One TikTok user commented: “This woman is actually problematic but my brain is itched by the way she complains because it’s exactly how I think when I’m annoyed.”
Despite – or maybe because of – the controversies, Peirce has continued to grow her social media following.
Her Instagram account boasts 118,000 followers, despite several of her past accounts being banned or deleted.
Peirce’s X account is currently suspended, but that hasn’t stopped the internet icon from sharing her views online.
Her YouTube channel, which hosts over 600 videos, has 449,000 subscribers.
The hashtag #hrhcollection has also garnered nearly 1 billion views on TikTok, from reposted videos to sound bites.
Peirce has also garnered fame via interviews with BuzzFeed News and Interview Magazine, and appeared on podcasts like The Spillover With Alex Clark.
What is HRH Collection?
HRH Collection is a jewelry line created by Alexandra Peirce.
Besides rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, the website also sells bag chains, keychains, ankle socks, t-shirts, and a windbreaker.
On the company’s about page, Peirce explains that the e-commerce site “started as a hobby and has now grown into a company that I’m so proud to call my own.”
Peirce first designed “a Japanese style frosting cupcake ring and key fob,” sharing the pieces on her YouTube channel.
Viewers were interested in purchasing the items, leading Peirce to create La Lumiere, mixing chain metals with assorted crystals to create bracelets and necklaces.
Peirce wore her jewelry to work and showcased her pieces on her social media, leading to steady stream of customers and orders.
From there, Peirce launched an Etsy shop, juggling her full time job alongside designing new pieces and fulfilling online orders.
Peirce states that she is “so thankful” for everyone who helped her along the way, but also offers some practical advice for anyone who hopes to turn their hobby into a viable career, saying she was “strategic” in developing HRH.
She writes: “Many of you guys ask me if you should quit your jobs to pursue YouTube or your other hobbies.”
“To be completely honest, I do not think you should quit your job for any hobby, until you have grown your company into one that can reasonably replace your job – this is very important.”
HRH collection features hundreds of items, with most priced between $50 and $150.
Shoppers can also select items from “Alex’s Musts,” which includes products like a $190 sterling silver tennis necklace, a trio of mixed metal rings for $87, and $59 diet soda hoops, resembling soda can tops.
Consumers looking for unique pieces are in luck, as there is a limited amount of inventory available per item, with many pieces already sold out.
Is Alexandra Peirce married?
Peirce came under fire from both her fans and haters after getting married on June 16, 2023, to her second husband, Jason Locke.
The influencer was mocked for her dress, venue, food, and overall wedding aesthetic.
She was also trolled on social media for live-streaming the event, charging users $25 to watch the party.
Peirce chose to wear a short, white, recycled Zara dress for the reception, while the groom chose to don a camouflaged Trump/Pence hat.
After a small ceremony at Bethania Lutheran Church, a reception was held in the parking lot of the Hitching Post, a BBQ joint in Buellton, California.
The eatery’s website says it is known for its wines and West Coast barbecue, and guests dined on veggies, garlic bread, and quesadillas, among other items.
Decorations were minimal, with few flowers adorning the white tent erected in the parking lot.
Each table did come with a cherry-scented ashtray candle, personalized with ‘Mr. & Mrs. Locke’ in a gothic font.
Peirce then changed into yoga pants before heading off to a local casino with her new beau and a few close friends, keeping the party going well into the morning hours.
Many users took to X to share their thoughts.
Some users called the wedding trashy, while others lamented the party’s seemingly low budget.
One user tweeted: “You had a trailer park wedding” along with a crying and skull emojis.
Another wrote: “how can hrh collection talk about anyone when her dress looks like it came out of a Zara clearance section?”
One influencer even branded the event as “the tackiest wedding ever.”
Peirce fought back, going after her online haters and critics in another one of her infamous video rants.
In a video titled Addressing The Devils, Peirce asks her viewers: “Do you think I didn’t know what my wedding was gonna be like? Like, I didn’t plan my wedding?”
“I don’t like big to-dos. I’m the least to-do person ever.”
She added: “B***h, I could fly to the f**king Maldives with every damn f**king person in my damn family and pay for everyone and not have it impact me at all, you f**king idiots.”
Peirce then stressed that her and Locke wanted to keep the wedding “casual and mellow.”
She said: “I did exactly what I wanted to do for my wedding and I would do it all exactly over again.”
Peirce ended the video by saying: “I’m happy, I’m in a really loving relationship. I basically have everything I want.”
“I have my own business, a beautiful house, I have a husband. I’m really happy right now and you guys are so vicious and mean.”
Then, in her signature fashion, she addressed her haters head-on, explaining: “I get it, because you’re miserable and ugly.”
“And you’re a loser, I understand. Life isn’t fair.”
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