This led Atlantic to speculate that by setting up its own tool to let people filter their profile picture, Facebook could gain unprecedented insight into how to influence people.įacebook, however, immediately denied the claims.Ī spokesperson for the site told : 'This was not an experiment or test, but rather something that enables people to show their support of the LGBTQ community on Facebook. 'The question is, how long will it take for people to change their profile pictures back to normal.' He joked: 'This is probably a Facebook experiment!' The reports were sparked by a throwaway comment by MIT network scientist Cesar Hidalgo on Facebook.
