I'm always interested in the wording of the apologies themselves as well. In the most recent one: "My co-authors and I are very sorry for the way the paper described our research and any anxiety it caused."
Specifically "the way the paper described our research". Not for actually doing the experiment, just that it came off wrong to the public...
Apologies begin to sound pretty insincere when the company (or person) making the apology <i>keep on doing the same damned thing that they're apologising for.</i><p>This particular apology is even worse because they're not apologising for <i>doing</i> the research; they're apologising "for the way the paper described our research and any anxiety it caused."<p>They're not saying "We will never do this again."<p>They're not saying "We will never do this again without first obtaining ethical approval from an appropriate review board."<p>They're not saying "We will never change your Facebook newsfeed to affect your emotional state in order to make you more susceptible to adverts for particular products."<p>They're not saying "We will never accept payment from an advertiser to change your Facebook feed in order to affect your emotional state."<p>So, what conclusions should we draw here?
Not really sure why Facebook needs to apologize at all.<p>It's a free service that you agree to use. You should read the fine-print if you care about anything like this.<p>If it can be proven that experiments or anything else worth apologizing for is detrimental in some way, then something needs to be said. But otherwise, I think they're free to do with they want with their data.