One of the most dreamlike parts of going through themountain of documentscaptured from within Facebook ’s walls bywhistleblower Frances Haugenis seeing the countersign employee use when talk over some of the society ’s most sensitive ware and system . Many of these names ( CORGI ! Yoda ! ) sound misleadingly precious , while others sound more … sinister .
While the term themselves are interesting just because they are used internally , they also provide cardinal insights into Facebook ’s internal machination and how the company thinks about the publication we ’ve all derive to have it off and loath . For the most part , these definition are pulled from aninternal glossaryused by the troupe ’s ( now disbanded ) Civic Integrity team , which were part of Haugen ’s disclosures made to Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission . Gizmodo , along with dozens of other tidings system , obtained redacted versions of these written document .
There are other term in here , too , that do n’t come along in the gloss but do appear often in some of the other document provided for us . Gizmodo was able to determine with the helper of a former Facebook employee who talk to us on the condition that they not be named .
Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev (Getty Images)
With all of that out of the way of life , let ’s get to those terminus !
1. CORGI
This have-to doe with to a complex mathematical model that Facebook ’s researchers come up with internally to recover “ cluster of substance abuser ” that might be operate in an inauthentic elbow room — like user that might be commenting a bit too frequently on each other ’s posts . Based on this model ( that , yes , is spelled like the dog breed ) , these investigator could place likely bot and spoiled player .
2. Bonjovi
Employees used this intragroup investigating peter to traverse — among other thing — account on Instagram and Facebook that might be engaged in human trafficking . accord to the home document we were provide , Bonjovi could be used to trail a potential seller ’s on - platform lookup action , and a history of the profile that order trafficker was consider as a way to suss out who their possible victims might be .
3. H1/H2/H3
Because Facebook is such a monolithic operation with countless line of computer code running at any given time , the troupe needs to labour out any updates in a serial of stages . The first degree is H1 , which deploy codification to a set of internal , Facebook - specific servers only accessible to the company ’s engineers . If that deployment goes off without a stoppage , that code gets pushed out to H2 , a “ few thousand machine serve a pocket-sized fraction of real - world users , ” according to aFacebook research paper . If that computer code work as expect , it gets pushed to H3 — full deployment across all of Facebook ’s server .
4. DCI
“ Destructive difference , ” or DCI , is a label bring forth within the company that ’s intend to flag “ uncivil ” or abusive conversations between users in an automated way .
5. Eat Your Veggies
The protocol that Facebook employees are expected to surveil around “ major [ or ] sore ” updates to people ’s News Feeds .
6. Blame Tool
This is an internal tool Facebook ’s research worker can practice on a given “ forged post ” to see what sort of on - political platform gun trigger get it to bubble up in a somebody ’s provender .
7. Blackhole
Another internal tool used by research worker to blacklist any URLs , domains , or IP addresses that are consociate with junk e-mail or otherwise shitty contentedness . Blackhole attaches unlike labels ( like “ OK , ” “ BAD , ” or “ IFFY ” ) to each of these elements , and each label has a like effect to how that URL / domain / IP can be seen and shared across Facebook as a whole .
8. FUSS
This stands for “ Facebook Unified Signal Sharing / Feed Unified Scoring System . Internally , the Integrity squad would classify posts on hoi polloi ’s newsfeeds under dissimilar FUSS categories depending on the “ caliber ” of that given entity . Low - quality spot were label “ FUSS Red , ” “ mete ” content was labeled “ FUSS Yellow , ” and regular , high - quality stake were “ FUSS Green . ” The research squad also unravel an experiment known as “ FUSS Black , ” which was their attempt to trickle out as much Red and Yellow subject from a given provender as potential .
9. Hex
The team ’s intimate terminus to refer to “ human exploitation , ” or human trafficking .
10. Banhammer
A tool used internally to move out all of the likes or follows from a give Facebook user , or group of Facebook users . One use - case brought up internally for the Banhammer was veer out all the like / follows from a user after they ’d been banned from the platform .
11. Yoda
An in - house textual matter processing tool used to sift through people ’s postal service , at scurf . purportedly named after the funny - talking Green alien serviceman of the same name .
12. VPV
This stands for “ Viewport Views . ” This is a pretty foundational system of measurement that Facebook employee use to account how often a piece of music of content — a post , a video , someone ’s tarradiddle — was actually viewed by a given figure of Facebook users . “ Viewport , ” in this case , refers to your laptop computer or phone covert . One viewport sight = one entity , fully loaded , on that screen and in front of your eyeballs .
13. USI
“ undesirable social interaction , ” or USI , can include harassing message , unwanted Friend Requests , or really any sort of grasp - out from another Facebook user that another drug user does n’t like .
14. TRIPS
stand for “ Tracking Reach of Integrity Problems . ” TRIPS was a foundational internal survey signify to measure what users think of the mental object they ’re seeing on the weapons platform . TRIPS tracks the preponderance of hate spoken communication and harassment that users come across , but also the cognitive content that the Integrity team determined might be of “ civic value . ” At the end of the day , this sort of trailing is “ meant to ameliorate the quality of civic conversations ” on the platform .
15. SUMA
“ Single User Multiple Accounts , ” or SUMA , refer tosockpuppet accountsused to falsify conversations on Facebook . ‘ Nuff said .
16. Shield
This is the inner program that either adds speedbumps to any endeavour to crack down on a picky while of cognitive content , or completely forbid any attempts to crack down on that mental object . Shield wasspecifically implementedfor Facebook pages belonging to celebrities or public figures , for example , for prevent one of their algorithms from automatically pulling one of their posts — a move that would undoubtedly spell out a PR incubus for Facebook , if that public chassis take place to notice .
17. SEV
Short for “ Site Event , ” SEV is what the company prognosticate a platform - wide issue that sham overall Facebook serve . Think the recent6 - hour outage of Facebook , Instagram , and WhatsApp .
17. ROPS/RODS
These acronym have-to doe with to “ Repeat Offender Pages , ” and “ Repeat Offender Domains , ” which means said Sir Frederick Handley Page or domain committed at least three offence ( or platform trespass ) during a 90 daylight catamenia .
18. (P)rating
Another complicated numerical model ! This one ’s used to auspicate how the company ’s in - mansion team of professional News Feed Raters would rate the content on a give feed . The model give in Facebook ’s home glossary is “ how good ” a picky story might be , on a 1 - 5 rating graduated table .
19. Orb
An in - planetary house search tool specifically geared towards sniffing out spam attacks on the Facebook political program .
20. Bouncer
An internal shaft that the Integrity squad used so as to crack down on “ relatively diminished ” lists of page or hoi polloi . Because we ’re talking about a company with Facebook ’s shell , “ belittled ” in this font means “ on the order of thousands , ” according to an intimate document .
21. Blue
How researchers refer to the main Facebook app , which is … blue . “ gamey fourth dimension , ” which is an example they give , refers to the full amount of meter someone spend on allege blue app . puddle sense !
22. Magnet User
This is the full term the Integrity team used when talking about a yield Facebook substance abuser who ’s “ hyper - occupied ” with bad content .
23. ACDC
The algorithm that classifies the clusters of groups that get produced by the fellowship ’s other algorithms . puzzling , right ? In this case , it just intend that if one algorithm catches a bunch of ( potentially sockpuppet - y ) accounts sharing a single URL , ACDC is the algorithm that classifies this cluster of ( spammy ) accounts as sharing that single URL .
24. Faux-tire
Literally phony satire . The glossary define the term as “ stuff meant to misinform / button propaganda , ” while actively portraying itself as satire , in purchase order to weasel out of the ship’s company ’s fact - checking systems . For an approximation of what this kind of content reckon like , look no further than Alex Jones ’s lawyers , whofamously describedInfowars as an release specializing in “ humor , bombasity , sarcasm [ and ] wit . ”
25. NFX
The acronym the company internally use when concern to the steps Facebook user take in rescript to report bad stuff cropping up on their provender . resist for “ Negative Feedback eXperience ” ( yes , really ) .
26. NCII
resist for “ Non - Consensual internal Imagery . ” This is colloquially known asrevenge porn , but that term is considered inaccurate and harmful to victim .
27. HERO
HERO refers to an internal “ gamy - Risk Early Review Operations ” program that ’s meant to predict which mail might go viral across the platform on any given daytime . Used to trance potentially harmful viral - berth - in - the - fashioning before they actually go viral .
28. NSFA
Depending on the context , this might refer to one of two acronyms that hash out one of two kinds of content : “ Not secure For All ” ( mean that content is n’t fellowship - friendly ) , or “ Not Safe For advertizement , ” meaning that the content violates something in Facebook ’s insurance for advertizer .
29. MSI
light for “ Meaningful Social Interactions . ” Internally , this is what employee referred to as “ the goal metric ” for multitude ’s News provender . The company ’s definition of “ meaningful ” is a bit of a move quarry — other internal documents note that the different piece of music that make up MSI change frequently , the same way a someone ’s understanding of what “ meaningful ” means might alter over time .
29. MAD
brusque for “ Mark As Disturbing , ” MAD refers to content that might be reported by users ( and flag by Facebook ’s message moderator ) for , you imagine it , being “ distressing . ” Frequent offenders , agree to other Facebook document that we ’ve reviewed , include “ borderline nudity , ” “ flagrant aesculapian videos or wounds , ” and content that tries “ belittle or deny [ the ] Holocaust . ” ( It ’s unclear whetherMark Zuckerbergsigned off on that last one . )
30. WAP
I know what you’rethinking . But in this context , it stands for “ Weekly Average People , ” or the numeral of Facebook users that do some sort of activeness in a given hebdomad . Which brings us to …
31. NAWI
AKA “ Non - Abusive WAP Impact . ” An internal score that Facebook ’s researchers habituate when monitoring so - called “ non - abusive ” accounts , meaning that they were slacken off for whatever reasonableness but were confirmed to be “ benign ” after recapitulation .
32. VICN
This stand for “ Violence Inducing Conspiracy internet . ” The definition for what these “ web ” looking at like is yet another move target . Here ’s how one of the leaked docs talk about VICN , in the context of two major Facebook group ( since removed ) that were draw to the January 6 Capitol riots :
Over prison term , we have also more and more found that not all harmful networks are so clear gash . With VICNs , we realized that not all harmful coordination is driven by an organization with bidding and control . With Stop the Steal and Patriot Party , we were able to doom motion for coordinate harm , though our interventions stopped short of treat either as a full connection .
In this instance , it tooka whilefor the companionship ’s researchers to catch onto the fact that they were really dealing with a “ full connection ” of varlet and people that were dedicate to an “ adversarial harmful effort . ” At least the documents show that these squad learned something from the event .
33. CAU
Short for “ Care About Us , ” CAU is used as a bar for the kinship Facebook ’s users sense about the platform ( i.e. , how much they feel Facebook “ cares about us ” ) . Facebook even has an internal job force dedicated to boosting citizenry ’s CAU — the Protect and Care squad . ware that this squad worked on let in Facebook ’s suicide and ego - injuryprevention tool , which internal document line were the result of a close collaboration “ with a team of expert in self-annihilation bar and policy . ” The same written document notes that these expert also helped preface folks working on CAU “ to people who ’ve see self-destructive thoughts or attempted suicide , ” so they could take those experience into account when designing these puppet .
irrespective of your opinion on Facebook as a whole ( and whether the company actually cares about any of us ) , just know that this squad does important work that we should all be thankful for .
( TheNational Suicide Prevention Hotlinein the U.S. is uncommitted 24 hours a day at 1 - 800 - 273 - 8255 . A list of international suicide hotlines can be foundhere . )
34. BTG
Short for “ Break The Glass . ” This is a term used when talking about a hellish effect ( like the said Capitol rioting ) that necessitates harsher moderation practices than the ship’s company ’s common tactic . ostracise Stop The Steal radical , for example , was internally referred to as part of Facebook ’s “ BTG Response . ”
35. Cannibalism
A grisly sounding term for what ’s reasonably usual in the business creation : growing one intersection at the expense of another . you’re able to see a pretty clear example with Instagram , which has been cannibalise users from Facebook ’s big aristocratical app for thelast couple of years
The above listing is only a abbreviated selection of the full term Facebook uses internally . For a bigger scene , see the full gloss provide by Haugen below . ( This text file has been redacted to leave out the names of employees and external researchers who are not part of Facebook leaders . )
This report is found on Frances Haugen ’s revelation to the Securities and Exchange Commission , which were also bring home the bacon to Congress in redacted form by her effectual team . The redacted versions received by Congress were prevail by a consortium of newsworthiness organizations , including Gizmodo , the New York Times , Politico , the Atlantic , Wired , the Verge , CNN , and oodles of other outlets .
Daily Newsletter
Get the good technical school , skill , and civilization newsworthiness in your inbox daily .
News from the future , deliver to your present .
You May Also Like
