LinkedIn Social Experiments, Crypto Founder Wanted by Interpol and What Matters in the Market

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The LinkedIn Study

LinkedIn has experimented with more than 20 million of users over five years with the aim of improving the platform’s algorithm suggestions for members.

A new study, however, questions whether the survey may have affected the job opportunities available to some users.

Understand: LinkedIn’s experiment from 2015 to 2019 randomly varied the proportion of weak and strong contacts suggested by the algorithm that recommends new connections to users (“people you may know” function).

• Experts analyzing the social effects of computing said large-scale studies like this raise questions about industry transparency and research oversight.

• “The findings suggest that some users had better access to job opportunities or a significant difference in access to them,” said a professor at Marquette University in Wisconsin.

The theory that the LinkedIn survey wanted to prove is the “strength of weak ties”. According to her, people are more successful in getting jobs through referrals from close contacts than through close friends.

• The researchers analyzed how algorithmic changes affected users’ professional mobility.

• They found that relatively weak contacts were twice as effective in getting jobs as stronger social ties.

• The research was carried out in partnership with researchers from American universities.

in a statement, LinkedIn said that during the study, it “acted consistently” with the usage agreement, the company’s privacy policy, and member settings. It also stated that the research did not disproportionately benefit users.

• Microsoft’s network further announced that it has applied the findings about weak ties to a number of features, including a new tool that notifies members when a first- or second-degree connection is hiring.

Catch me if you can

South Korean Do Kwon, founder of the bankrupt Terraform Labs, the cryptocurrency Luna, remains missing and wanted by Interpol on red alert.

he, however, said on Twitter this Tuesday (27) who is in Singapore and does shopping and sightseeing, with “no effort to hide”.

Understand: Do Kwon is the creator of the Terra blockchain, the basis of the Luna and TerraUSD cryptocurrencies. The first saw its value soar from $5 in December 2021 to $116 in April 2022.

• A lot of its potential was tied to TerraUSD, which was one of the biggest stablecoins. In the crypto world, these tokens are considered a safe haven, as they are anchored in an asset outside this universe – in the case of TerraUSD, the dollar.

• It all started to come crashing down with the bleeding in cryptocurrencies caused by rising interest rates in the US. At the time, the value of 1 TerraUSD dropped below $1, which made the platform lose credibility and took 94% off Luna in just one day.

The South Korean Police issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon for financial fraud and violation of the country’s capital market laws. Authorities say he misled investors by labeling TerraUSD as a stablecoin.

• Terraform management has denied any fraud or violation of financial regulations.

He moved to Singapore in late April, just before the Terra blockchain implosion. This month, local police said he was no longer in the city-state.

Adding the bleeding in the two assets (Luna and Terra), the loss of market value revolves around $60 billion (R$ 321 billion).

Chats on WhatsApp generate fines of US$ 1.1 billion

Sixteen large Wall Street companies, including several banks, will have to pay a total of US$ 1.1 billion (R$ 5.9 billion) in fines for not keeping records of their employees’ communication with clients, the SEC (American CVM) informed this Tuesday.

Understand: the body that functions as a sheriff of the American market forces institutions to keep records of the exchanges of messages between their employees, in case there is a need to investigate the conversations.

• Personal applications such as WhatsApp and some email providers, because they are encrypted, make it impossible for the SEC to access conversations, and therefore are prohibited.

In numbers: Barclays, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs are among the giants that have agreed to pay $125 million (R$ 672 million) each to solve the case.

• These companies “did not maintain or preserve the vast majority of these communications, carried out outside official channels, in breach of market laws,” the SEC explained in a statement.

IPCA-15 has new deflation; food recedes

The IPCA-15 (inflation preview) experienced further deflation in September, with a fall of 0.37% in the month, informed the IBGE this Tuesday.

In numbers: deflation was stronger than expected by analysts, who projected a decline of 0.20%. This was the second consecutive drop in the IPCA-15 and the sharpest drop for September since 1998.

• In the 12-month period, the IPCA-15 recorded an increase of 7.96%.

What explains: once again, fuels pushed prices down, with the transport group falling 2.35% in the month and generating a negative impact of 0.49 point on the index.

Food relief: the first drop in the food and beverage group since July 2020 came thanks to the decline in food at home (-0.86%).

• Soybean oil (-6.50%), tomato (-8.04%) and, mainly, long-life milk (-12.01%), which had soared in the country, contributed to this.

• At the other end, onions (11.39%), chicken in pieces (1.64%) and fruits (1.33%) pressured the September IPCA-15 upwards.

• In 12 months, the onion rises to 150% in capital cities, see the list here.