Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 414 posts

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#101

Post by logrott »

ilovecaching wrote: post #84
mindgam3 wrote: post #61

I've known Chris Cox since freshman year of college and he was an informal advisor to my first startup. The NYT article referenced in hashberry's earlier comment includes a key quote: “For over a decade, I’ve been sharing the same message that Mark and I have always believed: Social media’s history is not yet written, and its effects are not neutral,” Mr. Cox said in a note to employees on Thursday. “As its builders…

Maybe you are reading between the lines too much. Maybe he really just wants to do something else or spend more time with his family, and if he felt like Facebook was bending things the wrong way he'd say so. His point is more that progress in the right direction requires effort, and that instead of complaining we should take up our banner and work to make the future what we want it to be.

People that high in a position never says why they're leaving a company. You have to read between the lines.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#102

Post by seandougall »

NathanLands wrote: post #99
mindgam3 wrote: post #61

I've known Chris Cox since freshman year of college and he was an informal advisor to my first startup. The NYT article referenced in hashberry's earlier comment includes a key quote: “For over a decade, I’ve been sharing the same message that Mark and I have always believed: Social media’s history is not yet written, and its effects are not neutral,” Mr. Cox said in a note to employees on Thursday. “As its builders…

Even if Mark Zuckerberg ends up being "wrong" by your definition, why does that mean he lied? It's odd to assume negative intent or that you know what is going on inside other people's heads.

More odd to assume that Zuckerberg hasn’t had any feedback about how Facebook is used, or any sway over how it has been built. He’s hardly been a passive observer.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#103

Post by moosey »

ENGNR wrote: post #100
hashberry wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some theories: 1. Rebranding Facebook as secure and private 2. If this increases usage, more opportunity to display ads 3. Their data shows they gain more information by monitoring what people publicly share, not say in private 4. Removes all responsibility to work with law enforcement and governments for illegal activity, since it's encrypted

A common feature request for my app: remove FB login! These are users who didn't even use it. But just seeing the Facebook login option there next to email (it was the only OAuth) gave them the creeps. These aren't tech savvy users either, just regular small town businesses I think Facebook has a long, long, long way to go towards brand repair before anyone can 'trust' it in any way

Many facebook buttons are trackers. I can understand people's nervousness.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#104

Post by o10449366 »

untog wrote: post #87
o10449366 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both WAPO and NYT have a clear editorial and political agenda against Facebook. To add two datapoints to your observation above: "Facebook’s top executive in charge of all products, Chris Cox, the longtime confidant of chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, is leaving the company, the highest-level departure at the social media giant amid nearly two years of sustained crises." (WAPO) [1] "Two Facebook Inc. senior executive…

> Over the past two years they've published ~14,000 articles each on FB That would mean publishing around 19 articles a day. So, uh, [citation needed]. I'd say that both WaPo and NYT have a clear editorial and political agenda of questioning those with/in power. Silicon Valley companies like Facebook and Google (who have had their own fair share of bad coverage) are enormously powerful, rich companies that own a huge…

I rechecked my methodology for those estimates after your comment and have now retracted them for being inaccurate. Thank you for the reality check. Based on an unscientific site-limited Google search of each publication, it looks like all 3 have published ~2,000 articles directly on Facebook within the past 2 years (since March 2017). Many of the WSJ articles are with respect to its business prospects while both the NYT and WAPO feature many anti-FB columns and opinion pieces.

I still maintain that NYT in particular has a strong editorial bias against FB and an underlying agenda, but I should definitely do a deeper analysis to support my claim.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#105

Post by Novashi »

throwaway23445 wrote: post #19

Chris was one of the rare people who understood both the technical side and business side of a product/business. There were so many times where an engineer would start blabbling big terms to avoid doing something or an PM spouts MBA Bullshit and Chris just shuts it down. What outsiders who focused on the PR never knew is that there was a balance of power in FB that kept things going forward. Now, with these changes a…

>There were so many times where an engineer would start blabbling big terms to avoid doing something or an PM spouts MBA Bullshit...

Well that just tells you everything you'd want to know about FB culture, regardless of his actions in those situations

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#106

Post by arunv »

malvosenior wrote: post #88
arunv wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any other company in their shoes would have had a mass exodus. Chris was a big part of making employees feel like they shared a piece of the dream. Whatever your thoughts about Facebook, the fact that some of the smartest people have worked, and continue to work at a company "beset by scandal" should give you pause.

All Silicon Valley companies are like this. Do you really think Chris Cox was better at feeding people kool-aid than Steve Jobs?

1. Personally, I do. I think Jobs was a magician, but he was famously not the most personable guy.

2. Even if he wasn't, the fact that we're making the comparison reflects how important he was to FB.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#107

Post by hashberry »

james_s_tayler wrote: post #85
throwaway23445 wrote: post #19

Chris was one of the rare people who understood both the technical side and business side of a product/business. There were so many times where an engineer would start blabbling big terms to avoid doing something or an PM spouts MBA Bullshit and Chris just shuts it down. What outsiders who focused on the PR never knew is that there was a balance of power in FB that kept things going forward. Now, with these changes a…

Sheryl-driven development?

I'm curious about this as well. From her Wikipedia article[0] and experience in online sales, maybe it means this:

> Author Shoshana Zuboff called Sandberg "the Typhoid Mary of surveillance capitalism."

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheryl_Sandberg

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#108

Post by dunkelheit »

mindgam3 wrote: post #61

I've known Chris Cox since freshman year of college and he was an informal advisor to my first startup. The NYT article referenced in hashberry's earlier comment includes a key quote: “For over a decade, I’ve been sharing the same message that Mark and I have always believed: Social media’s history is not yet written, and its effects are not neutral,” Mr. Cox said in a note to employees on Thursday. “As its builders…

So, do you read this quote as a very mild-mannered 'fuck you' to the current facebook modus operandi? I obviously know nothing of Chris, but the message doesn't feel that different from the grand but empty proclamations that Zuck spouts in his posts. Also, he has worked there for fourteen years and in the most senior leadership positions, how can he be not complicit?

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#109

Post by whalesalad »

mindgam3 wrote: post #61

I've known Chris Cox since freshman year of college and he was an informal advisor to my first startup. The NYT article referenced in hashberry's earlier comment includes a key quote: “For over a decade, I’ve been sharing the same message that Mark and I have always believed: Social media’s history is not yet written, and its effects are not neutral,” Mr. Cox said in a note to employees on Thursday. “As its builders…

I can't believe anyone was unable to see through the bullshit on FB from the very very beginning. Does ANYONE there now, or at any time in the past, have any real belief that what they're doing is connecting the world? It's a money making machine, plain and simple. (Money making machines are not bad, as long as there is never any dog and pony show about being some higher form of existence)

I think that the people leaving also knew this all along, but now they are finally coming to terms with the impact that FB has really had on people, the world, privacy, and the way it has desensitized everyone to this type of behavior.

Facebook hasn't changed, that's not why people are leaving. They're leaving because they've finally been able to look in the mirror and realize that this isn't worth the paycheck anymore. That's gonna be a tough pill to swallow for most.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#110

Post by jimbokun »

ilovecaching wrote: post #84
mindgam3 wrote: post #61

I've known Chris Cox since freshman year of college and he was an informal advisor to my first startup. The NYT article referenced in hashberry's earlier comment includes a key quote: “For over a decade, I’ve been sharing the same message that Mark and I have always believed: Social media’s history is not yet written, and its effects are not neutral,” Mr. Cox said in a note to employees on Thursday. “As its builders…

Maybe you are reading between the lines too much. Maybe he really just wants to do something else or spend more time with his family, and if he felt like Facebook was bending things the wrong way he'd say so. His point is more that progress in the right direction requires effort, and that instead of complaining we should take up our banner and work to make the future what we want it to be.

"Maybe he really just wants to do something else or spend more time with his family..."

...said everyone ever who was asked to leave or decided to resign because of irreconcilable differences with the organization.

Post reply on HN