Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#171

Post by GuiA » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:17 PM UTC

manigandham wrote: post #148

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…

Or maybe people are complicated and they use tools to connect and amplify natural behavior. All this digital technology and instant communication with everyone is still very new and the human species is still learning how to best use it. If Facebook didn't exist then something else would've taken its place. This is part of technological progress and similar things happened with the invention of radio, tv and telecom.…

Well, the people who argue that these networks have an overall negative impact have plenty of examples to draw from - ranging from the last US election, to the genocide in Myanmar, the extremely fine ad targeting it enables perpetuating sociology economical discrimination, etc.

People who argue for its value mostly point to the fact that grandma can see pictures of the kids and other pedestrian examples of things that were just as feasible over email/instant chat before planetary scale social networks.

At this point it’s becoming pretty clear that open by default social networks à la Twitter/Facebook are generally a bad thing for our societies.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#172

Post by anigbrowl » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:18 PM UTC

wgerard wrote: post #139

anigbrowl wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've already had a look inside his head, because he joked with his friends about how naive the people giving their information to him were for trusting, and how they were dumb fucks that he looked forward to fucking in the ear. Sure, he might have changed since, but there's nothing wrong with rational speculation. Selfishness and greed are real phenomena in human relations so it would be as foolish to ignore such po…

> We've already had a look inside his head, because he joked with his friends about how naive the people giving their information to him were for trusting, and how they were dumb fucks that he looked forward to fucking in the ear. You're reading a lot into a (admittedly stupid) quip/jab/whatever-you-want-to-call it by a 19 year old. I don't even disagree with your fundamental assertion here, just that this is incredi…

No I'm not. I'm using it as an easy-to-recognize reference to a body of knowledge about the early stages of Facebook, which I feel no need to retype in full every time someone declares themselves innocent of any contextual knowledge. The name for this literary device is synecdoche, and I think you know perfectly well what the ancillary context is.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#173

Post by rhizome » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:18 PM UTC

CharlesW wrote: post #165

passn wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Zuckerberg's vision of Facebook as a good thing for the world was a lie" - That is such a broad generalization. In the developing world where I live Facebook gives me the opportunity to maintain contact with my family who live on the other side of the world, as I walk the streets of São Paulo, for free. There are hundreds of millions of others like me who keep in contact with their family because of Facebook (and th…

> For all of us, Facebook is definitely a good thing. And also a bad thing, is a major theme of the parent comment you replied to. "Lie" is a stark word for what Zuck is doing, but it's not wrong assuming he understands the dark side of his monster. But he also may not know if he's actively deluding himself, and eliminating everyone around him that doesn't support that pretend worldview.

"Evil, or insane?" is a dilemma with a poor history. Once you descend to that standard it's better just to throw the whole thing out and start over. They can't get themselves out of this situation with the same brains that got them into it.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#174

Post by eastendguy » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:20 PM UTC

passn wrote: post #143

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…

"Zuckerberg's vision of Facebook as a good thing for the world was a lie" - That is such a broad generalization. In the developing world where I live Facebook gives me the opportunity to maintain contact with my family who live on the other side of the world, as I walk the streets of São Paulo, for free. There are hundreds of millions of others like me who keep in contact with their family because of Facebook (and th…

We use Skype for the same purpose. It has all the PROs but none of the negatives. Same is true for any other free/freemium chat or communication tool.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#175

Post by praneshp » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:21 PM UTC

Toine wrote: post #81

stickfigure wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My friends and I derive significant value from keeping in touch via Facebook. I find your attitude condescending and insulting.

You just proved my point.

"In other words, Toine is being condescending"

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#176

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:21 PM UTC

Novashi wrote: post #105

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

[deleted]

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#177

Post by mjfl » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:23 PM UTC

madeofpalk wrote: post #154

passn wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Zuckerberg's vision of Facebook as a good thing for the world was a lie" - That is such a broad generalization. In the developing world where I live Facebook gives me the opportunity to maintain contact with my family who live on the other side of the world, as I walk the streets of São Paulo, for free. There are hundreds of millions of others like me who keep in contact with their family because of Facebook (and th…

> In the developing world where I live Facebook gives me the opportunity to maintain contact with my family who live on the other side of the world, as I walk the streets of São Paulo, for free. Cool. In other developing countries it lead to a massacre.

You're deranged.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#178

Post by freyir » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:23 PM UTC

x3n0ph3n3 wrote: post #162

shosko wrote: post #145

Why would anyone want to work for Facebook these days? When you are maintaining the largest advertising stream since TV while actively destroying society's discourse, I'm not sure what redeeming qualities it has. I think the most important thing any of us can do is get away from Facebook and move towards pursuits that fix problems, including the ones Facebook helped create.

My wife has been doing taxes for a few people at Facebook (including engineers and PMs) -- many of them make an absurd amount of money. (>$800k / year)

I deleted Facebook, and it’s still finding ways to annoy me.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#179

Post by resters » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:23 PM UTC

en-us wrote: post #160

passn wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Zuckerberg's vision of Facebook as a good thing for the world was a lie" - That is such a broad generalization. In the developing world where I live Facebook gives me the opportunity to maintain contact with my family who live on the other side of the world, as I walk the streets of São Paulo, for free. There are hundreds of millions of others like me who keep in contact with their family because of Facebook (and th…

That's all fine until some special interest with money wants to launch a targeted propaganda campaign in your country. That can and has lead to effects ranging from detrimental government policy to outright genocide. Nobody argues that Facebook keeping families in touch is a bad thing. It's the rest of it - the collecting and selling of data, the paid targeted propaganda campaigns, the intentional manipulation of use…

Ironically the fear-mongering about the propaganda campaign you are describing is intended to turn Facebook into an instrument of US government propaganda. Zuckerberg has been resisting that, which is why Facebook is being attacked from all sides at the moment.

Re: Facebook Loses Top Executives, Including Chris Cox

#180

Post by myle » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 11:24 PM UTC

manigandham wrote: post #148

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…

Or maybe people are complicated and they use tools to connect and amplify natural behavior. All this digital technology and instant communication with everyone is still very new and the human species is still learning how to best use it. If Facebook didn't exist then something else would've taken its place. This is part of technological progress and similar things happened with the invention of radio, tv and telecom.…

I am sure the company has access to metrics that the public doesn't. The argument that the uninformed majority is a priory right is not convincing enough.

...No offense to anyone's democratic beliefs.