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Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

nytimes.com

41–50 of 308 posts

Re: Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

#41
post #2

I think it would be enough to ban Zuckerberg from running any public corp in his lifetime. The Facebook problems are all Mark Zuckerberg problems, it starts with the people he pics for management the priority he sets for a business which provides an important part of american infrastructure. Zuckerberg as CEO of Facebook is the same for the USA as putting a teenager in control of the United States Department of Energ…

Not at all equivalent. I'm not forced to use Facebook (and don't). Whereas I'm forced under threat of arrest and violence to fund the DOE. If you don't like it just don't use it. If everyone stopped using Facebook it would be gone in under a year.

Re: Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

#42
post #30

Funny, what do you have to break up something that you are not even forced to use, and that is not even remotely necessary for benefiting from the internet? I must be missing something.

Well, increasingly, you are forced to use Facebook.

I went through the arduous process of deleting my Facebook account about 8 years ago. 2 years ago, I started doing freelance software development, and at some point almost every one of my clients has wanted me to implement a Facebook login. I could say no, but then I'm likely losing my livelihood. And in order to implement Facebook logins, you need a Facebook account (to administrate and view documentation).

My girlfriend cleans up estates, meaning that when someone dies, she helps the family of the deceased clean up the deceased's house. A lot of that involves selling their stuff, for which she splits the profits with the heirs. It used to be that Craigslist was the best place to sell stuff, but increasingly it's much harder to sell stuff on Craigslist, and easier to sell on Facebook marketplace. And again, to buy/sell there, you really need a Facebook account. She also does other odd jobs, and again, most of these are found through Facebook.

Maybe Facebook isn't necessary for the ways you benefit from the internet, but your experience isn't everyone's.

Re: Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

#43
One one hand side, I agree that Facebook/Amazon/Apple etc. but also many telcoms are way too big which in turn stifles fair competition and leads to monopolies (and subsequently abuse of power, lobbying etc). On the other, there has not been one good solution proposed to this so far.

Let's run through the options (accumulated over months or years of discussions): 1) Split FB into the FB-Instagram-WhatsApp trio that we used to have in the past. Neat but the main culprit remains the same. 2) Remove Zuck or at least reduce his voting power s.t. the board has more. This would work if we assume that Zuck is the main issue with FB, which I doubt he is. Investors would always push for more money and if it means more of the same privacy-violating, advertising-driven social media, I doubt they would change it - money hardly ever has a moral compass of any kind. 3) Kind of like 2 but on top of this, you fix some members of the board with community/government selected representatives which would be supposed to balance out things and/or at least raise concerns. 4) Introduce point 3 as a general rule - if a company reaches X% of the given industry's estimated total market value, it has to give up some board seats. In theory, forces companies to stay focused instead of spreading into every single adjacent industry.

Now, all of these have problems of their own (corruption in case of 3-4, anyone?) but the sooner the discussion starts the better. Google/Amazon/Microsoft/Apple/chip makers are next in line but also, as another commenter pointed out - we do want to see people build strong and prosperous companies that truly innovate.

Damn, it's a non-trivial topic, just writing this down brings more questions than answers

Re: Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

#45
post #2

I think it would be enough to ban Zuckerberg from running any public corp in his lifetime. The Facebook problems are all Mark Zuckerberg problems, it starts with the people he pics for management the priority he sets for a business which provides an important part of american infrastructure. Zuckerberg as CEO of Facebook is the same for the USA as putting a teenager in control of the United States Department of Energ…

>I think it would be enough to ban Zuckerberg from running any public corp in his lifetime.

I always wonder ho this kind of trash is created.

You retarded because you father raped you? What it is?

Re: Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

#46
post #34

I disagree. But I'm not on any, nor use any, of Facebook's services. "It's Time to Break Up with Facebook" is a better title. > We already have the tools we need to check the domination of Facebook. We just seem to have forgotten about them. That evokes different ideas with me and I'm sure it does for many users of this site. We have the tools and capability to employ them to make alternatives. We're so focused on th…

You may not be on Facebook but you can bet your friends or family have shared your contact info with them. And even if that exposure is limited, you can bet they’ve got a shadow profile of you.

So what?

Re: Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

#47
post #30

Funny, what do you have to break up something that you are not even forced to use, and that is not even remotely necessary for benefiting from the internet? I must be missing something.

Well, increasingly, you are forced to use Facebook. I went through the arduous process of deleting my Facebook account about 8 years ago. 2 years ago, I started doing freelance software development, and at some point almost every one of my clients has wanted me to implement a Facebook login. I could say no, but then I'm likely losing my livelihood. And in order to implement Facebook logins, you need a Facebook accoun…

[dead]

Re: Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

#48
post #19

Why just facebook? Why not Amazon, Google, JPM, Disney, etc? "Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, says the company is so big and powerful that it threatens our democracy." "threatens our democracy". I've heard this talking point so much that it has no meaning any longer. It's just another of the oft-repeated talking point created by PR firms as part of a propaganda campaign. If facebook is truly that powerful tha…

> I consider censorship, money in politics, the congressional-industrial-military complex, the israeli/saudi/chinese/etc influence in our economic, media and government institutions, globalism, etc to be far greater threats to democracy than facebook. If facebook was truly as powerful as he says, the establishment and their media wouldn't be attacking facebook as vigorously as they have been. Lets be honest.

Censorship: Facebook is the largest censor on the internet.

Money in politics: Facebook is an enormous lobbyist and political advertiser.

Foreign influence: Foreign actors can gather lots of information through Facebook--most of the news about privacy issues on Facebook involve corporations, but it's naive to believe that it's only corporations doing this.

Media/government institutions: Facebook IS a media institution, and other media/government institutions use Facebook to gather information on people.

Globalism: Facebook is a globalist organization.

Re: Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

#49
post #30

Funny, what do you have to break up something that you are not even forced to use, and that is not even remotely necessary for benefiting from the internet? I must be missing something.

Well, increasingly, you are forced to use Facebook. I went through the arduous process of deleting my Facebook account about 8 years ago. 2 years ago, I started doing freelance software development, and at some point almost every one of my clients has wanted me to implement a Facebook login. I could say no, but then I'm likely losing my livelihood. And in order to implement Facebook logins, you need a Facebook accoun…

How is marketplace better than craigslist?

Re: Chris Hughes Says It’s Time to Break Up Facebook

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, increasingly, you are forced to use Facebook. I went through the arduous process of deleting my Facebook account about 8 years ago. 2 years ago, I started doing freelance software development, and at some point almost every one of my clients has wanted me to implement a Facebook login. I could say no, but then I'm likely losing my livelihood. And in order to implement Facebook logins, you need a Facebook accoun…

How is marketplace better than craigslist?

More people using it, more of those people willing to buy.
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