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Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

cnbc.com

121–130 of 444 posts

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#121
post #72

This is not a surprising headline. If you have values about privacy, decency, civil discourse, honesty or integrity you wouldn’t want to work there. Also, if you feel the company was collusive or willingly complicit in the dissemination of fake news and Russian propaganda efforts during our elections, it’d be a big fat “no” to working there. And it’s not just our democracy that is undermined by FB. There’s a litany o…

Don't forget about WhatsApp. It was the main channel of dissemination of fake news in Brazilian Election. Now we have a global warning denier in the presidency and Amazon deforestation is reaching record levels. Sure there isn't any company in the FAANG that is an altruistic enterprise, but to be only pure evil one is Facebook. What really impresses me is that there's still a lot of talented people working there.

> Don't forget about WhatsApp. It was the main channel of dissemination of fake news in Brazilian Election.

How would you solve this problem?

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel bad for the Facebook employees below middle management level, but I also really would like some harsh penalties directed at Zuckerberg et al. I hate that huge corporations can just kind of shrug and say "oops" to egregious crimes, without any meaningful consequences. Same with corporations not paying tax while still benefiting from the stable society created by those taxes.

There are real signs of a moral change in this upcoming generation. I suspect a lot of people are going to be very surprised when that wave comes in and breaks.

While I share the same hope, don't get too excited. There are billions in the rising ranks who don't care and may be from a country that exist lower on Maslow's hierarchy of needs than first world countries.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel bad for the Facebook employees below middle management level, but I also really would like some harsh penalties directed at Zuckerberg et al. I hate that huge corporations can just kind of shrug and say "oops" to egregious crimes, without any meaningful consequences. Same with corporations not paying tax while still benefiting from the stable society created by those taxes.

There are real signs of a moral change in this upcoming generation. I suspect a lot of people are going to be very surprised when that wave comes in and breaks.

It's a double edged sword. They seem to live in thicker bubbles. They don't seem particularly tolerant or forgiving.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#124

As much as everyone wants to believe this is because all the applicants are suddenly taking strong ethical stances, I bet it has more to do with Facebook simply not being considering cool or exciting anymore.

Yeah, it's seen as the platform your parents (or worse, grandparents) use. Pretty much a step above Next Door. Why would you want to work for that over some of the other companies out there?

Facebook is also instagram and whatsapp, two platforms used by young people

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too was curious of this balance weighting. FB slurps in all of the data that users voluntarily post. Google just learns things through inference about users whereas FB is getting data posted directly by the user. Seems to me that FB is able to be way more invasive.

Do you not consider Gmail data posted voluntarily by the user? How about search queries or calendar entries?

I can see your concern about messages via email, but I know for me personally, email is just not a thing anymore. Forgetting plain SPAM, corporations/marketing/etc have ruined email into this signal that has such a low S/N ratio that it's just not useful. What percentage of internet users actually use email for communication anymore? Sure, some, but it's not my largest attack vector (I consider Google/FB as attacking me).

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#126
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I asked one, who pointed out he'd like to make change from within rather than blog about them being evil from the outside. I don't know which way is right.

FB's core business model is the root problem. "Working from within" is vain, naive, and futile; only Zuckerberg has the power to change the business model, and we all know thats not happening.

Unpopular opinion:

I don't have a problem with business model (targeted ads) but I have a massive problem with lack of honesty, and this is the distinction between Facebook and Google for me. Google tells you what they collect and gives you the controls to delete it. This is enough for me.

Facebook struggles to remember that I want my timeline kept private.

I also believe that Cambridge Analytica was no accident, FB knew what they were doing, and they decided to throw them under the bus when they changed the media turned on them.

Trust is hard to build up and can be shattered in a day.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#127
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>google is a bigger concern for privacy and personal liberty Big claim. Any proofs? With Facebook, what annoyed me was that they set up internal teams to help with political candidates social media campaigns - no matter who the candidates are. Extremely worrisome if you prefer to have people elected through a democratic process that is based on the discussion. This is not like understanding what people want or how do…

Just look at the amount of personal information Google knows/records about you. Your search history, web stats through Chrome, location history through Android, with whom you exchange emails if you're using GMail, which sites you visit and how long you stay on them through Google Analytics, probably online purchases with a combination of AdSense/AdWords & Analytics, everything you watch on YouTube etc. They definitel…

> The only reason they haven't faced the same shitstorm is because they don't seem to share all that data with 3rd parties.

This is the whole point though, is it not? As far as we know, Google treats the data they collect more thoughtfully and responsibly than Facebook. And so they are (rightly or not) viewed as less of a threat to the public good.

Of course, they could just be better at hiding their abuse of our data... But that's a conspiracy theory, not a matter of public record like the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you not consider Gmail data posted voluntarily by the user? How about search queries or calendar entries?

I can see your concern about messages via email, but I know for me personally, email is just not a thing anymore. Forgetting plain SPAM, corporations/marketing/etc have ruined email into this signal that has such a low S/N ratio that it's just not useful. What percentage of internet users actually use email for communication anymore? Sure, some, but it's not my largest attack vector (I consider Google/FB as attacking…

This may be true for personal communication but any sort of business deal is going to be happening over email. Mortgages, selling your company, large sales... All of the contracts are going to end up in your inbox.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#129
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no career hit associated with Facebook Having witnessed it personally, yes there is. It's not evenly distributed. And if you do something amazing later on, people will look past it. But it's there in a way it isn't for e.g. Apple or Google or Amazon. > People love to complain about Goldman Sachs too, but that still looks good on a resume Goldman is universally respected within finance. Facebook is not univ…

Is there a scenario similar to Facebook's in finance, right now or historically?

Like Wells Fargo, or any of the folks in this list: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/101515/3-big...

I'd be hesitant about someone who'd work for Madoff.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#130
post #4

Wow! Every so often, I see something that makes me feel hopeful about the future. This is one of those times.

I feel bad for the Facebook employees below middle management level, but I also really would like some harsh penalties directed at Zuckerberg et al. I hate that huge corporations can just kind of shrug and say "oops" to egregious crimes, without any meaningful consequences. Same with corporations not paying tax while still benefiting from the stable society created by those taxes.

If you're referring to the Cambridge Analytica Scandal, Facebook didn't break any US laws. While it may have been morally wrong (however, if you accept that Facebook's business otherwise wrt collecting user information is okay, I don't see how you could see this use of that information as any less okay), there weren't yet any US laws on the books to throw at them.
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