Funny. I'm sure the Wall Street Journal knows the same thing, but reaps profits from it as well.
Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
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Re: Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
#72I've always wondered how such discussions go in company meetings where some product/feature has harmful effect of something/someone but is good for the business of the company. I cannot believe that everyone is ethicality challenged, only perhaps the people in control. So what goes through that minds of people who don't agree with such decisions. Do they keep quiet, just worry about the payroll, convince themselves t…
I've typically found my employment via companies who deal with a variety of contracts, some of them for weapons or defense contractors.
I could go down the rabbit hole of chasing down all those contracts and would probably find that many of the products my company makes get sold to groups and causes that I don't support. But in the end; I've gotta eat.
Do I want to throw away my career which is 99% unrelated to the SJW cause I support just because 5% of our products eventually get used against that cause. What about the 95% of our products which go to worthy causes?
I'll say it again... I just gotta eat, man. What's good for the gander is probably good for the goose too.
Re: Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
#73> Facebook policy chief Joel Kaplan, who played a central role in vetting proposed changes, argued at the time that efforts to make conversations on the platform more civil were “paternalistic,” said people familiar with his comments. I think Joel was right.
I, too, agree. Facebook is just an extension of the open society.
"The East India Trading Company is just an extension of the open seas."
Re: Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not sure why this comment is being downvoted. The people who rise through the ranks are exactly the kind unburdened by ethical or moral issues that get in the way of the business generating revenue. In fact, such folks use their short term gains from breaking such implicit expectations to jettison themselves ahead of their peers. As such, this kind of behavior is incentivized. Those with such issues either quit or wo…
When you describe capitalist processes, some people take it as if you are making a morally charged argument.
I think there is a crowd that kneejerk downvotes ideas they interpret as anti-capitalist, without reading the argument.
An example: I am not a Marxist. But I think the Marxist question of "surplus value" as an ethical question is relevant and interesting. I pointed it out on HN a few times. Again, without being a Marxist, just intellectually curious. Nobody ever asks me if I am really a Marxist. I get downvoted pretty severely when I point it out. I get an impression that they smell a whiff of the opposing sports team and turn negative.
Re: Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
#75> Facebook policy chief Joel Kaplan, who played a central role in vetting proposed changes, argued at the time that efforts to make conversations on the platform more civil were “paternalistic,” said people familiar with his comments. I think Joel was right.
I, too, agree. Facebook is just an extension of the open society.
You have to factor in how the algorithm rewards content that drives engagement. Without that, it's more like an open society.
Re: Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's kind of a combination of all the above. Majority of employees are working for a paycheck and they don’t really care what goes on as long as they get paid. If the person is in an executive type role then their goal is to increase revenue so they convince themselves that it’s good for the company.
This seems very near the moral vacuity of the "just following orders" defense
For the beta roles (because I can't help mapping wolf/pack behavior to most corp meetings anymore) about all a person can do is mount a weak defense. Which gets ignored by upper mgmt as they justify ASPD with a framework that says the number one priority is the corporate profit statement.
What percentage of people in these meetings are so wealthy they can risk everything over morally gray area decisions like this? Further how many can get away with it repeatedly should they choose to fight a battle like this?
Re: Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
#77Facebook discovers profitable strategy that news organizations have been using for decades.
That sounds right. Fear and conflict drives higher engagement. Although it makes business sense to chase higher engagement, I wonder how much of people's distrust with Facebook the brand is just a reflection of how people feel when engaging the product.
Re: Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not sure why this comment is being downvoted. The people who rise through the ranks are exactly the kind unburdened by ethical or moral issues that get in the way of the business generating revenue. In fact, such folks use their short term gains from breaking such implicit expectations to jettison themselves ahead of their peers. As such, this kind of behavior is incentivized. Those with such issues either quit or wo…
When you describe capitalist processes, some people take it as if you are making a morally charged argument.
There are very many lucky people who are now fierce libertarians on HN these days.
Re: Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
When you describe capitalist processes, some people take it as if you are making a morally charged argument.
I think there is a crowd that kneejerk downvotes ideas they interpret as anti-capitalist, without reading the argument. An example: I am not a Marxist. But I think the Marxist question of "surplus value" as an ethical question is relevant and interesting. I pointed it out on HN a few times. Again, without being a Marxist, just intellectually curious. Nobody ever asks me if I am really a Marxist. I get downvoted prett…
Ugh, such strong language. Please censor it as M*rx or, better yet, "literally Satan".
Re: Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
#80> Facebook policy chief Joel Kaplan, who played a central role in vetting proposed changes, argued at the time that efforts to make conversations on the platform more civil were “paternalistic,” said people familiar with his comments. I think Joel was right.
I, too, agree. Facebook is just an extension of the open society.
Disagree. It's different to normal society.
Normal society encourages civility by offering the inclusion into a needed physically-near social group. Digital society deincentises civility by offering a multitude of alternative groups.