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Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

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Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#11

Post by [deleted] »

gowld wrote: post #10
wahern wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The platform is more powerful, but political and cultural power is also more diffuse and even more chaotic than in previous eras. (And that may not be a coincidence.) So I'm not convinced Zuckerberg has a greater capacity to push society in a particular direction, and certainly don't believe that he has more direct political influence than previous titans. Perhaps he could add to the chaos and confusion in a uniquely…

> not convinced Zuckerberg has a greater capacity to push society in a particular direction, He can, but only in one direction: incivility and divisiveness.

[deleted]

Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#12

Post by kazinator »

gowld wrote: post #10
wahern wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The platform is more powerful, but political and cultural power is also more diffuse and even more chaotic than in previous eras. (And that may not be a coincidence.) So I'm not convinced Zuckerberg has a greater capacity to push society in a particular direction, and certainly don't believe that he has more direct political influence than previous titans. Perhaps he could add to the chaos and confusion in a uniquely…

> not convinced Zuckerberg has a greater capacity to push society in a particular direction, He can, but only in one direction: incivility and divisiveness.

Nick checks out; I want to award HN gowld.

Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#13

Post by SahAssar »

skee0083 wrote: post #8
mlazos wrote: post #2

Wow some of the contents of this post scare me, I can’t believe we are at the point where Facebook has to remove content that intimidates election officials. I’m scared both because Facebook has this much power and also because of the issues they’re addressing. I wish our democracy was a little more civil. This is also partially facebook’s fault because they definitely have increased polarization through personalizat…

We don't have a democracy. It's a republic. Basically a fake democracy.

The terms democracy and republic are not mutually exclusive. There are many different types of both and some overlap.

Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#14

Post by bvanderveen »

So when can we address the elephant in the room and admit plainly that Facebook has net negative value for humanity and if Zuckerberg were a moral agent and not an alien lizard king he would have years ago liquidated the thing and imputed its net assets to the shareholders?

Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#15

Post by contrast »

wahern wrote: post #9
kazinator wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Facebook instrument has inherently more power than what past media titans wielded.

The platform is more powerful, but political and cultural power is also more diffuse and even more chaotic than in previous eras. (And that may not be a coincidence.) So I'm not convinced Zuckerberg has a greater capacity to push society in a particular direction, and certainly don't believe that he has more direct political influence than previous titans. Perhaps he could add to the chaos and confusion in a uniquely…

The problem with assertions without any supporting facts is they can only be mirrored by the obvious counter-arguments:

In fact, Zuckerberg strikes me as someone acting insincerely, making arguments in bad faith, with no regard to civic responsibilities, which makes perfect sense given his self-serving ideals and well-known financial incentives. And I come to that opinion based on his views and actions, notwithstanding the transparent attempts to buy good PR under the guise of philanthropy.

Perhaps he is adding to the chaos and confusion in a uniquely consequential fashion, but at a minimum he is completely indifferent to the consequences of his actions. These consequences may be no worse than past consequences, so it would make sense that we should only take action comparable to past legislation e.g. passing new major laws as powerful as the Sherman Act so that his callous disregard for honesty, facts, injury and integrity do not become everybody else’s problem too.

Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#16

Post by Tostino »

skee0083 wrote: post #8
mlazos wrote: post #2

Wow some of the contents of this post scare me, I can’t believe we are at the point where Facebook has to remove content that intimidates election officials. I’m scared both because Facebook has this much power and also because of the issues they’re addressing. I wish our democracy was a little more civil. This is also partially facebook’s fault because they definitely have increased polarization through personalizat…

We don't have a democracy. It's a republic. Basically a fake democracy.

You misspelled oligarchy.

Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#17

Post by switch11 »

bvanderveen wrote: post #14

So when can we address the elephant in the room and admit plainly that Facebook has net negative value for humanity and if Zuckerberg were a moral agent and not an alien lizard king he would have years ago liquidated the thing and imputed its net assets to the shareholders?

That is a simplified assumption

everyone starts off human

then money distorts things

I have seen a lot of very honest people get suckered into doing things they never would

once money starts coming in, people's morals change to accommodate how they make money

Not everyone can be like Craig Newmark etc. and be indifferent to money

Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#18

Post by switch11 »

contrast wrote: post #15
wahern wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The platform is more powerful, but political and cultural power is also more diffuse and even more chaotic than in previous eras. (And that may not be a coincidence.) So I'm not convinced Zuckerberg has a greater capacity to push society in a particular direction, and certainly don't believe that he has more direct political influence than previous titans. Perhaps he could add to the chaos and confusion in a uniquely…

The problem with assertions without any supporting facts is they can only be mirrored by the obvious counter-arguments: In fact, Zuckerberg strikes me as someone acting insincerely, making arguments in bad faith, with no regard to civic responsibilities, which makes perfect sense given his self-serving ideals and well-known financial incentives. And I come to that opinion based on his views and actions, notwithstandi…

Agreed with this: In fact, Zuckerberg strikes me as someone acting insincerely, making arguments in bad faith, with no regard to civic responsibilities, which makes perfect sense given his self-serving ideals and well-known financial incentives. And I come to that opinion based on his views and actions, notwithstanding the transparent attempts to buy good PR under the guise of philanthropy.

*

The guy has screwed over

1) Winklevoss Twins

2) a few of his co founders

3) Many of his developer partners

4) many of his product's users

5) many competitors via illegal means

*

his entire 'philanthropy plan' is donating to a FOR PROFIT which he owns and which so far is mostly investing in things like EdTech

you have to be a special kind of naive to fall for this BS philanthropy

*

You can tell from initiatives like INternet.org that he really does think most people are dumb f#$#$ who trust him

Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#19

Post by Barrin92 »

switch11 wrote: post #17
bvanderveen wrote: post #14

So when can we address the elephant in the room and admit plainly that Facebook has net negative value for humanity and if Zuckerberg were a moral agent and not an alien lizard king he would have years ago liquidated the thing and imputed its net assets to the shareholders?

That is a simplified assumption everyone starts off human then money distorts things I have seen a lot of very honest people get suckered into doing things they never would once money starts coming in, people's morals change to accommodate how they make money Not everyone can be like Craig Newmark etc. and be indifferent to money

I'm pretty sure there's an ethical version of Facebook somewhere in there that would still make more money than anyone can blow even if they did hookers and coke 24/7

Goes for software engineers personally as well, the difference between working on something that's ethical and working on something that isn't probably is the difference between a comfortable five figure salary and an absurd six figure one, not living in a subway station

Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual

#20

Post by aeternum »

bvanderveen wrote: post #14

So when can we address the elephant in the room and admit plainly that Facebook has net negative value for humanity and if Zuckerberg were a moral agent and not an alien lizard king he would have years ago liquidated the thing and imputed its net assets to the shareholders?

How have you quantified the impact Facebook has had on humanity?

Have you considered all evidence and not just the evidence which confirms your existing worldview?

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