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Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

wsj.com

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Re: Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

#11

Post by _moof »

echelon wrote: post #3

If you want to save society, the mental health of our children, and preserve a sane and functional democracy, etc, etc. Stop working for Facebook. Quit working for that leadership. Let their talent erode and their technical debt lead to atrophy. Don't expend your finite life living and slaving for this empire of evil. The next best step is to pledge to not hire ex-Facebookers.

Facebook might be a factor in the division we see today in America but don't kid yourself: we were pretty f*in' divided during the Bush years—the Supreme Court had to decide that election, and the 9/11 unity lasted about a day and a half—and the GOP stopped at nothing to go after Clinton.

This has been going on since the 1980s. Facebook may be an accelerant, but it didn't start this fire—not by a long shot.

Re: Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

#12

Post by anaganisk »

travoc wrote: post #10
anaganisk wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Show me one company that places its profits/shareholder below the best interest of people. We just restart the cycle starting new.

Even cigarette companies eventually stopped targeting children for harmful products. Social media will get there some day, with enough legislation.

Exactly, it’s the legislation, not the companies that being change. Even FB can be hammered if the legislation had balls.

Re: Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

#14

Post by ClumsyPilot »

echelon wrote: post #3

If you want to save society, the mental health of our children, and preserve a sane and functional democracy, etc, etc. Stop working for Facebook. Quit working for that leadership. Let their talent erode and their technical debt lead to atrophy. Don't expend your finite life living and slaving for this empire of evil. The next best step is to pledge to not hire ex-Facebookers.

I don't think refusing to take their money will harm them much. Boycotting them is not likely to do something. Media scandals don't stick either

Maybe make a bot that goes to Facebook and click on all ads costing them money?

Re: Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

#15

Post by dylan604 »

echelon wrote: post #3

If you want to save society, the mental health of our children, and preserve a sane and functional democracy, etc, etc. Stop working for Facebook. Quit working for that leadership. Let their talent erode and their technical debt lead to atrophy. Don't expend your finite life living and slaving for this empire of evil. The next best step is to pledge to not hire ex-Facebookers.

>The next best step is to pledge to not hire ex-Facebookers.

So, if this is the rule, then there's no reason for FB employee to quit as they'll never find another job.

Re: Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

#16

Post by dragonwriter »

_moof wrote: post #11
echelon wrote: post #3

If you want to save society, the mental health of our children, and preserve a sane and functional democracy, etc, etc. Stop working for Facebook. Quit working for that leadership. Let their talent erode and their technical debt lead to atrophy. Don't expend your finite life living and slaving for this empire of evil. The next best step is to pledge to not hire ex-Facebookers.

Facebook might be a factor in the division we see today in America but don't kid yourself: we were pretty f*in' divided during the Bush years—the Supreme Court had to decide that election, and the 9/11 unity lasted about a day and a half—and the GOP stopped at nothing to go after Clinton. This has been going on since the 1980s. Facebook may be an accelerant, but it didn't start this fire—not by a long shot.

> we were pretty f*in' divided during the Bush years, and the GOP stopped at nothing to go after Clinton.

Its quite weird, because the exact same narrative of unprecedented polarization has been used under Clinton (during the bipartisan neoliberal policy consensus), Bush, Obama, and Trump (with Biden, its at least usually acknowledged as a continuation of that under Trump, not new), with most major voices just seemingly forgetting the unbroken succession of preceding instances of the same narrative, pretending whatever is currently happening came recently, out of the blue without warning.

I think you can justify the claim that there was a real increase in political tribalism resulting from the resolution of the long post-WWII set of political realignments that was particularly evident from about the 1994 midterms and the Contract With America through today. (With some signs as far back as the 1980s as the lines of the new alignment started to become clear and the parties really accelerated movement toward their new polarity, where previously major ideological divides weren't aligned with the major partisan divide, so that ideological factions, to succeed, had to work across party lines.) But that's not as sexy a narrative as “suddenly we woke up in this election cycle with divisiveness that just came out of nowhere”.

Re: Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

#17

Post by thomasjudge »

aviraldg wrote: post #9
echelon wrote: post #3

If you want to save society, the mental health of our children, and preserve a sane and functional democracy, etc, etc. Stop working for Facebook. Quit working for that leadership. Let their talent erode and their technical debt lead to atrophy. Don't expend your finite life living and slaving for this empire of evil. The next best step is to pledge to not hire ex-Facebookers.

Please stop assuming everyone shares your values and beliefs. Personally, I think that while there is some mismanagement at Facebook (that can be fixed) most of the issues brought up can probably be expected from anyone in this problem space at this scale. Facebook has allowed me to discover a lot of opportunities and connect with some long lost friends, so I would say the cost is worth it.

I do agree with this part of the statement from the company: "If any research had identified an exact solution to these complex challenges, the tech industry, governments, and society would have solved them a long time ago." The social costs of social media are complex, and solutions are not obvious. Unfortunately it's likely that if the companies can't meaningfully address these problems on their own, congress will attempt to, and the results of that the companies may not find to their liking.

Re: Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

#18

Post by buitreVirtual »

_moof wrote: post #11
echelon wrote: post #3

If you want to save society, the mental health of our children, and preserve a sane and functional democracy, etc, etc. Stop working for Facebook. Quit working for that leadership. Let their talent erode and their technical debt lead to atrophy. Don't expend your finite life living and slaving for this empire of evil. The next best step is to pledge to not hire ex-Facebookers.

Facebook might be a factor in the division we see today in America but don't kid yourself: we were pretty f*in' divided during the Bush years—the Supreme Court had to decide that election, and the 9/11 unity lasted about a day and a half—and the GOP stopped at nothing to go after Clinton. This has been going on since the 1980s. Facebook may be an accelerant, but it didn't start this fire—not by a long shot.

Facebook is more than a factor. It is central to the problem as the largest social media corporation. Its amplification of psychopathic content to maximize the sickest forms of engagement for profit has people effectively living in a destructive cult. Remember when first came the tea party with their death panels talk, then birtherism, then Trump, QAnon and coup attempts?

Re: Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

#19

Post by sbarre »

dylan604 wrote: post #15
echelon wrote: post #3

If you want to save society, the mental health of our children, and preserve a sane and functional democracy, etc, etc. Stop working for Facebook. Quit working for that leadership. Let their talent erode and their technical debt lead to atrophy. Don't expend your finite life living and slaving for this empire of evil. The next best step is to pledge to not hire ex-Facebookers.

>The next best step is to pledge to not hire ex-Facebookers. So, if this is the rule, then there's no reason for FB employee to quit as they'll never find another job.

Yeah that rule doesn't feel very well thought through. :-/

Re: Facebook whistleblower says she wants to fix company, not harm it

#20

Post by _moof »

buitreVirtual wrote: post #18
_moof wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook might be a factor in the division we see today in America but don't kid yourself: we were pretty f*in' divided during the Bush years—the Supreme Court had to decide that election, and the 9/11 unity lasted about a day and a half—and the GOP stopped at nothing to go after Clinton. This has been going on since the 1980s. Facebook may be an accelerant, but it didn't start this fire—not by a long shot.

Facebook is more than a factor. It is central to the problem as the largest social media corporation. Its amplification of psychopathic content to maximize the sickest forms of engagement for profit has people effectively living in a destructive cult. Remember when first came the tea party with their death panels talk, then birtherism, then Trump, QAnon and coup attempts?

To put my position more simply: fixing (or ending) Facebook is necessary, but it won't be sufficient.
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