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Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

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Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#281

Post by dweekly »

nyolfen wrote: post #98
anonymouswacker wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strategically speaking, it may be wise for her career prospects & image to appear like she is still loyal to the Corp.

she was not a technical employee, and she will be set for life in ngo, media, or political career fields. facebook has many enemies. she has probably correctly calculated that she will not actually suffer any negative consequences for this; good for her

> she was not a technical employee

Frances has an electrical & computer engineering degree from Olin, was a PM at Google (requires passing a technical interview), was also separately a software engineer at Google, and was the CTO of a startup.

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#282

Post by colordrops »

calrueb wrote: post #143

I like to imagine there are a bunch of Facebook Homefeed engineers out there who ran dozens experiments, tuning this-and-that, and found the ones that boosted revenue, and user engagement by X%. No one thought too deeply at _why_ some experiments were successful. Perhaps it was chalked up as "our new ML model is matching users to content they care about more efficiently". Then they shipped it, and everyone celebrated…

I worked with Facebook for a short period in 2011 when at a large social gaming company, and it was completely obvious then that they were sociopaths that intentionally took advantage of base instincts for profit. These people made a game of it, and openly slept around on their spouses as a show of being part of the in-group. I can't imagine that its gotten more "disconnected" and better since then.

I understand that its a nice gesture to give others benefit of the doubt with charitable interpretations but don't be naive about it - Facebook doesn't deserve this.

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#283

Post by _ivvf »

kmonsen wrote: post #180
willcipriano wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on who currently is the authoritarian. Left wing authoritarians make right wing anti-authoritarians and vice versa.

I think this is obviously the right answer. There have clearly been left wing avd right wing authoritarians in history. These days in, western countries at least, most authoritarian are right wing. Trump and the conservative party in the UK being the clearest examples. I define here authoritarian as someone who is decreasing democracy and transparency. Not caring if they do it for the right or wrong reasons. Also cle…

[flagged]

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#284

Post by hogFeast »

epgui wrote: post #111
hunterb123 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Have you ever considered the possibility that people just don’t think what you’re saying makes sense?

Have you ever considered the possibility that sense is not objective?

If you need reminding, sensible opinion was that masks didn't work. If you need reminding, sensible opinion was that a lab leak was impossible. If you need reminding, sensible opinion was that a vaccine wouldn't come for years. On and on.

Sense is inherently subjective. You are subject to the same flaws of logic and reasoning as anyone else. People believe that everyone else is an irrational fool, and their view is correct (and yes, this is the only thing that has changed recently...as people have become more exposed to people who aren't like them, they have retreated into their shell).

Btw, you should also consider whether your own view here has any "sense". Part of living in a society with other people is the right to disagree with others (isn't it odd that you use this right when considering the views of others but don't believe they have the same right? That their views just make no sense and can be ignored...irony).

It is unfortunate that fewer and fewer people today understand the principles on which their freedom is built.

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#285

Post by woodruffw »

thepasswordis wrote: post #79
meowface wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I find it weird for a whistleblower to be so "lib", as the kids say. What do you mean? I don't follow the latest slang, but I would've assumed this would mean "liberal", except I don't see what that would have to do with the rest of what you said.

Whistleblowers are anti-authoritarian, which is typically a right wing/conservative position in contemporary politics. To the people downvoting me here: can you list some figures who have been protesting authoritarianism who are left-coded in contemporary American society? I'm thinking of wikileaks, edward snowden, glenn greenwald. These people have all been "accused" of being right wingers. The people protesting loc…

> To the people downvoting me here: can you list some figures who have been protesting authoritarianism who are left-coded in contemporary American society?

Noam Chomsky?

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#286

Post by nonfamous »

Permit wrote: post #232
Mizza wrote: post #45

I find it weird for a whistleblower to be so "lib", as the kids say. She said she 'loves' Facebook, and wants to fix it, not harm it. I don't want Facebook fixed and I do want Facebook harmed. I don't want the government to meddle with what types of things people can say online, I want them to ban the business model of stalking people online and selling intimate details of their lives. If the problem is Facebook choo…

> I want them to ban the business model of stalking people online and selling intimate details of their lives. When you say "selling intimate details of their lives" you are misleading your reader. I don't know if this is intentional on your behalf but it makes it really hard to discuss real problems when you obfuscate them behind quarter truths like "Facebook sells your data".

When Facebook’s ad network sells and places ads in front of a person because they are gay, pregnant, devout, or disabled, you don’t consider those to be “intimate details of their lives”?

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#287

Post by alasdair_ »

_ivvf wrote: post #184
ryandrake wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Each "team" accuses the other of being authoritarian. So, when blue team is in charge, the reds think of themselves as anti-authoritarian. When red team is in charge, the blues think of themselves as anti-authoritarian. Basically, it's a rhetorical ploy to gain a few cheap points: When the side in charge does something you don't like, just call them "authoritarians," and your cause, whatever it is, becomes more appea…

Except what you are saying is not really true. Most conservatives want to reduce government power, not extend it. The left, on the other hand, universally wants to extend government reach. I would recommend reading "The Authoritarian Moment" which goes into detail as to how the left are basically winning: https://www.amazon.com/Authoritarian-Moment-Weaponized-Ameri... To quote from the book's introduction: "There are…

Conservatives, in general, are strongly pro police, judges and other members of the judicial system. These people are authorities (that ultimately use violence to enforce the law). Conservatives want to increase the number and power of these authorities. Thus, many conservatives are authoritarian.

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#289

Post by ogaitnas »

Leparamour wrote: post #257
ogaitnas wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is so fake about this story?

When was the last time that a 'whistleblower' was interviewed on prime time TV?

Snowden has been interviewed a number of times, is he not a whistleblower? Not sure why that makes it suspicious.

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#290

Post by dnndev »

Soda, vaping and cigarettes are also harmful to kids and some could argue all media outlets are harmful to democracy with bias.

Not defending facebook just calling out the hypocrisy.

Parents: If you think facebook is harmful discipline your kids. Easier said than done but nobody said parenting is easy.

Adults: Use common sense, facebook is not free, they sell your data. I have a feeling if yo use FB you dont care or you are ok with it.

Government: Protect your citizens by calling out and informing them of dangers but let them make the decision.

if its no facebook it will be someone else. some people dont care and will use whatever you put in front of them. You cant fix the world.

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