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Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

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Re: Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

#11

Post by spindritf »

fiatmoney wrote: post #4

I simply don't see the benefits of Facebook as outweighing the creepiness and totalitarian potential. What do I get from Facebook that I don't get from "analog" social interaction, that is worth giving them information on a good portion of the websites I visit, the social interactions I have, the pictures I take, etc.?

> What do I get from Facebook that I don't get from "analog" social interaction

An easily maintained wide network of shallow relationships which is extremely useful when looking for a job, or something to do on Friday night, or the fourth person to split the costs of gas when going to a larger event... Basically, it allows you to spam people you barely know in a socially-acceptable manner.

Benefits of a network like that may be far greater than a small group of trusted friends. I'm not on Facebook because of its creepy/stalkery vibe but there is value there, probably a lot of it.

Re: Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

#12

Post by Tooluka »

This definitely will happen. Like 100% sure. It happens right now, the beginning. And facebook won't be some magic data provider, maybe they'll supply 1-2% of all data if the company will survive for so long at all. Behavioral prediction will be Very precise. And you won't be able to anything, all endpoints will be controlled - ISP, cell operators, physical stores that sell hardware, banking, payment alternatives (bitcoin etc.). They are mostly controlled now, there is just no such precise and powerful analytical programs.

This won't be end of the world or the internet. Not even close to it. Things just will be different in the future and people would accept them.

Re: Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

#13

Post by Wilya »

The hypothetical analytics company in the article scares me, because I'm pretty convinced it will exist at some point.

I mean, there are already quite a lot of people who try to do it, but at some point, someone will achieve non-garbage enough results and use them to screen job or insurance applications. Or will just be good enough at marketing to convince insurance company that the results aren't garbage.

It's probably fine for people who can afford to refuse a job offer based on ethical issues, but the overwhelming majority of people don't have that luxury.

Re: Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

#14

Post by michaelochurch »

LinkedIn scares me more, because I think most 22-year-olds don't really foresee that they might have the need to change their career histories. The idea that you might have to bump your college degree by 5 years is unimaginable at age 22.

I don't foresee myself ever needing an explicit lie, but it's hard to keep a story consistent over 20 years. The online paper trail is a bit scary. I wouldn't even have a LinkedIn profile but it occasionally comes in handy to have access to the people in the network.

I think more people are going to be burned by consistency risk (even unintentional and non-deceptive) than by what we tend to think of as garden-variety embarrassing stuff.

I also don't think anyone with data mining talent is going to work for health insurance companies doing intrusive cross-site work for less than a million per year (we're talking about work that isn't just unpleasant or boring but actually evil) and I can't see those companies paying that much. They'll hire more cheaply and get crappy work and the world will be fine.

Re: Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

#15

Post by majormajor »

If these companies learn everything about everyone, what happens if what they discover is that most people have their own little problems and health issues and craziness? The truly awesome people with absolutely nothing wrong with them? Good luck finding them!

As far as the migraine bit goes: there are already some sorts of medical discrimination that are illegal to use for hiring in the US, though I don't know exactly what is and isn't currently allowed. But analyzing someone's FB posting to try to find out that they suffer from migraines seems like the sort of thing that violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the law and would quickly get shot down. And the Affordable Care Act is already taking steps towards making it illegal for insurance companies to abuse this sort of information. If you don't like the scenario in the article, keep that in mind next time you wonder about whether government regulation is ever appropriate.

Re: Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

#16

Post by tptacek »

michaelochurch wrote: post #14

LinkedIn scares me more, because I think most 22-year-olds don't really foresee that they might have the need to change their career histories. The idea that you might have to bump your college degree by 5 years is unimaginable at age 22. I don't foresee myself ever needing an explicit lie, but it's hard to keep a story consistent over 20 years. The online paper trail is a bit scary. I wouldn't even have a LinkedIn p…

It is a little hard for me to feel sympathetic with the need to conceal dishonesty on resumes. Meanwhile, we talk to lots of great people who don't have LinkedIn profiles; it is by no means a standard requirement. If you can't be honest to LinkedIn, just keep your profile off it.

No matter who gets elected in November, by 2015 guaranteed-issue health insurance is going to be the norm, so this health insurance story about reading tea leaves out of Facebook wall posts to ding people's premiums seems far fetched.

Re: Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

#17

Post by Ntrails »

wtvanhest wrote: post #7
Lasher wrote: post #3

It might be unpopular to say it out loud, but I would bet most HN readers have at least one person on their Facebook page they would not hire base on what they've seen posted there - people they might have otherwise considered hiring. I hope the scenario posted in that article doesn't play out on that scale, but it's surely already happening at an individual level. Great read though!

Well, I wouldn't have hired those people regardless of their Facebook postings. Facebook just mirrors what I see in reality. If someone is so short sighted that they post things that will keep them from being hired, they are likely engaging in a number of behaviors which are not helpful to them getting hired.

Equally, I post many things on facebook that I would not expect an employer to like - but I restrict their viewing to people I directly know.

The entire scenario of a highly savvy person having a publicly viewable page that is then used against her is slightly absurd

Re: Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

#18

Post by analyst74 »

The narrative is also likely to play out this way:

"Well, 9 out of 10 candidates we interviewed has some sort of health problems. Tina is great in all other fronts, I guess we'll just have to live with it."

But regardless, social judgement/ranking is zero-sum game, if someone is losing out due to some social change, others are winning.

Re: Facebook's Gen Y Nightmare

#20

Post by frooxie »

Lasher wrote: post #3

It might be unpopular to say it out loud, but I would bet most HN readers have at least one person on their Facebook page they would not hire base on what they've seen posted there - people they might have otherwise considered hiring. I hope the scenario posted in that article doesn't play out on that scale, but it's surely already happening at an individual level. Great read though!

I bet most people NOT on Facebook have one person in their social circle that they would not hire base on what they've seen them do in real life - people they might have considered hiring if they'd interacted on Facebook instead.
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