Mark is 34. Sure must feel good to be all pedantic about his maturity, but that's not actually the problem. The problem is that the CEO of Facebook or Twitter, whoever it is, is in a Catch-22, they can't solve the disinformation/hate-speech/trolling problem without massively increasing costs on moderation, decimating some growth/engagement metrics and in the process destroying a ton of "shareholder value". If they don't solve the content problems, the platform will slowly die anyway as users start to flee the toxicity. So we're all hanging on as these guys try to awkwardly walk some impossible to find line between the two paths. The last FB earnings were a step in that direction but barely an inch, and things will get much worse.
Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
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Re: Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
#12>As their fictional mom, I’d like to offer some advice. Retire, step aside. Maybe find a new hobby. Ask someone smarter and more educated, thoughtful, and civic-minded to decide on the future of your companies.
Trash. Really, who is the author to speak so condescendingly? I don't look up to these "tech bros" any more than she does, but this just reads like the results of a writing exercise rather than what someone would actually think or believe...
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
#13Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
They had a utopian vision, but like all those before them they failed to take into account that there are a lot of 'bad actors' out there, to be polite about it.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
#14I have thought a lot about this over the years, in particular because I went to high school with Dustin Moskovitz, who was Mark's roommate and cofounder at Facebook. Dustin and I are only the barest of acquaintances at this point, so nothing I say should be construed as inside information.
Mark started Facebook when he was 18. Being the CEO of Facebook is the only real job he's ever had, and it's been a rocket ship since Day 1. Kudos to his brilliance, but it doesn't change the fact that this is literally his first job.
It's a very unique situation he is in - running a company that took over 1/6th of the world being the only job you've ever had. Perhaps that does deserve some sympathy.
But you learn from being exposed to a variety of situations. You develop tremendously more perspective by getting out and doing different things. You are forced to consider things you never would have considered if you had not moved onto something new. It gives you a much deeper view of how most of society works.
If this were a mom-and-pop grocery shop, it wouldn't matter so much if the boss had been doing it since 18. There are other competitors who can step in if you suddenly start selling all of your customers' purchase information to the local banks and real estate agents.
That isn't the situation with Facebook, though. They are too powerful at this point. The author of this article is correct in saying it would be best for society if someone more civically minded were running the company.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
#15That article reeks of bitterness, hatred, and wealth envy. Really, it's not worth reading. The content is irrelevant, it's an incoherent rant against rich nerds.
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Re: Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
#16That article reeks of bitterness, hatred, and wealth envy. Really, it's not worth reading. The content is irrelevant, it's an incoherent rant against rich nerds.
Agree completely. They mention that they were "arbitrarily chosen" and list luck, timing, etc. The fact of the matter is that it isn't arbitrary at all and hard work, talent, risk taking, etc. are all very strong filters. Sure, there is always some element of luck and timing, but give me a break. They make it sound as if building facebook is only slightly more difficult than finding $5 on the ground. This was clearly written by somebody who has no idea how tech startups succeed and more often than not fail.
Also, why take a shot at the fact that they are mostly men? Completely gratuitous and betrays their ideologically rigid way of looking at things.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
#17That article reeks of bitterness, hatred, and wealth envy. Really, it's not worth reading. The content is irrelevant, it's an incoherent rant against rich nerds.
It seems to have a pretty coherent thesis to me.
"They started with some good ideas, some luck, great timing, got lots of people to believe in their rosy vision, and they won the unicorn lottery. Little did they know or care what problems they were creating. And now, they’re being asked to solve — or acknowledge, or something — some really big issues"
I'd go so far as to say that it doesn't offer any solutions because, as it alludes to, there really aren't any. At least no top-down ones. That's the scope and scale of the problems created. They're some of the oldest kinds of problems, ones we've been trying to tackle more or less since organized society began. Exacerbated and accelerated by devices that allow us to make mistakes faster than any other point in history.
I think these systems deserve a bit of bitterness and hatred. I'm really not sure where you're getting 'wealth envy' from. This is the same lament that occurs with any kind of dramatic power imbalance. When the wealthy and powerful become so powerful that they stop being private entities and start being society-altering juggernauts, the rest of the people will complain about being trampled. This seems fair and right to me.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
#18That article reeks of bitterness, hatred, and wealth envy. Really, it's not worth reading. The content is irrelevant, it's an incoherent rant against rich nerds.
This thread is very defensive.
Being angry at the hubris of zuckerberg and other tech bros is completely appropriate and justified. When rich nerds try to solve large complex problems from within the algorithmic confines of their solipsism, they inevitably run into the endless irregularities of the real world until the only option they have left is to destroy every irrelgularity with force or implode because they can't.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
#19I'm sorry but I just don't buy it. There is no indication that Zuckerberg wants to change anything about how Facebook operates or that he has regrets for how things have turned out. On the contrary it seems he has no respect for human rights and doesn't give two shits about privacy, except his own of course. I can understand that running a multibillion corporation turns you into an unsocial prick but the problem with Zuckerberg isn't how he behaves towards those who are close to him (see Jobs) but how he treats society. For him everyone is just an audience for an advertisement. Just last week we read that he wanted access to bank accounts. There's obviously no such thing as remorse for him, everything is up for sale.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Is Totally Out of His Depth
#20While I agree Zuckerberg is out of his depth, I think there is some magical thinking in this article that there are just a cadre of imminently well qualified people waiting in the wings who could save the day if only given the chance.
These people, by and large, don't exist. I may think Zuckerberg has some issues, but I don't think there is some hidden group of folks who could do much better of a job than he could.