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‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

nytimes.com

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Re: ‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

#101

Post by [deleted] »

reaperducer wrote: post #65
Jonanin wrote: post #27

I have concerns about Facebook just like everyone else, but I'd also like to point out that the New York Times is not repeatedly publishing articles criticizing FB simply because of their superior moral stance. They are doing it because FB took away a lot of revenue from publishers like them, and they are very, very angry about it.

That's a lovely conspiracy theory, and it makes people feel better about the situation, but it's not how things work in real life. Speaking as someone who worked in this field for a couple of decades, it's more likely that one or more New York Times reporters have developed good sources inside Facebook, and are milking them. The New York Times didn't make Facebook a monster, Facebook did.

[deleted]

Re: ‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

#102

Post by leroy_masochist »

Agathos wrote: post #87
leroy_masochist wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree it's a legit perspective and I know it's not uncommon. That's not my point. My point is that the students quoted likely do not grasp the potential future consequences of their name being in the newspaper this way.

I'm twice their age and I don't either. What consequences do you refer to?

I think their comments will come across as arrogant and entitled to potential employers and/or colleagues who google them in the future. I think the kids are probably not that way, they're just really earnest, but the reporter did them a disservice by putting their juicy hot college sophomore takes into the ether for all of eternity.

Re: ‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

#103

Post by manfredo »

Agathos wrote: post #87
leroy_masochist wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree it's a legit perspective and I know it's not uncommon. That's not my point. My point is that the students quoted likely do not grasp the potential future consequences of their name being in the newspaper this way.

I'm twice their age and I don't either. What consequences do you refer to?

Political discrimination in hiring and promotion is not unheard of.

Re: ‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

#105

Post by bootlooped »

about_help wrote: post #66
mehrdadn wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s a bit like blaming the scientists of the Manhattan Project for dropping the atomic bomb. I'm the last one to defend Facebook here but I don't see how designing an atomic bomb is comparable to working for Facebook, regardless of what you think about the morality of each.

It is an extreme example to illustrate the point, not a direct comparison of FB to atomic bombs. However, one might argue that FB is actually worse. It is hard to quantify widespread societal effects and determine if they would have occurred through other channels. The massive privacy violations across the world through FB is another item that is hard to quantify yet 100% morally wrong.

I don't think it would be a very persuasive argument. Atomic bombs have some easily quantifiable negatives, for example $5+ trillion spent on nuclear arms in the US alone, and ~200,000 mostly civilians killed.

https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/costs-us-nuclear-weapo...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_a...

Re: ‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

#106

Post by jpmoyn »

ggggtez wrote: post #64
leroy_masochist wrote: post #23

Allowing 19-year-old kids to have their name and photo published in the newspaper of record in an article that quotes their snarky comments about how they're not sure if they'd deign to work for any given company is journalistic malpractice. I don't blame the kids. They're young and naturally earnest, and are marinating in an environment where performative wokeness results in positive social reinforcement. They don't…

Oh please. "19-year-old kids" can sign their life away to the military. They can vote in elections. To suggest that we shouldn't allow people who are adults by every meaning of the word, voice their opinions publicly and attributed to themselves is ludicrous.

I don't think they're saying the students aren't "allowed" to voice their opinions. They're making the point that this is obviously what a college student would say when asked a question like this in the current social climate. No one is saying they are bad for doing so. The point is that it's an easy, ultimately fruitless article that highlights the well-known views of a large population of young adults.

Re: ‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

#107

Post by EpicEng »

yaacov wrote: post #9

> Ms. Brown said a lot of students criticize Facebook and talk about how they would not work there, but ultimately join. “Everyone cares about ethics in tech before they get a contract,” she said. This describes my what I've observed perfectly. There are very few companies that make new grad offers comparable to Facebook's, and career advancement opportunities and working conditions at Facebook tend to be better than…

This is true of anything, just a bunch of talk. It's easy to be opposed to X when X does not offer you anything. As soon as X is good for you, many (most?) people don't stick to their guns.

Re: ‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

#108

Post by skdd8 »

hacknat wrote: post #50
skdd8 wrote: post #25

While I trust FB has very good work perks. I will not be inclined to work there. It comes down to what do you value in life. Do you wanna literally help promote fascism and misinformation? Go work at FB and moonshine at Monsanto on your free time.

Moonshine? Do you mean moonlight? ;)

lol.. sorry typo. I did mean moonlight

Forget about Monsanto. The point I wanted to make is that FB is that they have a lot of power to shape culture/discourse and take little to no responsibility when things go wrong.

Until I don't see a change on their behavior/policies (by them or some regulating power). I will be weary about working with them or using their products.

Re: ‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

#109

Post by vonmoltke »

eropple wrote: post #88
icedchai wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're probably not smart enough to get in, anyway. If they were, they'd go to FB, milk that huge salary, unload their RSU's on a regular basis, save and invest, and FIRE by age 35. Signed, a CS graduate and FB stock holder with 500% return.

Sorry, but yes, they probably are smart enough to get in. Or capable enough, which is the real thing that the wise amongst us actually measure rather than how smart one is . Of the dozen or so folks I know at Facebook, I'd be excited to work with about two of them again. The others are...fine. Much like the folks Google hires now. They're fine. Once you hit a certain point, you start hiring ditch-diggers just like ev…

Their standards for senior hires seem to be as high as ever. They seem to be unwilling to engage in the aggressive downleveling Google does, though.

Re: ‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ Say Some Computer Science Students

#110

Post by manfredo »

techelitism wrote: post #72

Few comments on this because I think about this quite a bit. 1) I always read these articles and sigh. Seems like they only focus on 2 elite tech companies at the expense of all the others while only interviewing students at the #1 CS school in the country. I feel like a 2nd class citizen in the industry because of it. When will the normal people be heard? 2) I'm kind of surprised they listed a $140k starting pay. Th…

> I'm kind of surprised they listed a $140k starting pay. That's pretty low for new grads in the industry and very low for Facebook.

If it's just salary, not including equity, that's by no means "very low". Where are you finding that new grads are typically getting more?

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