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Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok

#131

Post by taylodl »

throwaway2474 wrote: post #77

Serious question, for those with more experience than me “in the game” running big successful companies: are dirty tactics like this (and worse) par for the course and generally expected, and it’s sort of understood that the outsiders/general public are shielded from it? Or is it actually shocking? It often seems like there’s two “worlds” operating at the same time. In one, there’s outrage and indignation at this sor…

Many commenters here have pointed out this is the norm. I'll also point out that most companies fail, and many of the ones that don't fail are despised by their customers/users. What can we say of the companies that succeed and aren't despised? They typically don't do shit like this.

The other problem with thinking "this is what everybody does" is there's the unstated "so keep your mouth shut and just go along with it" that's really unhealthy for us all. If you work for Facebook and you think this is the norm then you're not going to be inclined to question this behavior and if you really think it's universal then you may not even be inclined to leave. Thus the problem perpetuates itself.

If you ever find yourself working for one of this hell hole companies then leave. Don't buy into the false narrative that this is normal, it's the same everywhere, keep your mouth shut and don't rock the boat. You'll come to realize the money doesn't make up for what's been done to your mental health and the quality of your life.

Re: Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok

#133

Post by mechanical_bear »

newsclues wrote: post #67
troll_v_bridge wrote: post #60

Should this story have a disclaimer that the paper is owned by the founder of Amazon, who is a competitor?

What social network does Amazon own?

It’s digital advertising, not social media that is the competition.

Re: Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok

#135

Post by rayiner »

My 9 year old watches TikTok, and I've got mixed feelings. My kid is really into videos of other kids telling jokes, making slime, doing puzzles, etc. Frankly I think that's better than the vapid dreck on Disney--and infinitely better than social media, which would just stoke the tweener social drama. (We allow TikTok but not any form of social media.) Obviously there is less age-appropriate content on there too. But the algorithm is pretty good about not surfacing that material unless you're looking for it.

Re: Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok

#136

Post by alphabetting »

taylodl wrote: post #131
throwaway2474 wrote: post #77

Serious question, for those with more experience than me “in the game” running big successful companies: are dirty tactics like this (and worse) par for the course and generally expected, and it’s sort of understood that the outsiders/general public are shielded from it? Or is it actually shocking? It often seems like there’s two “worlds” operating at the same time. In one, there’s outrage and indignation at this sor…

Many commenters here have pointed out this is the norm. I'll also point out that most companies fail, and many of the ones that don't fail are despised by their customers/users. What can we say of the companies that succeed and aren't despised? They typically don't do shit like this. The other problem with thinking "this is what everybody does" is there's the unstated "so keep your mouth shut and just go along with i…

What is "unhealthy" about telling public TikTok is a danger?

Re: Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok

#137

Post by nmilo »

What is a "Republican strategy firm?" A consulting firm with the Republican party as one of their clients? What's the point of making "Republican" so prominent in the article? Is it just to use the negative connotation most WP readers have about the Republican party to malign Facebook a little more? It seems like we're just spectating an op-ed war, and discussing this article as if there's any meaning to it other than to malign Facebook.

Re: Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok

#138

Post by fartcannon »

krageon wrote: post #62
fartcannon wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're making new talent every day. No need to hire the tainted.

If you work in this field (and if you're looking at these candidates, you are at least adjacent to it) then you are the tainted. Not hiring someone else because they had the audacity to also work in that sector is hypocritical.

You're right, I was too harsh. Everyone gets the same ethical review.

Re: Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok

#139

Post by eric_b »

Why the focus on the fact that it was a Republican strategy firm? Why does that matter?

Being the Washington Post, I'm sure it's to insinuate that all the bad things that happen are Republican-led. Only the GOP plays dirty tricks, right? After the Steele dossier, the Biden laptop, the Russia collusion misinformation campaign, and willfully hiding the mental decline of the current president - you'd think we'd get past the whole "only Republicans bad" narrative. But I guess that just goes to show how successfully the WashPo and others are running their own strategies to push agendas...

Re: Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok

#140

Post by tomatowurst »

bko wrote: post #25
tomatowurst wrote: post #3

At what point does: - having Facebook/Meta experience on your resume starts hurting you against others who don't - selling your company to Facebook/Meta or product on it hurts your brand and perceived to be immoral Is Facebook/Meta the Tobacco company of our generation? The harmful effects of smoking were covered up for almost a century, much as the impact of mass remote dopamine manipulation is not as prolific.

> - having Facebook/Meta experience on your resume starts hurting you against others who don't Why would it hurt you? They're at the forefront of technical challenges of scaling an immensely popular product and developing internal tooling. These aren't necessarily applicable everywhere, but they're incredibly valuable. If anything, I think the fact that they're working at a place where a very vocal minority of their…

I didn't really present any strong opinions just raising questions off what I am reading and seeing based on trends.

It's quite bizarre that you would go out of your way to try and gaslight me that Facebook's toxicity is my own imagination.

Do you work for facebook in some way, sold a company to them or own their stocks?

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