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Facebook under fire over secret teen research

bbc.co.uk

191–200 of 226 posts

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If someone wanted to make the case that Facebook is a net-good force in the world, I'd read that. But I haven't seen anyone even try to lay out evidence of Facebook doing any good things. I like pytorch, prophet, and their decent job policing the pedophiles on the FB platform, but what else do they do that's good and responsible?

I've never been a FB user. Years ago, when FB was relatively new, I was very anti-FB, and would discourage everyone from using it due to privacy concerns. Then a Sudanese friend was staying with me for a few days. He had spent years separated from his relatives who lived in multiple countries, as he was working odd jobs to save enough money for a degree. Through FB, he got to see his nephews and nieces be born and gr…

Not sure Marlboro is a good example.

Their product kills people or makes them seriously ill - how would you improve that product so it doesn't?

So for the good of society - access to their products should be much harder, i.e. factor in the cost of all the damage those products cause and people will have less of an incentive to purchase these.

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What would our world be like if it were illegal to have a social media account until you were 21 years old? Is that the question you take away? Mine is... What would our world be like if it were illegal to lie to or otherwise obstruct Congress?

That would be hard to enforce given that politicians lie pretty often....

Haha, funny. But not true. At least in the times before you-know-who, politicians went through the wildest contortions to avoid lying.

Yes, there's Clinton and a few other fun examples. But they are sparse.

What happens is that people use the term "lie" for all sorts of disappointing behaviour that, however, isn't a lie. Example: Obama said he'd close Guantanamo within two years or something like that. Is that a lie? No, probably not: "I will.." always expresses an intention to attempt something. It's perfectly believable that he had both the intention to do it, as well as confidence that it can be done.

We intuitively understand all that in everyday life. When someone shows up 15 minutes late, they didn't "lie" when you agreed on the time.

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#193

Does anyone remember Cosmopolitan and other like magazines. Teenage body issues and associated anxiety are not new. What has happened is we gave everyone internet access so now they can look at pictures of unrealistic bodies all day everywhere they go. The result is body dysmorphia on steroids.

I truly don't understands this perspective. It used to be that mass media was a tightly-controlled, walled-off garden. The set number of popular and accessible magazines, tv stations and films suffered from far more centralized control, had far less inclusion in its leadership and staff, and resulted in a hyper-narrow range of acceptable beauty and image standards. It was borderline dystopian. Young people, by and la…

This is probably 90% rose-colored glasses, but to play the devil’s advocate, the monoculture did give people more commonality and I wonder if people were more social - and maybe even less divided - as a result. There is something to be said for people to have something in common to bond over and not being at each other’s throats all the time - often over mundane things.

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#194
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, I think the other aspect is this isn't just internet. When I was younger, going on the internet meant going to the upstairs bedroom, turning on the computer, waiting for it to boot up, then waiting for AOL to connect, then chatting with people. It would take like 5 minutes of effort. Now, most of the time when I go out, for fun, I just look how many people are hunched over staring and scrolling at their stupid r…

At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, I remember 15-20 years ago talking to people next to me in public transports and meeting a lot of people who eventually became friends. Now when I'm in a subway, every one is hunched on their mobile phone, no one is available to engage in conversation, to meet people. They're instead focusing on that tiny bright rectangle. And I can see that I'm also guilty of the same.…

Same in a bar. I go in to shoot the shit. But often times now, I will see people spend their entire time scrolling while sitting at the bar. It's sad. I switched back to a flip phone almost 1.5 years ago and while I do miss certain things, the overall experience of just not having the option to scroll is so much better for me in terms of being present.

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#195
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As James Clapper demonstrated, there is a separate set of laws for the elites. Surely, the banner example here id Brett Kavanaugh, whose lies in his Circuit Court confirmation hearing were punished with a seat on the Supreme Court.

Perhaps; I'm Canadian and have never heard of Kavanaugh.

Kavanaughs selection for the Supreme Court was covered heavily even in Europe

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#196
post #62

A parallel between Facebook and Big Tobacco had never occurred to me until I read this: > In a move straight out of big tobacco's playbook, Facebook downplayed the negative effects of its product and hid this research from the public and even from members of Congress who specifically asked for it What would our world be like if it were illegal to have a social media account until you were 21 years old? Interesting to…

> A parallel between Facebook and Big Tobacco

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24579498

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#197
post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Not only is it illegal to lie to Congress Only for the plebs. As James Clapper demonstrated, there is a separate set of laws for the elites.

> As James Clapper demonstrated, there is a separate set of laws for the elites. Surely, the banner example here id Brett Kavanaugh, whose lies in his Circuit Court confirmation hearing were punished with a seat on the Supreme Court.

about what, specifically?

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If someone wanted to make the case that Facebook is a net-good force in the world, I'd read that. But I haven't seen anyone even try to lay out evidence of Facebook doing any good things. I like pytorch, prophet, and their decent job policing the pedophiles on the FB platform, but what else do they do that's good and responsible?

I've never been a FB user. Years ago, when FB was relatively new, I was very anti-FB, and would discourage everyone from using it due to privacy concerns. Then a Sudanese friend was staying with me for a few days. He had spent years separated from his relatives who lived in multiple countries, as he was working odd jobs to save enough money for a degree. Through FB, he got to see his nephews and nieces be born and gr…

> Today, there may be viable alternatives, but there weren't in those days.

Wait, there was no email yet?

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My nieces will instantly delete something they post if it doesn't get enough likes right away which seems so anxiety-inducing. :-/

I wonder what would happen if deletion wasn't an option. Like how it didn't use to be possible on Twitter. Would that make it worse? Or better, because then everybody would be in the same boat?

Social media on the blockchain, hmmm...

Re: Facebook under fire over secret teen research

#200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As James Clapper demonstrated, there is a separate set of laws for the elites. Surely, the banner example here id Brett Kavanaugh, whose lies in his Circuit Court confirmation hearing were punished with a seat on the Supreme Court.

about what, specifically?

About his role in the Bush Administration’s torture policy.
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