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Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

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Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#21

Post by onewaystreet »

sveme wrote: post #5

Have we reached peak Facebook yet? I started using Facebook quite early in my country and used it mostly as a social network, communicating and exchanging stuff with friends from all over the world. A couple years later I deleted my account, being disgusted by the potential abusive potential of all the information Facebook had. I came back years later as it became THE tool for ad hoc social initiatives and a way to f…

> Have the social network aspects of Facebook been destroyed by fatigue

Combating this is partly why Facebook bought WhatsApp and spun out Messenger into its own app.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#22

Post by mahyarm »

dmitrygr wrote: post #6

Why is it that every little single-purpose-at-best company nowadays acts like they are out to save the world in the most noble way possible? Mark, please! You're a spam-your-friends-with-fake-news-and-baby-photos service at best. The world will go on long after Facebook ceases to exist. Please stop pretending that you're Mother Teresa here.

These are some of the most profitable and largest companies in the world. It's like laughing at google, 'just a web search engine company', for expanding into maps, self driving cars, a mobile operating system that dominates the world and so on. This is how you expand from 'just' a 'spam your friends' service to something that is a lot more. It's called having goals.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#23

Post by lazaroclapp »

dahdum wrote: post #7

While I live in Silicon Valley and mostly agree with the prevailing morality, it's alarming to see Facebook (and others like Reddit/Twitter) move so aggressively towards social engineering the entire world.

Arguably, Facebook has been very cautious on how it moves towards social engineering the world, though. Which is what has allowed things like Cambridge Analytica to do so instead. The whole point of this manifesto is not "lets take over the world!", it is "we have a huge influence in the world, that much is a fact, let us take some measure of responsibility about it". Could there be a better alternative to Facebook being the one which has this power? Sure. But that's not for Facebook to change. The best you can hope is them taking their current power seriously and trying to wield it responsibly and that's what the manifesto is about. You want to take that power from them and build something better... well, feel free to give it a go.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#24

Post by perseusprime11 »

dmitrygr wrote: post #6

Why is it that every little single-purpose-at-best company nowadays acts like they are out to save the world in the most noble way possible? Mark, please! You're a spam-your-friends-with-fake-news-and-baby-photos service at best. The world will go on long after Facebook ceases to exist. Please stop pretending that you're Mother Teresa here.

Also, isn't this the same guy who very recently tried to evict people from his estate in Hawaii? He also literally built a wall around his home after buying off neighbors homes for a premium. Is he taking down that wall?

Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#25

Post by paganel »

> The algorithm prioritizes what it shows a user based, in large measure, on how many times the user has recently interacted with the poster and on the number of "likes" and comments the post has garnered.

FB has changed so much for the better for me since I've joined an AutoRetro group featuring cars at least 25 years old and since I've started like-ing that group's posts. Now almost half of my feed is filled with photos of old Trabant, Lada or Opel Kadett cars, and I love that. The other half is indeed filled by mothers sharing their kids' stuff, which I don't give a crap about, and some fiery political stuff, which I care about but which I generally ignore, the reason being that there's not that much that I can change, politically-wise, by commenting on the Internet.

I've also found out that I've been a lot more relaxed and generally better off since I've stopped checking my feed on the phone when in public places (tramway, waiting in line at the Post office or at a general store). For those situations I always carry a magazine (the Economist folds really well) or a pocket book with me, and it's been for the best.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#26

Post by devwastaken »

dmitrygr wrote: post #6

Why is it that every little single-purpose-at-best company nowadays acts like they are out to save the world in the most noble way possible? Mark, please! You're a spam-your-friends-with-fake-news-and-baby-photos service at best. The world will go on long after Facebook ceases to exist. Please stop pretending that you're Mother Teresa here.

>Please stop pretending that you're Mother Teresa here.

The funny part is that Mother Teresa wasn't a good person, but made a lot of money from her image of nicety. I think its the same way with these individuals who are trying to act 'noble'. The most noble thing you could do is bring consumer trust back and invest into people.

I would argue that a lot of problems that companies have, like when Tim Cook was going around giving presentations on why encryption is important, is solved by bringing consumer trust back by working in the best interest for everyone, and not just for money.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#27

Post by pault »

dmitrygr wrote: post #6

Why is it that every little single-purpose-at-best company nowadays acts like they are out to save the world in the most noble way possible? Mark, please! You're a spam-your-friends-with-fake-news-and-baby-photos service at best. The world will go on long after Facebook ceases to exist. Please stop pretending that you're Mother Teresa here.

It's because he is launching a political career. As simple as that.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#28

Post by GuiA »

dmitrygr wrote: post #6

Why is it that every little single-purpose-at-best company nowadays acts like they are out to save the world in the most noble way possible? Mark, please! You're a spam-your-friends-with-fake-news-and-baby-photos service at best. The world will go on long after Facebook ceases to exist. Please stop pretending that you're Mother Teresa here.

I thoroughly enjoyed Geek Heresy by Kentaro Toyama, which is precisely about taking that trope apart. The book goes over a number of case studies about technocrats thinking their purely technological solutions would "make the world a better place", and how they failed. It also goes over examples where no/low tech approaches succeeded. It's a quick, recommended read.

https://www.amazon.com/Geek-Heresy-Rescuing-Social-Technolog...

Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#29

Post by judah »

dmitrygr wrote: post #6

Why is it that every little single-purpose-at-best company nowadays acts like they are out to save the world in the most noble way possible? Mark, please! You're a spam-your-friends-with-fake-news-and-baby-photos service at best. The world will go on long after Facebook ceases to exist. Please stop pretending that you're Mother Teresa here.

It's because people want to feel like they have a purpose.

It's the same reason you see Hollywood actors being outspoken political activists. Because if they stay out of politics, they're "only" insignificant entertainers.

It's the same reason you see comedians and TV shows getting political. Saturday Night Live (SNL) is just a show for laughs. But if it takes a political stance, suddenly the writers/producers/actors can feel good about making a positive change. (Whether it's actually positive is beside the point; it only matters they think it's positive.)

And so, Facebook is doing something to enact positive change. (For various definitions of positive.)

Facebook is only different in that it has enough money and influence to actually change things in the world. Whereas comedians, actors, TV shows can only offer political opinions and try to influence people, Facebook can actually change things thanks to its financial status and its staggeringly user base.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto for Facebook offers a social dystopia

#30

Post by simplehuman »

devwastaken wrote: post #26
dmitrygr wrote: post #6

Why is it that every little single-purpose-at-best company nowadays acts like they are out to save the world in the most noble way possible? Mark, please! You're a spam-your-friends-with-fake-news-and-baby-photos service at best. The world will go on long after Facebook ceases to exist. Please stop pretending that you're Mother Teresa here.

>Please stop pretending that you're Mother Teresa here. The funny part is that Mother Teresa wasn't a good person, but made a lot of money from her image of nicety. I think its the same way with these individuals who are trying to act 'noble'. The most noble thing you could do is bring consumer trust back and invest into people. I would argue that a lot of problems that companies have, like when Tim Cook was going ar…

Mother Teresa wasn't a good person? That's news. Why?
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