Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#21

Post by whitepaint » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:13 PM UTC

I don't really know much about US politics, but could this recent attack on Facebook be a political move and a power grab? Attack FB so they block certain groups / certain topics and promote what the regulators want? I listened to the whistle-blower's testimony and I didn't hear any reasonable solutions (in my opinion at least; I am a software developer myself).

Also, it seems there might be some regulations imposed. Doesn't Facebook actually want that? More regulations = more difficult to implement a new competing service.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#22

Post by tenaciousDaniel » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:13 PM UTC

I still have a FB account because my family is on there, and even then I check it maybe once a month, if that. It's just not in my life anymore. When I do go on there, I have a hard time imagining how anyone could get sucked into it.

Sometimes I feel like FB is a kind of scapegoat for social critique. Maybe because it's the largest, but not sure.

Personally, it seems like Twitter is a much more malevolent cultural force. The amount of toxicity that arises out of that platform is overwhelming, and the addiction factor is much more affective. I'm not saying FB doesn't deserve criticism, but I wonder why these other platforms don't get the same attention.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#23

Post by iSnow » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:13 PM UTC

As if FB stock holders or C-suite (or even regular employees, come to think about it) do care about reputational damage.

As long as it is a money-printing machine, they will not care one bit if they have to heat the headquarters with seal pups.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#24

Post by Hamuko » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:14 PM UTC

jklinger410 wrote: post #19

shoto_io wrote: post #3

No. That’s what people like us and all the main stream media hope for. But: most people I know don’t have the slightest clue that Insta and WhatsApp belong to the FB group. And even worse: most of them don’t give a shit about the reputation of FB. They just want to send messages and share pictures through those apps.

Facebook went down for 6 hours and they are back to using it the next day without a second of hesitation. Maybe WhatsApp was affected by some people who, so I've heard, rely on it heavily. They may have (smartly) switched to a more decentralized platform to handle their critical communications. So did they shed some edge-case users? Sure. Will it matter in the long run? Not at all.

>Facebook went down for 6 hours and they are back to using it the next day without a second of hesitation.

Why is that relevant at all?

If I have a blackout for six hours, I'm gonna go back to using electricity once it's back.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#25

Post by erostrate » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:14 PM UTC

The articles ends with a suggestion that Mark Zuckerberg should be fired from his CEO role, but he controls 58% of the voting shares, so I'm not sure who this appeal is directed at.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#26

Post by JumpCrisscross » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:14 PM UTC

The biggest component missing from Silicon Valley's discussion of Facebook is its pathological lying.

They lied to the FTC [1]. They lied to WhatsApp and the EU [2]. They created an Oversight Board and then lied to it [3]. (These just off the top of my head.)

The culture is perceived to be dishonest from the top down. That is why they get bludgeoned more than Twitter, or even Tik Tok. That is what its surrogates miss when they say Zuckerberg is being scapegoated. There simply isn't another big tech CEO with such a clear, public and recalcitrant record of dishonesty.

[1] https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/182_3109_fa...

[2] https://euobserver.com/digital/137953

[3] https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/21/the-oversight-board-wants-...

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#27

Post by donatj » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:14 PM UTC

efields wrote: post #5

shoto_io wrote: post #3

No. That’s what people like us and all the main stream media hope for. But: most people I know don’t have the slightest clue that Insta and WhatsApp belong to the FB group. And even worse: most of them don’t give a shit about the reputation of FB. They just want to send messages and share pictures through those apps.

This. 73 yo dad is not quitting Facebook anytime soon. He genuinely uses it to find old friends and coworkers and goof around in the comments.

I mean as a 30 something who knows their evil, that’s what I use it for too.

I’ve gone to close my account a bunch of times, but for so many old friends it’s my only link to them, I could not bring myself to do it.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#28

Post by mchanson » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:14 PM UTC

shoto_io wrote: post #3

No. That’s what people like us and all the main stream media hope for. But: most people I know don’t have the slightest clue that Insta and WhatsApp belong to the FB group. And even worse: most of them don’t give a shit about the reputation of FB. They just want to send messages and share pictures through those apps.

Article doesn't disagree with your take:

"The firm risks joining the ranks of corporate untouchables like big tobacco. If that idea takes hold, Facebook risks losing its young, liberal staff. Even if its ageing customers stick with the social network, Facebook has bigger ambitions that could be foiled if public opinion continues to curdle."

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#29

Post by breadzeppelin__ » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:15 PM UTC

shoto_io wrote: post #3

No. That’s what people like us and all the main stream media hope for. But: most people I know don’t have the slightest clue that Insta and WhatsApp belong to the FB group. And even worse: most of them don’t give a shit about the reputation of FB. They just want to send messages and share pictures through those apps.

To go a bit further MSM's ad revenue is being hollowed out by Facebook et al. Why would anyone pay to advertise in Economist when they can advertise to "people interested in economics, earning over 150k, last thought about cigarettes three weeks ago" etc.

Similarly, if you were an advertising exec at pfizer, would you choose to pay millions of dollars to advertise your meds to a continuously shrinking audience on something like CNN, or would you spend significantly less directly targeting "oldsters who need meds" on FB or Goog's platforms?

I'm a huge cynic but it seems like most of the critiques of social media coming from big / old media are just symptoms of having their revenue bled away, not any meaningful calls for change for the better

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#30

Post by Joker_vD » Thu, Oct 07, 2021, 2:15 PM UTC

Clubber wrote: post #18

JohnWhigham wrote: post #11

This company will continue running roughshod upon society until governments do something about it. They are too big to fail. Competitors just get bought up. Unsurprising that boomer media can't comprehend this.

"boomer media can't comprehend this" Believing news is on the side of the citizenry is like believing HR is on the side of the employee.

What, and the corporations don't exist first and foremost to benefit their customers? Have I been lied to my whole life?