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Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

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Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#31

Post by lallysingh »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #9

Clickbait. I think the actual story was already posted a few days back. I'm pretty sure tabbaco has killed a few more people than Facebook, so this is a ridiculous comparison. Facebook does a lot for which it should be criticized, but it feels like we're just beating on a dead horse. It's also hilarious that someone would be so critical of Facebook all while including their share button in the same article. Apparentl…

> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebo...

I don't think it's that far apart.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#32

Post by dontreact »

StreamBright wrote: post #24
dontreact wrote: post #14

I think this makes light of the fact that lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Every year millions of people die. Millions. And this is just one way cigarettes have negative impact. I’ve heard doctors say that we would need far fewer hospitals in the U.S if it wasn’t for all the negative effects of smoking.

Implying lung cancer can happen because of smoking. In fact air pollution and a bunch of other things cause lung cancer too.

In the US, 75% of those who die of lung cancer are smokers. This is exactly the toe of misinformation promoted by the tobacco execs were talking about. The link between lung cancer and smoking is extremely well established.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#33

Post by brentm »

The FB media onslaught is getting a bit overdone at this point. They aren't the worst company in the world. They probably have figured out that connecting everyone doesn't necessarily make the world a better place immediately but I applaud the effort and I think long term it will make a difference. So they make money selling ads which they display by algorithmically sifting through metadata. Around here I know it's not a popular practice but for the vast majority of FB's 1.5B DAUs I think it matters a lot less than the media would like it to. All ads are annoying but I personally prefer the targeted ads of today to the random banners ads of the late 90s early 2000s. I know they aren't a perfect company but who is? I think the media just smells easy traffic here.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#34

Post by ishi »

StreamBright wrote: post #24
dontreact wrote: post #14

I think this makes light of the fact that lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Every year millions of people die. Millions. And this is just one way cigarettes have negative impact. I’ve heard doctors say that we would need far fewer hospitals in the U.S if it wasn’t for all the negative effects of smoking.

Implying lung cancer can happen because of smoking. In fact air pollution and a bunch of other things cause lung cancer too.

There is no doubt that smoking can cause lung cancer. "Smoking is by far the biggest preventable cause of cancer. Thanks to years of research, the links between smoking and cancer are now very clear. Smoking accounts for more than 1 in 4 UK cancer deaths, and 3 in 20 cancer cases." https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-canc...

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#35

Post by fatjokes »

smt88 wrote: post #10
fatjokes wrote: post #8

Are you f-ing kidding me? Until 90%+ of FB users start dropping dead because of lung cancer then that statement is complete garbage. EDIT: a lot of people are taking my statement as meaning not to criticize Facebook. That is not it at all! It just means not to lose perspective. At least I still consider tobacco to be far worse, directly causing ~7M deaths annually with no visible benefit. EDIT 2: Genuine question: ha…

What if 90% of democracies start dropping dead?

Then maybe people should ask why democracy is so fragile.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#36

Post by fipple »

xfitm3 wrote: post #30
TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #9

Clickbait. I think the actual story was already posted a few days back. I'm pretty sure tabbaco has killed a few more people than Facebook, so this is a ridiculous comparison. Facebook does a lot for which it should be criticized, but it feels like we're just beating on a dead horse. It's also hilarious that someone would be so critical of Facebook all while including their share button in the same article. Apparentl…

> I'm pretty sure tabbaco has killed a few more people than Facebook, so this is a ridiculous comparison. There are worse outcomes than death.

Like having a shadow profile on Facebook.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#37

Post by fisherjeff »

dontreact wrote: post #14

I think this makes light of the fact that lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Every year millions of people die. Millions. And this is just one way cigarettes have negative impact. I’ve heard doctors say that we would need far fewer hospitals in the U.S if it wasn’t for all the negative effects of smoking.

I would note that they’re not comparing the effects of the two businesses, but rather the PR decisions made under fire.

Not that I necessarily agree that the comparison is completely apt, but it’s certainly a much closer one.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#38

Post by dontreact »

smt88 wrote: post #21
TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #9

Clickbait. I think the actual story was already posted a few days back. I'm pretty sure tabbaco has killed a few more people than Facebook, so this is a ridiculous comparison. Facebook does a lot for which it should be criticized, but it feels like we're just beating on a dead horse. It's also hilarious that someone would be so critical of Facebook all while including their share button in the same article. Apparentl…

Tobacco has killed more people so far. Facebook accepted a lot of money to help Trump win, so if he were to start a war or something, I think the blood would also be on Facebook's hands. Climate change is a whole other issue with him, though less direct. Also, I understand the headline to be a comparison of tactics, not of harm. And as for the share button, writers don't make their site's templates.

Facebook accepted more money from the Clinton campaign though right?

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#39

Post by yayana »

dontreact wrote: post #20
_iyig wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see what you're saying, but it's also true that cigarettes didn't fundamentally weaken the structure of democratic societies. The long-term consequences of that (heck, even short-term) could be much more severe.

This is one thing I don’t get about this narrative. At this point how do we know how permanent what you’re talking about is? And how much is due to Facebook vs. just generally the unexpected terrible combination of it becoming very easy to distribute information + the fact that humans seek out information that tells them what they want to believe. I’m not saying we shouldn’t criticize Facebook, or that they shouldn’t…

In the case of cigarettes, the companies had the answer to these kinds of questions for decades and used it specifically to mislead the direction of public discovery. In their case, they had to risk their own studies in almost all cases instead of just monitoring their own distribution system.

When Facebook says they don't know something there are a few possibilities, the least likely is that they don't know and don't have a reason not to find out.

I do agree with you that it is not up to them to fix. They should be limited to whatever extent possible in what research they can do on their own discretion to prevent them from staying ahead of public information and misleading research.

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