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Facebook's PR feels broken

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Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#81
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would encourage you to read the memo itself [1] and find out. It's not that long. In it Bosworth acknowledges that Facebook, as a new medium for propagating information, had a role in shaping the outcome of the 2016 election. He said that it was no longer tenable for Facebook to claim that it had no effect, and that as the 2020 election approaches, Facebook should be conscious of its role and formulate specific pol…

Other countries have rules about political advertisement especially before elections. Those include budget limits, content, attribution, locations, and more. It's weird to think the rules are so lax here.

The difference is that the U.S. has this pesky thing called the First Amendment that makes restricting political speech difficult.

Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#82
post #78
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's only for local TV though for the FCC ones, like your ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS affiliates. They have other obligation like providing children programming which is usually early on the weekend, in exchange for the airwaves too. So cable and satellite network stations are treated differently. So like cussing on the local TV stations is a no, no but a show on HBO can cuss all they want. Then also some states lik…

No, online ads do not get an exception with the FTC. The FTC enforces truth-in-advertising laws on ads across all mediums. Edit: FCC -> FTC

That would be the FTC in that case but I see how people could mix up the FCC and FTC, my original reply was talking just about the FCC ones. But I know the FTC is platform neutral in that case. For example that's why YouTubers disclose when they get paid to promote something. But sounds like the FCC has some of their rules for TV, and then the FTC ones apply on top of that in general.

Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#83
post #3

Facebook is just transitioning to becoming the digital equivalent of an oil company. They make a product that billions consume, but that many people think is doing damage to the environment (even though many of those critics still consume the product). That's why their PR machine is now switching to these slightly astroturfy campaigns. The next step is an advert along the lines of "They call it pollution. We call it…

Oil so useful that modern society would collapse without it. Facebook is not meeting a core need. It's peddling something entirely optional to society. At best it provides entertainment value, while being extremely addictive and dangerous. Facebook is like crack.

Human connection is a core need. Facebook provides it (or something a lot like it).

Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#84
post #55

Stifling a glib, sarcastic response, who do we feel has good PR that's working, and not in some sinister meaning of 'working'? What groups and activities do people who think this way hold up as positive role models?

Trying to answer my own question, I'd say Digital Ocean's paid documentation and whatever SEO they're doing that gets those documents highly placed in Google results might qualify as benevolent PR.

Dev blogs for a couple of projects like Github might also count.

Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#85
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oil so useful that modern society would collapse without it. Facebook is not meeting a core need. It's peddling something entirely optional to society. At best it provides entertainment value, while being extremely addictive and dangerous. Facebook is like crack.

Human connection is a core need. Facebook provides it (or something a lot like it).

And yet, after not using Facebook for over a year, I don't miss it one bit and feel like my human connections have improved as a direct result.

Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#86
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oil so useful that modern society would collapse without it. Facebook is not meeting a core need. It's peddling something entirely optional to society. At best it provides entertainment value, while being extremely addictive and dangerous. Facebook is like crack.

Human connection is a core need. Facebook provides it (or something a lot like it).

Human connection can be had in many alternative ways, with a lot less drama and controversy.

Reading these posts full of hyperbole, one would think human society couldn't exist without Facebook.

Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#87
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oil so useful that modern society would collapse without it. Facebook is not meeting a core need. It's peddling something entirely optional to society. At best it provides entertainment value, while being extremely addictive and dangerous. Facebook is like crack.

Human connection is a core need. Facebook provides it (or something a lot like it).

Facebook is human to computer.

I consider human connections to be person to person, where you can see, talk to, hear, gauge body language and nuance, and adjust to that in real time. Facebook is a substitute for human connection, and a poor one at that. I see a lot in the news about how people feel more depressed and alone than ever, and are online more than ever and checking their devices every few minutes. So much so that it's to the point that when they actually DO have person to person contact they're still tied into their devices instead of being present in the moment with undivided attention and enjoying that other persons company. I agree that human connection is a core need. I just think we're conflating facebook as somewhat fulfilling that need. I'd argue it's doing the opposite and destroying human connections, in general.

Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#88
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Human connection is a core need. Facebook provides it (or something a lot like it).

Human connection can be had in many alternative ways, with a lot less drama and controversy. Reading these posts full of hyperbole, one would think human society couldn't exist without Facebook.

It certainly could and did for thousands of years... but it would be very different. If facebook went away you would just get other companies springing up to fill the void (Snapchat, Tiktok, etc). That’s how you know it’s a core need.

Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Human connection can be had in many alternative ways, with a lot less drama and controversy. Reading these posts full of hyperbole, one would think human society couldn't exist without Facebook.

It certainly could and did for thousands of years... but it would be very different. If facebook went away you would just get other companies springing up to fill the void (Snapchat, Tiktok, etc). That’s how you know it’s a core need.

I don't understand how "it would be very different" if other companies were to just spring "up to fill the void."

Doesn't this phenomenon merely indicate that some market forces believe that the industry Facebook works within has potential for more profits than are currently being extracted?

Re: Facebook's PR feels broken

#90
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oil so useful that modern society would collapse without it. Facebook is not meeting a core need. It's peddling something entirely optional to society. At best it provides entertainment value, while being extremely addictive and dangerous. Facebook is like crack.

Human connection is a core need. Facebook provides it (or something a lot like it).

I haven't seen a tv ad in years.

Back then, facebook had a tv ad series. It was a vague, "what's this ad for?" kind of ad. The jist of the ad was "friendship is great" with some sort of facebook=friendship reveal at the end.

The ad was creepy. The suggestion that facebook is providing the core human need of friendship is creepy. Facebook is incidental.

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