A former Facebook executive has taken the extraordinary step of apologizing for the damage the social media giant has done to society.
A former Facebook executive is making waves after he spoke out about his “tremendous guilt” over growing the social network, which he feels has eroded “the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other.”
Chamath Palihapitiya began working for Facebook in 2007 and left in 2011 as its vice president for user growth. When he started, he said, there was not much thought given to the long-term negative consequences of developing such a platform.
“I think in the back, deep, deep recesses of our minds, we kind of knew something bad could happen,” said Palihapitiya, 41. “But I think the way we defined it was not like this.”
That changed as Facebook’s popularity exploded, he said. To date, the social network has more than 2 billion monthly users around the world and continues to grow.
But the ability to connect and share information so quickly — as well as the instant gratification people give and receive over their posts — has resulted in some negative consequences, according to Palihapitiya.
“It literally is a point now where I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works. That is truly where we are,” he said. “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works: no civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem. This is not about Russian ads. This is a global problem.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The vote on net neutrality is today. I wonder if and how that will alter the work at Twitter and Facebook as well as the habits of users of the Internet, especially in the US.
My guess if that investments to promote (de)personalized learning from infancy through pre-school to workplace credentials will take a hit. I will not be sad to see some curtailment in all of that, especially with the proliferation of decision-making by algorithms and bots. But the Internet has also been a great tool for research, publication, and really great commentary. I hate to see all that made less accessible or, if so, only with some outrageous pricing schemes. As it is, the paywalls for news are increasing and the raiding of copyrighted material is rampant.
Some psychologists are seeing a spike in anxiety and depression in adolescents. They believe it may be related to too much screen time on phones or other electronic devices. Ihttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171130170212.htm
Screenagers is a must see documentary for parents and educators about the damage done by devices to adolescents’ minds and lives.
Much the same things were said about cars, the telephone and television. Are the positives greater than the negatives? Maybe the real problem is humanity itself and not its toys. Are humans a flawed product?
I scarcely think Zuckerberg’s product promotes the common good. It’s a propaganda tool in the wrong hands. (So is Fox News.) Are humans flawed? Absolutely, yes. Are humans swayed by propaganda? Clearly, yes. Can humans create governments that prevent propaganda? I hope so. Can we take back the five parts of the First Amendment in the U.S. to mean freedoms for community members instead of propagandizing oligarchs? I sure hope so.
The last paragraph says it all.
We are the same human species we were 3,000 years ago. Look around. We are still at war, accepting of poverty, full of greed, vengeance and hatred. Our weapons are different but it is still the same old us that wields them. None of this will change until each individual really looks at him/herself and makes changes. Perhaps the biggest existential problem we face is not being self-reflective enough and then taking action with the wisdom found in that reflection. We are carried away by our thoughts and feelings without ever questioning any of it. We are carried away by new fads, technology and ideas of so-called “experts.” We see human subjectivity as a disadvantage when it’s really an advantage in many ways. We look to science to explain every bit of our lives. Even worse, we look to pseudo sciences to give us meaning and purpose and tell us what is right and wrong and how people should be “evaluated.” I think the majority of people don’t question any of it. Look around in your schools and at the children. They are stressed, anxious, depressed and suicidal. They are addicted to being “liked” on websites by people they don’t even know. Do they ever ask WHY? Or worse, we say oh yes, we know we are suffering but we NEED these things to live our lives. We delude ourselves. All of our so called technological progress means NOTHING unless we are mindful of how we use it and for what purpose. It’s not a matter of just talking about the positives and negatives of new technologies. It’s a matter of being cognizant of what we are doing with them and WHY. What is out personal and societal VISION that we have of using these new technologies and does it really serve the purpose we want it to in our lives? When I feel there is something wrong or that it’s harming me, do I change it or keep going? We have to be able to acknowledge and change our relationship to these new technologies when they don’t fulfill our purpose even if it flies in the face of what we are told or are expected to do. So until people STOP and sit and ask themselves some questions, they will be carried away by whatever thought, feeling, fad, technology, etc. comes their way.
I am impressed by your heartfelt call for self-reflection. I am sure that success in business does not require self-reflection, but rather a sense of what will work. I agree, we are the same species we were 3000 years ago, perhaps even 11,000 if you accept the earliest dates for Gobekli Teppe. Some focus on the fundamental flaws of man. Christian beliefs talk of “original sin” and argue what that point was where man, created by God, turned away from God. Rationalists consider man’s inability to see things logically as culprit. Spiritualists focus on the lack of the development of meditation.
I am convinced by my study of history that there are many human beings who would dine on the very flesh of their fellow humans if it made them a dime or supported the idea of their own superior nature. I am just as convinced that really good people will go along with them because the good people are not trained to see guile and hostile intention. The optimistic in our world once thought that war was over, that superior intelligence had pushed the Europeans past the threshold of illogic that produced war. The terrible explosion of August, 1914 made this a mockery.
So perhaps self-reflection would help. Or confession. Or meditation.
Thanks to you, I will think about it.
Wonderful, Mamie. Thank you.
Some societies encourage greed and ignore poverty more than others.
We have extreme inequality and we don’t care.
His comments (like those of Sean Parker’s a couple of weeks ago) are welcome. Still, there is the problem of “now that the horse is out of the barn” and all that.
“Fakebook”
Fakebook is like highschool
“Look at me! I’m great!”
Cliquish as a central rule
Doncha love to hate?