Jump to content

FRONTLINE: The Facebook Dilemma


Hugo Stiglitz

Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

I get it that disinformation on social media is bad... real bad.  But at some point the blame needs to be laid on our stupid public-at-large that falls for the most blatant lies imaginable. 

If someone is poisoning the local drinking water.  Do you blame the people drinking it?

Ive been doing a lot of thinking on how our information distribution has evolved over the past 30 years and how we got to this point.

There was once a time not long ago that we didn’t have all the information of the world on our phones. 

The guys running stuff: the autocrats, corporate titans, and tyrants were probably terrified of the power of the internet in the beginning.  Nothing threatens their power more than a well educated, informed, and connected population.  

So what to do?

One way to preserve control over populations is to control the information space.  With the internet and platforms like Facebook and Twitter, it became near impossible for those in power to control the information space.  So they figured if they couldn’t control the information space they would work their asses off polluting it.  

Except they didn’t just pollute the internet.  They polluted television and radio as well.  The reality TV show somehow became modern art and entertainment.  The History Channel no longer showed history. The radio waves became infected with carnival barkers like Limbaugh and Hannity. 

This isn’t just a phenomenon on the right either, everyone has been exposed to a distorted version of reality in the name of profits and power.  

The worst part is the people in the best position to do something about it (Zuckerberg) is the biggest part of the problem.  He has no allegiance to an objective truth, shared reality, or commitment to making society better.

His loyalties are to himself, the shareholders, and the preservation of his own power and wealth.  For he has become the very thing his creation was built to destroy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Time to burn that motherfucker to the ground.

 

I was picturing Larry Wilmore talking to Michael Scott about how he's just putting on the seminar for optics, that he's really there to get Michael to sign the diversity workshop form to avoid legal trouble for the company.  But in this case, Michael Scott is Mark Zuckerberg.  The scene is really funny in my head if you let yourself run with it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

If someone is poisoning the local drinking water.  Do you blame the people drinking it?

Terrible analogy.  Drinking water is a necessity for life, social media isn't.

And if you know the water supply is poisoned but keep drinking it instead of heading down to pick up some bottled water at HEB then yeah... you are to blame.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Terrible analogy.  Drinking water is a necessity for life, social media isn't.

And if you know the water supply is poisoned but keep drinking it instead of heading down to pick up some bottled water at HEB then yeah... you are to blame.

If people believe they need something, they will behave as if they need it.  People now behave as if they need social media.  Its behavior that matters, not abstract logic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mostly just tired of that old line. And ya know, not like they recently had bombs mailed to them for being purveyors of "fake news" and yet you're still here using the exact same language and shitty talking points that motivated more motivated idiots than yourself to "DO SOMETHING!"

Pardon me if I'm getting real tired of trump and trump sycophants gaslighting at every possible opportunity. The surly community has spoken and since we won't be moderating on the basis of what is and isn't factual, it's pretty much our job as posters to call out dumb stupid uninformed shit that enables true believers to do actually terrible things. 

Not like many of your posts shared opinions and language with the synagogue shooter or the MAGAbomber or anything right?

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Mostly just tired of that old line. And ya know, not like they recently had bombs mailed to them for being purveyors of "fake news" and yet you're still here using the exact same language and shitty talking points that motivated more motivated idiots than yourself to "DO SOMETHING!"

Pardon me if I'm getting real tired of trump and trump sycophants gaslighting at every possible opportunity. The surly community has spoken and since we won't be moderating on the basis of what is and isn't factual, it's pretty much our job as posters to call out dumb stupid uninformed shit that enables true believers to do actually terrible things. 

Not like many of your posts shared opinions and language with the synagogue shooter or the MAGAbomber or anything right?

What in the fuck ware you talking  about ?   

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, NBMisha said:

If people believe they need something, they will behave as if they need it.  People now behave as if they need social media.  Its behavior that matters, not abstract logic.

I don’t disagree with this in the least.  However, the reason people believe they need social media is because they are morons. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Captainant said:

Mostly just tired of that old line. And ya know, not like they recently had bombs mailed to them for being purveyors of "fake news" and yet you're still here using the exact same language and shitty talking points that motivated more motivated idiots than yourself to "DO SOMETHING!"

Pardon me if I'm getting real tired of trump and trump sycophants gaslighting at every possible opportunity. The surly community has spoken and since we won't be moderating on the basis of what is and isn't factual, it's pretty much our job as posters to call out dumb stupid uninformed shit that enables true believers to do actually terrible things. 

Not like many of your posts shared opinions and language with the synagogue shooter or the MAGAbomber or anything right?

But he was just joking, so it's ok.  Right Onboard?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Internal documents Facebook has fought to keep private obtained by UK Parliament

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/24/us/six4three-facebook-uk-parliament/index.html

 

New York (CNN)The British Parliament has obtained a set of internal Facebook documents the social media giant has fought for months to stop from being made public, according to Facebook and a lawyer involved in a suit against the company.

The cache of documents, some of which may include correspondences between Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company executives, stem from a lawsuit in California that outlines a litany of allegations against Facebook, including claims about the company's alleged disregard for user privacy and the claim that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg devised a scheme that forced Facebook's rivals, or potential rivals, out of business.
"We allege that Facebook itself is the biggest violator of data misuse in the history of the software industry," Ted Kramer, the owner of Six4Three, the company suing Facebook, told CNN in an interview this summer.
Edited by Degenerate Gardner
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure where to post this, but the subject may turn CR.   Employee leaving Facebook sends out his diversity memo:  https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/tech/facebook-mark-luckie/index.htm

I just find incredibly annoying when someone decides to write an all-employee email as they're walking out the door.   It's actually a very cowardly way to change something.   First, no one really wants to read your 2000 word email. Second, why not have the courage to stick around and attempt to change the organization.    Instead its the attitude that "as a soon-to-be-former employee, I will impart with knowledge on how you should change in order to retain great people like me."     He can probably turn his memo into a lucrative career though.

On a side note I was turned off by the entire Facebook culture when I interviewed there for a job.   Too many people literally wore their politics on their sleeve.  Even if I agree with you, why can't we just go to work in order to work.   And I'm not interviewing here to be your friend but rather a co-worker.   From speaking with the team leader, I seriously doubted much was accomplished with his team.   Instead of talking about the Finance role, he only wanted to hear my opinion about why Facebook was the world's greatest company.  (Here's a secret: you're not.  You're AOL 25 years later with better tech.)     I didn't say that.   5 minutes into the final interview, I was wondering when I could politely leave.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



×
×
  • Create New...