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Maybe I'm too much of a pessimist/cynic, but while I certainly love that Zuck is doing things like this, I hope he's not just trying to butter Nigeria up to the
by hardwaresofton 10y ago
Maybe I'm too much of a pessimist/cynic, but while I certainly love that Zuck is doing things like this, I hope he's not just trying to butter Nigeria up to the free basics anti-open-internet bullshit that he tried to pull on India.
Nigeria and Africa are definitely the next big frontiers for the internet, and I honestly doubt that whatever facebook's got planned is mutually beneficial enough. Though if FB decides to establish and maintain a persistent, competent power company in Nigeria, it might actually be worth it, NEPA is shit.
- throwanem 10y agoI don't think you're overly pessimistic in this at all. Facebook does what's good for Facebook. So does Mark Zuckerberg.
- jhall1468 10y agoI can't stand this mentality. Why do people think that because someone is a shareholder/CEO in a company, all their deeds from that point on are purely self-interest? Same shit happened when he pledged 99% of his stock charitable causes. Everyone was up in arms about how the organization was an LLC instead of a charity, claiming he did it purely for the tax benefits, despite that being bullshit. I guess at the end of the day, once you are a billionaire for creating a successful company, everything you do is based entirely on greed. I'm sure we can come up with a self-interest reason Bill Gates is spending hundreds of millions eradicating malaria too.
- throwanem 10y agoYou assume a generalization I did not make.
- jhall1468 10y agoYou very clearly implied that in the context of this story, Mark Zuckerberg does what's best for Facebook.
- Relys 10y agoI fail to see where throwanem "clearly [implies] that in the context of [the] story, Mark Zuckerberg does what's best for Facebook". If anything throwanem is making an generalization of Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook based on the context of their previous actions.
- theobold 10y agoWhy do people think that because someone is a shareholder/CEO in a company, all their deeds from that point on are purely self-interest? Depends on the CEO and company. The behavior of a company reflects the behavior of its CEO. Microsoft and Facebook both have a a history of bad behavior.
- jhall1468 10y ago"bad" is relative. The CEO's of the tobacco companies had a history of knowingly killing people. Microsoft was aggressively anti-competitive, Facebook was (and still is) very much opposed to privacy on the Internet. A company is many cogs. The fact that Bill Gates was anti-competitive doesn't make him, the individual, a bad person. That's very clear from the work he's doing now. So assuming that all decisions stem from greed, from anyone, is a silly assumption.
- gm-conspiracy 10y agoI am paraphrasing, but the quote goes something like "Yesterday's robber-baron is today's philanthropist."
- n-gauge 10y agoYour quote reminds me of Robin Hood.
- wavefunction 10y agoNot sure why? Robber Barons steal from the poor and give to themselves.
- icebraining 10y agoWhether Bill Gates is a good or bad person is only a relevant question to himself and maybe some close acquaintances. For the rest of us, the relevant point is predicting their behavior, and in that context, the phrase certainly applies. As long as he's CEO and the largest shareholder, Facebook's actions are Zuckerberg's decision and responsibility.
- oh_sigh 10y ago> I can't stand this mentality. Why do people think that because someone is a shareholder/CEO in a company, all their deeds from that point on are purely self-interest? That's not exactly it, but I would like if you could show me an example of a CEO doing something publicly which would go against the interest of their company.
- adenadel 10y agoThat's a false dichotomy. A CEO can do something that isn't motivated by benefiting the company without it being something that goes against the interest of the company.
- frogpelt 10y agoMany people assume since they are usually motivated by their self-interest others are too. The fact is, getting what I want and giving others what they want are usually not mutually exclusive. And anytime there is a conflict, there is usually an acceptable compromise.
- finid 10y agoKnowing the scale of corruption in Nigeria, Mark doesn't need to do anything like this to buy his way through.
- nxzero 10y agoMaybe short-term, but long-term, it's a wise move.
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- ljk 10y agoi don't think you're pessimist/cynic enough. How are people forgetting Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard Zuck: Just ask. Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS [Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one? Zuck: People just submitted it. Zuck: I don't know why. Zuck: They "trust me" Zuck: Dumb fucks. It's all about information gathering and providing a walled garden intranet for control.
- iaw 10y agoYep, clearly that was his plan since he was 19.
- downandout 10y agoDoes Mark's motivation matter to this kid? Probably not. He will likely make at least thousands of dollars, and perhaps much more, because of this mention. Internet.org, the service you referred to as "bullshit," was attempting to give hundreds of millions of impoverished people a way to communicate with the world that they don't currently have. Neither Mark Zuckerberg nor Facebook owe you, the people of Nigeria and India, or anyone else, anything. This kind of reaction to the philanthropic efforts of wealthy people and corporations will only serve to discourage such efforts in the future.
- icebraining 10y agoI have some sympathy for your position, and I'm against the banning of Internet.org, but your reply is ineffective because it misses the arguments against the service. Even something given with no ulterior motive can have destructive effects on the recipient society, since it eliminates potential competition, while often not providing a better good or service. How many future ISPs offering cheap open internet access will not even appear? On the subject, though not directly about Facebook, I suggest this interview with the creator of Poverty, Inc.: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2015/11/michael_matheso.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2015/11/michael_matheso.htm...
- jondubois 10y agoThe pessimist view is often correct. Just think about the hundreds of other talented Nigerian children who built even better games and who are now crushed because Mark picked out this specific kid instead of them (I can guarantee you that there are other more worthy candidates). Whenever there is a news story about a single random unknown person doing something cool, it's never about the person. Mark would probably throw the kid under a bus if it would help Facebook.