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Not disagreeing that this predated Facebook. But the problem is that Facebook took this known vulnerability in human psychology and exploited it to the absolute
by mindgam3 8y ago
Not disagreeing that this predated Facebook. But the problem is that Facebook took this known vulnerability in human psychology and exploited it to the absolute max.
The product has been meticulously engineered to push all your social acceptance buttons. It would have been possible to design a product that helped people gain awareness of and transcend the deep underlying insecurities that give rise to addictions of all kinds, including social media. They deliberately chose not to build that product because it would be less lucrative, at least in the short term.
Giving Facebook a pass on this is like giving a heroin dealer a pass because opioid addiction predated their business. It’s true but it doesn’t absolve any of the moral responsibility for profiting off a product that causes harm.
- MrLeap 8y agoCan Facebook be disrupted by the fentanyl of social networks?
- mindgam3 8y agoCute, but your analogy is somewhat flawed as fentanyl is like heroin on steroids. (As long as we’re mixing metaphors...) What the world really needs is the naloxone of social networks.
- MrLeap 8y agoYou misinterpret me, I'm not asking what the world needs, I'm asking what it's possible to give them for profit. If wondering if we could create a social network that offers 50x the social validation (fentanyl is like 50x the potency of heroin). Maybe machine learning can find the right combination of color flashes to cause people to have a social bliss seizure. Maybe while simultaneously reading their rapid eye movements to extract their credit card information from their short circuiting brains. Catch me at YC2019
- Cyph0n 8y agoIf something like this was possible, wouldn't Facebook have already discovered it?
- MrLeap 8y agoI sort of assumed that's why the bought oculus, but no, not necessarily. To believe otherwise is to fall into the trap the economist does in the following folksy anecdote. An economist and his friend were walking down the street when the friend spots a 100$ bill on the ground. "Hey look, a 100$ bill!" he exclaims. The economist keeps his eyes locked forward, saying "Can't be, if there were - someone would have already picked it up." Believe in yourself and your dreams, Cyph0n.
- mindgam3 8y agoSee, your attitude is exactly what is wrong with Silicon Valley culture. You’re joking about technology to give people social bliss seizures for profit, hahaha hilarious. Meanwhile millions of people are actually dying from addiction, and not just heroin. A member of my immediate family died by suicide recently. She suffered from massive self esteem issues as a result of chronic childhood abuse. She turned to Facebook for social validation, as one does, but was more prone to serious addiction due to her trauma. I’m not saying Facebook killed her, but it certainly added rocket fuel to the fire of her downward spiral. I encourage you to reconsider your glib attitude towards dangerous addictions. It’s not so funny when people you love die from this stuff.
- MrLeap 8y agoPlease accept my sincerest condolences for the death of your family member. In some ways I followed a similar path to that of your relative, in part because I often obtain validation by publicly satirizing elements of society I think are wrong. I've found satire the best tool in my toolbox at sparking conversation and even changing minds. I've considered your proposal, and respectfully choose to continue the path I'm on. Whether or not you agree with it, I hope you'll believe that my motive is to cast a negative light on the victimizers and not the victims. Best regards to you and yours