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What I don't get is why Jeff Weiner and Reid Hoffman are never held accountable for their blatant disregard for user privacy despite many lawsuits over the year

What I don't get is why Jeff Weiner and Reid Hoffman are never held accountable for their blatant disregard for user privacy despite many lawsuits over the years. Why is their reputation still so in tact even when Zuck/Sandberg's is hurting over the exact same privacy violations? Why is Reid Hoffman today selling a book on "blitzscaling" which is all about achieving hypergrowth at all cost? Could you imagine how tone deaf it would be if it was Zuckerberg who authored that and not Hoffman?

polskibus 8y ago
Just remember it's Microsoft now. I wonder if this fits under GDPR violation?
skrebbel 8y ago
> Why is their reputation still so in tact even when Zuck/Sandberg's is hurting over the exact same privacy violations? I have no idea, but the cynic in me says "because Facebook forms a bigger threat to media organizations".
- alxlaz 8y ago
  As shady as LinkedIn is (and it's damn shady!), its use in mass manipulation and disinformation is far less important. It played a minor role in elections (everywhere, not just in the US), wasn't use as a means of public promotion of genocide as in Myanmar, and it doesn't have a large base of "alt-right" (and local equivalent) groups. The worst you run into on LinkedIn is awkward young professionals asking you out. That's hardly on the same level of nastiness as Facebook, regardless of how much of a threat (!?) it would be to media organizations.
- archon810 8y ago
  LinkedIn is also less "sexy" to cover for the media than Facebook. Nobody cares about LinkedIn news, especially in middle America, but Facebook is popular everywhere.
yhoiseth 8y ago
Good question. Some hypotheses: - Fewer users => smaller impact - Fewer ads => smaller abuse potential - Users spend less time on LinkedIn - Users share less personal information - LinkedIn has other revenue sources than ads, making them less risk-taking in the ads business - More savvy users - People don't feel as sorry for professionals as they do for other people - Fewer/less impactful breaches - More likeable founders
sonnyblarney 8y ago
It might be because FB is a much more broadly known brand in the world, and regular news outlets like CNN are significantly more likely to go after public faces. The world knows who Zuck is. Nobody knows who Weiner is, except in tech. Even if there were some coverage, it might not get widely picked up, editorial rooms would just think it too narrow. Also - there needs to be an 'obvious scandal' with legs - like the the Cambridge Scandal literally had that pink-haired guy with many photo ops making a name for himself, it gives a 'face' to the issue. Maybe this one breaks though, it could get picked up.
antod 8y ago
It makes sense to me - public privacy backlash tends to be limited to what they can understand is happening, and for the most part that is only really concerned with what you are actually sharing rather than what they can link to you via metadata and other dark patterns. Hell a lot of that stuff goes over my head too - the general public just isn't aware of how this works behind the scenes. People put personal stuff on Facebook, and are more guarded about what they put professionally on LinkedIn. People approach LinkedIn as more of more of a two way selling relationship. They have a better feeling they know what they're in for.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

polskibus 8y ago

Just remember it's Microsoft now. I wonder if this fits under GDPR violation?

skrebbel 8y ago

> Why is their reputation still so in tact even when Zuck/Sandberg's is hurting over the exact same privacy violations? I have no idea, but the cynic in me says "because Facebook forms a bigger threat to media organizations".

alxlaz 8y ago
As shady as LinkedIn is (and it's damn shady!), its use in mass manipulation and disinformation is far less important. It played a minor role in elections (everywhere, not just in the US), wasn't use as a means of public promotion of genocide as in Myanmar, and it doesn't have a large base of "alt-right" (and local equivalent) groups. The worst you run into on LinkedIn is awkward young professionals asking you out. That's hardly on the same level of nastiness as Facebook, regardless of how much of a threat (!?) it would be to media organizations.
archon810 8y ago
LinkedIn is also less "sexy" to cover for the media than Facebook. Nobody cares about LinkedIn news, especially in middle America, but Facebook is popular everywhere.

yhoiseth 8y ago

Good question. Some hypotheses: - Fewer users => smaller impact - Fewer ads => smaller abuse potential - Users spend less time on LinkedIn - Users share less personal information - LinkedIn has other revenue sources than ads, making them less risk-taking in the ads business - More savvy users - People don't feel as sorry for professionals as they do for other people - Fewer/less impactful breaches - More likeable founders

sonnyblarney 8y ago

It might be because FB is a much more broadly known brand in the world, and regular news outlets like CNN are significantly more likely to go after public faces. The world knows who Zuck is. Nobody knows who Weiner is, except in tech. Even if there were some coverage, it might not get widely picked up, editorial rooms would just think it too narrow. Also - there needs to be an 'obvious scandal' with legs - like the the Cambridge Scandal literally had that pink-haired guy with many photo ops making a name for himself, it gives a 'face' to the issue. Maybe this one breaks though, it could get picked up.

antod 8y ago

It makes sense to me - public privacy backlash tends to be limited to what they can understand is happening, and for the most part that is only really concerned with what you are actually sharing rather than what they can link to you via metadata and other dark patterns. Hell a lot of that stuff goes over my head too - the general public just isn't aware of how this works behind the scenes. People put personal stuff on Facebook, and are more guarded about what they put professionally on LinkedIn. People approach LinkedIn as more of more of a two way selling relationship. They have a better feeling they know what they're in for.

deleted 8y ago
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