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Facebook is certainly not doing it out of the goodness of their heart. What they want to do is essentially exploit the fact that data is so expensive in so many

Facebook is certainly not doing it out of the goodness of their heart. What they want to do is essentially exploit the fact that data is so expensive in so many countries, in order to make Facebook equal 'the internet' there. I understand somewhat why it's working, but still find it kind of depressing that it's being actively cheered on.

jryle70 8y ago
"not doing it out of the goodness of their heart" is such an irritating cliche that makes me cringe. FB was founded in 2004 as a crappy for-profit startup. How many for-profit businesses born out of the goodness of the owner's heart? Yet you seem to make it sound like it's FB's fault. > I understand somewhat why it's working, but still find it kind of depressing that it's being actively cheered on. Social network has enormous benefit because we human being are social animal. Simple as that. I'm surprised that you only "understand somewhat why it's working". Just because there are bad sides of it doesn't make it a mistake. In fact I firmly believe the benefits it brings to the society should be cheered on. Condemn FB for their shady tactics, but don't forget the positive effect. Get out of your bubble. Put yourself in regular people's shoes.
- Jedi72 8y ago
  What is the point of this comment? You cant justify the bad by pointing at the good. Murderers dont get let off just because they do charity work. ExxonMobile are still responsible for supressing climate change awareness even though oil is a useful commodity.
- artificial 8y ago
  >Condemn FB for their shady tactics, but don't forget the positive effect. Get out of your bubble. Put yourself in regular people's shoes. What are some of the benefits unique to FB? >Just because there are bad sides of it doesn't make it a mistake. Lists, can be used for good or bad. The only way to ensure they're not misused is to minimize or eliminate the data collected. The centralization is problematic, as always. Edit, formatting :/
- AsyncAwait 8y ago
  > Yet you seem to make it sound like it's FB's fault. I judge Facebook by its actions and the intent of the Free Basics program is clearly shady, I was responding to a parent who was presenting it as a god thing full stop, so am simply pointing out that there is more to FB's motivation here. > Social network has enormous benefit because we human being are social animal. Simple as that. I was talking more about the various free data deals Facebook has set up in developing countries, which effectively make it so that a lot of people see only Facebook when they first get online. I was not talking about "social networks" as a concept being bad. > I'm surprised that you only "understand somewhat why it's working". Just because there are bad sides of it doesn't make it a mistake. I understand it has short-term benefits, however over the long term, do you really want billions of people to assume that Facebook is the internet, to have everything they ever said, every picture ever taken stored there? Maybe even more, considering a lot of them are unlikely to have access to timely information on internet privacy, given they're pretty much limited to FB, a party not known for its strong stance on such matters? And how about startups from the very countries affected? You're hardly going to compete against FB in such a situation. > Condemn FB for their shady tactics, but don't forget the positive effect. I am doing precisely that; condemning shady tactics. The benefits of FB are achievable without these tactics, or even without FB itself for that matter.

jryle70 8y ago

"not doing it out of the goodness of their heart" is such an irritating cliche that makes me cringe. FB was founded in 2004 as a crappy for-profit startup. How many for-profit businesses born out of the goodness of the owner's heart? Yet you seem to make it sound like it's FB's fault. > I understand somewhat why it's working, but still find it kind of depressing that it's being actively cheered on. Social network has enormous benefit because we human being are social animal. Simple as that. I'm surprised that you only "understand somewhat why it's working". Just because there are bad sides of it doesn't make it a mistake. In fact I firmly believe the benefits it brings to the society should be cheered on. Condemn FB for their shady tactics, but don't forget the positive effect. Get out of your bubble. Put yourself in regular people's shoes.

Jedi72 8y ago
What is the point of this comment? You cant justify the bad by pointing at the good. Murderers dont get let off just because they do charity work. ExxonMobile are still responsible for supressing climate change awareness even though oil is a useful commodity.
artificial 8y ago
>Condemn FB for their shady tactics, but don't forget the positive effect. Get out of your bubble. Put yourself in regular people's shoes. What are some of the benefits unique to FB? >Just because there are bad sides of it doesn't make it a mistake. Lists, can be used for good or bad. The only way to ensure they're not misused is to minimize or eliminate the data collected. The centralization is problematic, as always. Edit, formatting :/
AsyncAwait 8y ago
> Yet you seem to make it sound like it's FB's fault. I judge Facebook by its actions and the intent of the Free Basics program is clearly shady, I was responding to a parent who was presenting it as a god thing full stop, so am simply pointing out that there is more to FB's motivation here. > Social network has enormous benefit because we human being are social animal. Simple as that. I was talking more about the various free data deals Facebook has set up in developing countries, which effectively make it so that a lot of people see only Facebook when they first get online. I was not talking about "social networks" as a concept being bad. > I'm surprised that you only "understand somewhat why it's working". Just because there are bad sides of it doesn't make it a mistake. I understand it has short-term benefits, however over the long term, do you really want billions of people to assume that Facebook is the internet, to have everything they ever said, every picture ever taken stored there? Maybe even more, considering a lot of them are unlikely to have access to timely information on internet privacy, given they're pretty much limited to FB, a party not known for its strong stance on such matters? And how about startups from the very countries affected? You're hardly going to compete against FB in such a situation. > Condemn FB for their shady tactics, but don't forget the positive effect. I am doing precisely that; condemning shady tactics. The benefits of FB are achievable without these tactics, or even without FB itself for that matter.