4 ms·

While we can't point to any direct causation right now, it also took a long time for us to have proof that smoking was harmful. In the following hypothetical s

by throw20102010 7y ago

While we can't point to any direct causation right now, it also took a long time for us to have proof that smoking was harmful. In the following hypothetical scenario, think about how much blame you would be willing to assign Facebook. It may be none, but they may not be blameless: Facebook's poor privacy practices allow a malicious actor to influence the outcome of an election- they may have only swung a few thousand votes, but they focused on swing states and contributed to the outcome that occurred. This elected official acts in a particular manner, installs a war-monger as national security advisor, who encourages us into a conflict with Iran. Now hundreds or thousands of soldiers end up dying on each side because some malicious actor wanted to make a profit by electing a business-favorable person. Did Facebook cause a war? No. Did they contribute to a war in some way and cause lives to be shortened? That depends on your interpretation. But I think there should be some regulation, and not the kind of buddy-buddy regulation we're seeing with the telecoms and the FCC right now. If it were just people trying to sell me things, then the privacy issues and poor control of their data wouldn't be an issue. I've got people trying to sell me things on TV all the time. The risk is the other things that an untrustworthy person can do with this data, that's what I want the regulation and protection for.

troyvit 7y ago
Smoking a cigarette triggers a physical addiction akin to that of heroin. It destroys free will. Social media? I dunno man if people can't look away from insta or FB long enough to watch their kids play on the floor then maybe that's their problem and not their app's. At some point we have to assign personal responsibility to ourselves and admit that the reason FB can take advantage of weak wills is because we let our wills get weak. Those malicious actors who helped affect an election only got away with it because we began to thoughtlessly slurp the spoon-fed pap that the media (MSM, fake news sites, social networks, all of it) gives us. Facebook isn't a bad actor: it's a symptom of a society that gave up critical thought. If we regulate FB it will just be something else that comes along and manipulates us. If we work together to elevate critical thinking and skepticism then we stand a chance of owning our consumption again.
- harimau777 7y ago
  If these things didn't happen in the past to the same degree then something must have changed. It seems unlikely that it is human nature that has changed.

troyvit 7y ago

Smoking a cigarette triggers a physical addiction akin to that of heroin. It destroys free will. Social media? I dunno man if people can't look away from insta or FB long enough to watch their kids play on the floor then maybe that's their problem and not their app's. At some point we have to assign personal responsibility to ourselves and admit that the reason FB can take advantage of weak wills is because we let our wills get weak. Those malicious actors who helped affect an election only got away with it because we began to thoughtlessly slurp the spoon-fed pap that the media (MSM, fake news sites, social networks, all of it) gives us. Facebook isn't a bad actor: it's a symptom of a society that gave up critical thought. If we regulate FB it will just be something else that comes along and manipulates us. If we work together to elevate critical thinking and skepticism then we stand a chance of owning our consumption again.

harimau777 7y ago
If these things didn't happen in the past to the same degree then something must have changed. It seems unlikely that it is human nature that has changed.