7 ms·

Dear Facebook Employees

35 points by didizaja 6y ago

spikefromspace 6y ago
How many of FB users would need to have adblockers and commit to never clicking on an ad in facebook to cause a big enough dip in revenue in Q2 (ends this month)? Especially given already depressed levels of online advertising spend. I don't mean this in a "lets take down FB" way but more of a "how can we force Zuckerberg to have more discussion/thought on this and brush it away?". My personal opinion is that FB should at least add some sort of fact check warning but definitely not censor content.
- didizaja 6y ago
  This a really interesting thought. I do wonder how much the quantity “big enough” would have to be in this case. With respect to adding fact checking, I 100% agree with you, but I’m conflicted over whether or not censoring should be a thing, because I think that censoring people is generally wrong, but also feel that it’s important to discourage inciting violence.
  - spikefromspace 6y ago
    Given that its closer to end of quarter, I would think erasing even a couple percentage points off the top line revenue is "big enough". I don't know enough about FB financials however to know. Hoping some FB employees chime in...
  - klyrs 6y ago
    Facebook already censors plenty of its users for far milder speech than trump's wont. And let's be real, Facebook and Twitter couldn't deplatform the president if they tried. No matter where he goes, reporters will broadcast the hell out of it. All else fails, the white house has its own webpage that has historically been used to communicate with the public.
    - spikefromspace 6y ago
      For me personally, its not just about Trump. I have lots of friends who share critical news without a source. I always encourage them to but of course who listens these days. So for me, even a short warning message on such posts could go a long way.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  "How many resolving DNS servers would need to blackhole Facebook IP address space?" might be a more interesting question.
- nunez 6y ago
  I'm going to guess that FB has that information since most Facebook users adblock via a plugin
  - spikefromspace 6y ago
    I work in the martech space and surprisingly adblocker usage is still not that high from what I can gather (I am pretty new). I dont necessarily think of ads as evil but since it is the way we are paying for this service, its a good way for us to use it as leverage to see desired changes in the platform.
    - nunez 6y ago
      That’s crazy surprising
draw_down 6y ago
I can't identify what this person is actually advocating for FB employees to do, and I'd recommend an edit to clarify that point. But at least they're not telling people to quit or else they're white supremacists. Telling people to quit is a gambit for personal purity, not change, because whoever leaves will just get replaced and the wheels keep right on rolling along. Employees organizing for change within the organization could do something, at least. Maybe.
sktrdie 6y ago
Presidents have all kinds of privileges that others don’t. Why should their privilege on social-media be diminished? To me the problem is not the platform but the fact that they have such exceptional privilege to begin with.
- netsharc 6y ago
  You know how some people are quiet in real life but are more open online? I think Trump is like that. IMO Without Twitter he wouldn't have the guts to spit out the stuff he's tweeted, he'd not have the balls to go before the press and actually say some of the vile things he's tweeted...
ycombonator 6y ago
Why the fit ?

35 points by didizaja 6y ago

How many of FB users would need to have adblockers and commit to never clicking on an ad in facebook to cause a big enough dip in revenue in Q2 (ends this month)? Especially given already depressed levels of online advertising spend. I don't mean this in a "lets take down FB" way but more of a "how can we force Zuckerberg to have more discussion/thought on this and brush it away?". My personal opinion is that FB should at least add some sort of fact check warning but definitely not censor content.

didizaja 6y ago
This a really interesting thought. I do wonder how much the quantity “big enough” would have to be in this case. With respect to adding fact checking, I 100% agree with you, but I’m conflicted over whether or not censoring should be a thing, because I think that censoring people is generally wrong, but also feel that it’s important to discourage inciting violence.
- spikefromspace 6y ago
  Given that its closer to end of quarter, I would think erasing even a couple percentage points off the top line revenue is "big enough". I don't know enough about FB financials however to know. Hoping some FB employees chime in...
- klyrs 6y ago
  Facebook already censors plenty of its users for far milder speech than trump's wont. And let's be real, Facebook and Twitter couldn't deplatform the president if they tried. No matter where he goes, reporters will broadcast the hell out of it. All else fails, the white house has its own webpage that has historically been used to communicate with the public.
  - spikefromspace 6y ago
    For me personally, its not just about Trump. I have lots of friends who share critical news without a source. I always encourage them to but of course who listens these days. So for me, even a short warning message on such posts could go a long way.
toomuchtodo 6y ago
"How many resolving DNS servers would need to blackhole Facebook IP address space?" might be a more interesting question.
nunez 6y ago
I'm going to guess that FB has that information since most Facebook users adblock via a plugin
- spikefromspace 6y ago
  I work in the martech space and surprisingly adblocker usage is still not that high from what I can gather (I am pretty new). I dont necessarily think of ads as evil but since it is the way we are paying for this service, its a good way for us to use it as leverage to see desired changes in the platform.
  - nunez 6y ago
    That’s crazy surprising

draw_down 6y ago

I can't identify what this person is actually advocating for FB employees to do, and I'd recommend an edit to clarify that point. But at least they're not telling people to quit or else they're white supremacists. Telling people to quit is a gambit for personal purity, not change, because whoever leaves will just get replaced and the wheels keep right on rolling along. Employees organizing for change within the organization could do something, at least. Maybe.

sktrdie 6y ago

Presidents have all kinds of privileges that others don’t. Why should their privilege on social-media be diminished? To me the problem is not the platform but the fact that they have such exceptional privilege to begin with.

netsharc 6y ago
You know how some people are quiet in real life but are more open online? I think Trump is like that. IMO Without Twitter he wouldn't have the guts to spit out the stuff he's tweeted, he'd not have the balls to go before the press and actually say some of the vile things he's tweeted...

ycombonator 6y ago

Why the fit ?