5 ms·

One wonders what Trump and Zuckerberg talked about over their several dinners.

heimatau 6y ago
I'm not sure why this is downvoted (maybe a lot of FB employees are here). But this is a valid question. 'Deals' with politicians is how engaging with DC works (quid pro quo is the norm).
- annadane 6y ago
  If you suggest this site has astroturfing you'll be chastised for not following the site guidelines even though it's perfectly possible that there is astroturfing
- bleepblorp 6y ago
  I think it's more likely to be downvoted by Trump supporters rather than Zucker---- supporters. Lots of Trump people here (startup culture people love low taxes and no annoying regulations to limit the impacts of their externalities) but not much love for Zucker----. I also suspect that the degree of 'respect freedom of speech' content would be far higher, and the degree of skepticism expressed in this thread would be far lower, if the article was accusing FB of reducing exposure to right-wing content. The degree of intellectual honesty around here is not as good as it should be.
  - jahaja 6y ago
    > I also suspect that the degree of 'respect freedom of speech' content would be far higher, and the degree of skepticism expressed in this thread would be far lower, Certainly, I remember that "Rationalist" blogger thread, Scott something, that shut down his own blog for a while and that blew up here with over 1000 comments going as far as finding it appropriate the harass the journalist in question and demanding some sort of license that could be revoked (or similar) for journalists in general. Not to mention the recent thread about booting out holocaust denier's bullshit - also over 1000 comments.
- justiceforsaas 6y ago
  I honestly found it quite scary to leave comments on HN these days. You have no idea whether it's going to get upvotes or get downvoted to oblivion. It's one of these feelings when you're speaking to a small child who can get a tantrum any time of the day :)
  - perl4ever 6y ago
    When you start thinking of everybody in a group of thousands as one person, it's a mental health red flag IMO. Quite common, but suggests taking a break.
    - Ensorceled 6y ago
      I don’t think they actually believe that HN is a small child. Taking a break is a good idea.
    - justiceforsaas 6y ago
      You just provided one more reason why I'm afraid of commenting ;) P.S. Of course I didn't mean that HN is a small child.
  - White_Wolf 6y ago
    You shouldn't worry about votes. Those are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. On another note, this is one of the places where things are still ok. Some media platforms I gave up on to keep my sanity.
drewcoo 6y ago
If you're starting a pool, I'd like to put $20 on "Zuck tried to talk tech policy, but really they only talked about Trump." And how about $5 on "how to drink water in public" while we're at it? It's difficult to imagine conspiracy there, friend.
- waisbrot 6y ago
  You imagine Zuckerberg as pretty incompetent, but I think he's got some brains. It's not hard to imagine how to talk policy to Trump. "Wow, you are the best president ever. So smart and strong. Also very good looking. I will hurt your enemies if you give me a tax break." Make sure you get paid in advance, of course.
moksly 6y ago
I always found it odd that people expect tech companies to be leaning either way. Their goal is to be as good friends with whoever has power as possible. If they cared about ethics they wouldn’t have the supply chains or be in the markets they are. Of course they cozied up to Trump, why wouldn’t they? The only reason Facebook is pretending to take democracy and truth seriously now, is because they have data that tells them they need new political friends post November.
- krapp 6y ago
  Not many people really did until the ousters of Brendan Eich and James Damore sort of kickstarted the narrative that tech companies are universally dominated by left-wing activists (despite the strong right-libertarian capitalist streak in startup culture.)
  - im3w1l 6y ago
    The cynic in my thinks that the previous libertarian policies were the bait needed to get people to hand over control over their lives and allow their friendships to be intermediated, and the new authoritarian policies are the hook.
    - krapp 6y ago
      The cynic in me thinks that's a convenient pretense to maintain belief in a vast left-wing conspiracy despite evidence to the contrary.
      - im3w1l 6y ago
        I think it's more about being a power broker than left-wing ideology.
  - laurent92 6y ago
    Startups can be libertarian (small people believe in free market because it has been the source of their development) while superbig startups become left-wing: - Inside a company, comically the communist model prevails. Everything is shared, and decisions to produce for another department are not exchanged for money nor compared on the free market. Left-leaning employees fit the internal structure of large companies, where things are more managed by paperwork than talent. - A sufficiently large company has an interest in a heavy government, for example to prevent entry of competitors (that is an underestimated effect of GDPR), to control norms, or even simply to look good. A libertarian government is of no advantage to Google. The best demonstration is MS in 1998: A libertarian company is also of no advantage to a government. It’s a well-known fact in rightwing scene that SMBs and craftsmanship people are right-leaning, as free market is the process by which medium classes have a chance of becoming rich, whereas regulated market is the process by which the rich stay rich.
mlindner 6y ago
Given that everyone is going crazy in the news recently about Facebook censoring a very major right wing news story and Facebook and Twitter are being subpoenaed over the actions to speak before congress about it, that seems unlikely.

I'm not sure why this is downvoted (maybe a lot of FB employees are here). But this is a valid question. 'Deals' with politicians is how engaging with DC works (quid pro quo is the norm).

annadane 6y ago
If you suggest this site has astroturfing you'll be chastised for not following the site guidelines even though it's perfectly possible that there is astroturfing
bleepblorp 6y ago
I think it's more likely to be downvoted by Trump supporters rather than Zucker---- supporters. Lots of Trump people here (startup culture people love low taxes and no annoying regulations to limit the impacts of their externalities) but not much love for Zucker----. I also suspect that the degree of 'respect freedom of speech' content would be far higher, and the degree of skepticism expressed in this thread would be far lower, if the article was accusing FB of reducing exposure to right-wing content. The degree of intellectual honesty around here is not as good as it should be.
- jahaja 6y ago
  > I also suspect that the degree of 'respect freedom of speech' content would be far higher, and the degree of skepticism expressed in this thread would be far lower, Certainly, I remember that "Rationalist" blogger thread, Scott something, that shut down his own blog for a while and that blew up here with over 1000 comments going as far as finding it appropriate the harass the journalist in question and demanding some sort of license that could be revoked (or similar) for journalists in general. Not to mention the recent thread about booting out holocaust denier's bullshit - also over 1000 comments.
justiceforsaas 6y ago
I honestly found it quite scary to leave comments on HN these days. You have no idea whether it's going to get upvotes or get downvoted to oblivion. It's one of these feelings when you're speaking to a small child who can get a tantrum any time of the day :)
- perl4ever 6y ago
  When you start thinking of everybody in a group of thousands as one person, it's a mental health red flag IMO. Quite common, but suggests taking a break.
  - Ensorceled 6y ago
    I don’t think they actually believe that HN is a small child. Taking a break is a good idea.
  - justiceforsaas 6y ago
    You just provided one more reason why I'm afraid of commenting ;) P.S. Of course I didn't mean that HN is a small child.
- White_Wolf 6y ago
  You shouldn't worry about votes. Those are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. On another note, this is one of the places where things are still ok. Some media platforms I gave up on to keep my sanity.

drewcoo 6y ago

If you're starting a pool, I'd like to put $20 on "Zuck tried to talk tech policy, but really they only talked about Trump." And how about $5 on "how to drink water in public" while we're at it? It's difficult to imagine conspiracy there, friend.

waisbrot 6y ago
You imagine Zuckerberg as pretty incompetent, but I think he's got some brains. It's not hard to imagine how to talk policy to Trump. "Wow, you are the best president ever. So smart and strong. Also very good looking. I will hurt your enemies if you give me a tax break." Make sure you get paid in advance, of course.

moksly 6y ago

I always found it odd that people expect tech companies to be leaning either way. Their goal is to be as good friends with whoever has power as possible. If they cared about ethics they wouldn’t have the supply chains or be in the markets they are. Of course they cozied up to Trump, why wouldn’t they? The only reason Facebook is pretending to take democracy and truth seriously now, is because they have data that tells them they need new political friends post November.

krapp 6y ago
Not many people really did until the ousters of Brendan Eich and James Damore sort of kickstarted the narrative that tech companies are universally dominated by left-wing activists (despite the strong right-libertarian capitalist streak in startup culture.)
- im3w1l 6y ago
  The cynic in my thinks that the previous libertarian policies were the bait needed to get people to hand over control over their lives and allow their friendships to be intermediated, and the new authoritarian policies are the hook.
  - krapp 6y ago
    The cynic in me thinks that's a convenient pretense to maintain belief in a vast left-wing conspiracy despite evidence to the contrary.
    - im3w1l 6y ago
      I think it's more about being a power broker than left-wing ideology.
- laurent92 6y ago
  Startups can be libertarian (small people believe in free market because it has been the source of their development) while superbig startups become left-wing: - Inside a company, comically the communist model prevails. Everything is shared, and decisions to produce for another department are not exchanged for money nor compared on the free market. Left-leaning employees fit the internal structure of large companies, where things are more managed by paperwork than talent. - A sufficiently large company has an interest in a heavy government, for example to prevent entry of competitors (that is an underestimated effect of GDPR), to control norms, or even simply to look good. A libertarian government is of no advantage to Google. The best demonstration is MS in 1998: A libertarian company is also of no advantage to a government. It’s a well-known fact in rightwing scene that SMBs and craftsmanship people are right-leaning, as free market is the process by which medium classes have a chance of becoming rich, whereas regulated market is the process by which the rich stay rich.

mlindner 6y ago

Given that everyone is going crazy in the news recently about Facebook censoring a very major right wing news story and Facebook and Twitter are being subpoenaed over the actions to speak before congress about it, that seems unlikely.