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Vivek Wadhwas comments are a bit unfair in my opinion. "Students are flocking to computer science because they dream of being the next Mark Zuckerberg, not of s
by dlitwak 15y ago
Vivek Wadhwas comments are a bit unfair in my opinion. "Students are flocking to computer science because they dream of being the next Mark Zuckerberg, not of saving the world. "
One could argue that social media applications like Twitter and Facebook went a long way towards facilitating the revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia and the growing conflicts in Libya/Yemen. No one technology "saves the world" necessarily, but I think Twitter and Facebook don't deserve to be set aside as merely "fun."
- lutorm 15y agoIt's also probably true that no one that works at Facebook started there with the aim of facilitating regime change in Egypt and Tunisia. So while it seems that they had the unforeseen consequence of aiding these, I think the idea that you should start working at Facebook because you want to save the world is a stretch.
- dlitwak 15y agoWhile facebook and twitter may not be intended to "save" the world you'd have to be naive to not admit they have definitely changed the world. You have no idea what the founders intentions were when they started either. To interconnect people is a noble idea in itself. Aspiring to be the next Mark Zuckerberg as long as its for the right reasons isn't bad either. And the idea that you should start working at any company because you want to save the world is a stretch. You could make this argument for any company that is not involved in National Defense/Renewable Energy, or some other field that is so obviously necessary for our future. Enhancing people's quality of life, even if its not completely necessary to survive, should not be looked down on.