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I listened to her testimony and the reactions to it and thought that she illustrated the problem with social media but I don't know that there is a solution to
by pixelgeek 5y ago
I listened to her testimony and the reactions to it and thought that she illustrated the problem with social media but I don't know that there is a solution to the problem of Facebook that doesn't address the issues of scale and a lack of social accountability.
Corporations are typically run by the type of person that will do whatever they can to maximize profits and the central theme of her testimony is that the 'anything we can do to make money' drive is the core issue.
Facebook turns a blind eye to things that will impact their engagement numbers and increasing new users.
Which, as Matt points out in his article, isn't an issue except for the sheer scale of Facebook.
For me the factor complicating is that you can't 'solve' the problem here because the core problem is the drive to maximize profits and increase users at all costs. Any corporate structure is going to run a social media company in the same fashion. And will build up to the size of Facebook if it is allowed to do so.
SO you can't 'fix' it
- chuckee 5y agoCore issue for some. For others, the centralization of power is more worrisome. Would it be an improvement if, instead of chasing profits, Facebook used their power to instead suppress your favored political movement?
- pixelgeek 5y agoI don't think chasing profits is necessarily a problem. Profits over everything else is. When your moral compass has to be thrown out to continue to push engagement then you have a problem. And which political movement is it that you think is being suppressed?
- Loughla 5y agoI read that more as a theoretical - how would you feel if your political leanings were suddenly suppressed everywhere facebook touches? I don't think there's a win here for facebook as it currently stands. They can't let unfettered bullshit keep happening, and they can't truly moderate without becoming arbiters of some truth they've decided. When they are the largest company in this space, and they apply their moral compass, I guess you're just assuming that moral compass points to where you want to go?
- pixelgeek 5y ago> I read that more as a theoretical I only ever see it being offered as a 'theoretical' by conservatives who think they are being 'shadow banned' or 'cancelled'.
- chuckee 5y agoThe implication being that because only conservatives complain about it, concentration of power is nothing to worry about? Do only conservatives worry about the consolidation of traditional media [1], too? Or is that something others, besides conservatives, also worry about, and is therefore a legitimate concern, unlike the consolidation of social networks? What about the other way around - if only liberals complain about something, and not conservatives, do you also use that to dismiss the concerns? [1] https://www.webfx.com/blog/internet/the-6-companies-that-own-almost-all-media-infographic/ https://www.webfx.com/blog/internet/the-6-companies-that-own...