10 ms·

When I've gone to tech conferences over the years, I've heard talks given by fb/instagram devs about the problems they're working on, and the tools they've crea

When I've gone to tech conferences over the years, I've heard talks given by fb/instagram devs about the problems they're working on, and the tools they've created to do it. On one level it seems very alluring--pay, technical challenges, being at the cutting edge of new technology. But for me those points can't counteract the role fb has in society and what people generally think of the company. Culture is important, and it starts at the top.

_lqaf 5y ago
Every quarter or so, I tell FB head hunters to go away. I do think about the money I'm turning down, but I also like to sleep at night. Having morals does cost money. And yes, I do think less of the 'typical' FB employee. Everyone's story is different and I'll listen, but the presumption is that working there means being OK with enabling genocide for a nice paycheck.
trts 5y ago
> Culture is important, and it starts at the top. Over my career it is somewhat impressive how true this has been. Across companies that say very similar things about what it means to be an employee of X, the behavior of execs and senior leadership ripples through the ranks in obvious ways. When statements from high-level people are empty or specious, you can expect to encounter the same in your own management chain. It only takes a moment to remember this each time a FB recruiter pings me. Couldn't I be one of the people working on solving these big problems and making XX% more while doing it? It's a false choice.
- hef19898 5y ago
  True, also wgen it comes to changes up the chain. I don't buy the whole "these high level org and management changes won't affect the way work" stuff anymore.
dylan604 5y ago
>what people generally think of the company which is what exactly? if they didn't like it, they'd be leaving in droves. tech nerds are really the only ones upset about anything that FB has done/is doing. instead, the average person looks at what they get from FB. most of them never, not once, think at about what cost. to them it is free to use, and that's all that matters. raising privacy concerns goes no where. manipulating people's emotions isn't really doing much negatively to FB either. addicts are like that though. deep down, they might actually be aware that what they are doing is not good for them, but that isn't strong enough to fight the addiction.
- lost-found 5y ago
  The majority of the public has a negative view on Facebook: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/poll-americans-give-social-media-clear-thumbs-down-n991086#embed-20190403-polling-social-media-time https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/poll-america... This was from 2019 and their public image has definitely not been improving. So to say it’s “only tech nerds” is a straight up lie.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    It's not a lie. People can have a negative view of something and continue to do that something. They can also have that negative view without truly understanding why they have that view. People are actively trying to mislead polls with answers they think the poll is looking for, or just false info to skew numbers. FB is in the news with negative stories, so they repeat those when asked even without thinking about why. If you asked someone about a teacher or some other adult trying to manipulate a kid, they'd obviously say that it is bad. Telling them FB is doing it with what posts they see, they don't respond the same way. They just don't get how an "al-go-rythym" can be so bad. They don't truly understand the ramifications of the hoovering up all of the data they do. They shrug their shoulders and say things like they are okay with it as long as it's not real money. So, I stand by my stance saying it is only tech nerds that truly get what is going on here.
    - lost-found 5y ago
      That’s not what you said, you said “tech nerds are really the only ones upset about anything that FB has done/is doing” which the article I provided proves that’s not accurate. Move the goalposts all you want, I don’t care, but it is certainly not only “tech nerds” that disprove of what FB is doing.
      - dylan604 5y ago
        Maybe. Wasn't my intent, but let's allow the conversation to move past that. The mass populace is not stopping their use of FB regardless of what's in the news or what these polls say about their views of FB. From the evidence, one can only surmise that people don't truly care what FB does. Most addicts don't care what their drug dealer does as long as they can get their fix when they need it.
throwawayboise 5y ago
When you retire, with very few exceptions, nothing you did in your working life will be remembered by anyone but yourself. So it's important that you be content with it. That realization has taken a while to hit me, and it's growing into a desire to retire early so I can do things that are personally rewarding and are not just goals on someone else's project plan.
- buitreVirtual 5y ago
  True, for the most part. But your family and friends will remember, and not kindly, if you worked for FB.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - mise_en_place 5y ago
    That I very much doubt. The average outrage timer is 48 hours, then everybody forgets and jumps to a new controversy. As for Facebook, many of my relatives still use it, either indirectly through WhatsApp or Instagram, or directly. Maybe my technically minded friends would care if I worked for Facebook, but even then those are far and few between. I barely remember my coworkers from 10 years ago.
    - genewitch 5y ago
      A few counterpoints. The average outrage may be 48 hours, but I am sure the median is much higher. I'll boycott nestle and Samsung products forever, for instance, and have for nearly a decade and a half with nestle. Some of my closest friends started as work colleagues, and since I retired 8 years ago I still talk to a half dozen or so, with a couple talked with daily. You (nor I) are not everyone, and extrapolation from our own viewpoints is very nearly always invalid.
      - dfadsadsf 5y ago
        What’s wrong about Nestle? Also Samsung is strange company to boycott. Overall boycotting both of these companies is easy because replacement products for everything they do is plentiful, widely available and the same price. Not much sacrifice here.

_lqaf 5y ago

Every quarter or so, I tell FB head hunters to go away. I do think about the money I'm turning down, but I also like to sleep at night. Having morals does cost money. And yes, I do think less of the 'typical' FB employee. Everyone's story is different and I'll listen, but the presumption is that working there means being OK with enabling genocide for a nice paycheck.

trts 5y ago

> Culture is important, and it starts at the top. Over my career it is somewhat impressive how true this has been. Across companies that say very similar things about what it means to be an employee of X, the behavior of execs and senior leadership ripples through the ranks in obvious ways. When statements from high-level people are empty or specious, you can expect to encounter the same in your own management chain. It only takes a moment to remember this each time a FB recruiter pings me. Couldn't I be one of the people working on solving these big problems and making XX% more while doing it? It's a false choice.

hef19898 5y ago
True, also wgen it comes to changes up the chain. I don't buy the whole "these high level org and management changes won't affect the way work" stuff anymore.

dylan604 5y ago

>what people generally think of the company which is what exactly? if they didn't like it, they'd be leaving in droves. tech nerds are really the only ones upset about anything that FB has done/is doing. instead, the average person looks at what they get from FB. most of them never, not once, think at about what cost. to them it is free to use, and that's all that matters. raising privacy concerns goes no where. manipulating people's emotions isn't really doing much negatively to FB either. addicts are like that though. deep down, they might actually be aware that what they are doing is not good for them, but that isn't strong enough to fight the addiction.

lost-found 5y ago
The majority of the public has a negative view on Facebook: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/poll-americans-give-social-media-clear-thumbs-down-n991086#embed-20190403-polling-social-media-time https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/poll-america... This was from 2019 and their public image has definitely not been improving. So to say it’s “only tech nerds” is a straight up lie.
- dylan604 5y ago
  It's not a lie. People can have a negative view of something and continue to do that something. They can also have that negative view without truly understanding why they have that view. People are actively trying to mislead polls with answers they think the poll is looking for, or just false info to skew numbers. FB is in the news with negative stories, so they repeat those when asked even without thinking about why. If you asked someone about a teacher or some other adult trying to manipulate a kid, they'd obviously say that it is bad. Telling them FB is doing it with what posts they see, they don't respond the same way. They just don't get how an "al-go-rythym" can be so bad. They don't truly understand the ramifications of the hoovering up all of the data they do. They shrug their shoulders and say things like they are okay with it as long as it's not real money. So, I stand by my stance saying it is only tech nerds that truly get what is going on here.
  - lost-found 5y ago
    That’s not what you said, you said “tech nerds are really the only ones upset about anything that FB has done/is doing” which the article I provided proves that’s not accurate. Move the goalposts all you want, I don’t care, but it is certainly not only “tech nerds” that disprove of what FB is doing.
    - dylan604 5y ago
      Maybe. Wasn't my intent, but let's allow the conversation to move past that. The mass populace is not stopping their use of FB regardless of what's in the news or what these polls say about their views of FB. From the evidence, one can only surmise that people don't truly care what FB does. Most addicts don't care what their drug dealer does as long as they can get their fix when they need it.

throwawayboise 5y ago

When you retire, with very few exceptions, nothing you did in your working life will be remembered by anyone but yourself. So it's important that you be content with it. That realization has taken a while to hit me, and it's growing into a desire to retire early so I can do things that are personally rewarding and are not just goals on someone else's project plan.

buitreVirtual 5y ago
True, for the most part. But your family and friends will remember, and not kindly, if you worked for FB.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- mise_en_place 5y ago
  That I very much doubt. The average outrage timer is 48 hours, then everybody forgets and jumps to a new controversy. As for Facebook, many of my relatives still use it, either indirectly through WhatsApp or Instagram, or directly. Maybe my technically minded friends would care if I worked for Facebook, but even then those are far and few between. I barely remember my coworkers from 10 years ago.
  - genewitch 5y ago
    A few counterpoints. The average outrage may be 48 hours, but I am sure the median is much higher. I'll boycott nestle and Samsung products forever, for instance, and have for nearly a decade and a half with nestle. Some of my closest friends started as work colleagues, and since I retired 8 years ago I still talk to a half dozen or so, with a couple talked with daily. You (nor I) are not everyone, and extrapolation from our own viewpoints is very nearly always invalid.
    - dfadsadsf 5y ago
      What’s wrong about Nestle? Also Samsung is strange company to boycott. Overall boycotting both of these companies is easy because replacement products for everything they do is plentiful, widely available and the same price. Not much sacrifice here.