4 ms·
> What were we (technologists) thinking when we built these toxic social media platforms and algorithms? If OKR A reaches B, we'd be valued at C, which would m
by emilsedgh 5y ago
> What were we (technologists) thinking when we built these toxic social media platforms and algorithms?
If OKR A reaches B, we'd be valued at C, which would mean my stock option would be worth D.
That's what everyone was, is, and will be thinking.
- iamdamian 5y agoI think that's part of it. But surely if a team was handed an OKR to 'build ship control software that has a 50% chance of sinking a ship' or 'drive up teen mental health problems by 50%', few people would have gone along with it. I think the trick is that most people don't want to feel like the bad guy. They have to be able to convince themselves that what they're doing isn't harmful in order to avoid internal moral conflicts. The principles we hear about tech & neutrality give us enough leeway to feel okay about our actions even if the outcomes are toxic. (Which, to your point, lets us cash in when we hit our targets.)
- exdsq 5y agoAlso there’s a lot of hindsight here. What might look bad now is likely an emergent property of what at the time wasn’t bad at all (show you news sources people care about, etc). I can totally see people who hate what Facebook has become having no problems working on it a decade ago.