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I am always deeply saddened by the fact that so much of our digital social infrastructure was built by a company with little humanity. How many interactions hav

I am always deeply saddened by the fact that so much of our digital social infrastructure was built by a company with little humanity. How many interactions have been enhanced, as opposed to monetized, by Facebook technology? My understanding is Sheryl was a supporter of this numbers based approach to the business, and maybe this will be a change for the better.

madrox 4y ago
I’m not convinced anyone else would have done anything different. I don’t believe this is a case of “the wrong people in the right place” since any unregulated massive opportunity in history has gone this way. Saying the wrong people were in charge robs us of learning for next time. More useful to say that this is a lesson in human nature and we should prepare for the next Facebook accordingly.
- shuckles 4y ago
  Not sure I believe this. Instagram could’ve conceivably killed Facebook a decade ago if they’d chosen not to sell. Reminds me of Steve Jobs talking about Microsoft bringing about the dark ages of desktop computing: https://512pixels.net/2010/05/the-desktop-computer-industry-is-dead/ https://512pixels.net/2010/05/the-desktop-computer-industry-....
  - philistine 4y ago
    The dark age of social networks was absolutely started the second Facebook bought Instagram. We're still in it.
  - madrox 4y ago
    Then the question becomes whether Instagram would’ve become Facebook if they kept going. I believe they would have once they hit Facebook’s scale. Ironically, I believe you could take that Jobs quote, swap Apple for Microsoft, and you’d be talking about the mobile industry. I doubt I’m even the first person to observe that. You really do become the villain if you gain enough market dominance.
specialist 4y ago
Yes and: Facebook's algorithmic hate machine is the paper clip maximizer of understanding the human psyche. Facebook understanding of hate and fear are unsurpassed, at the expense of every other human quality.

madrox 4y ago

I’m not convinced anyone else would have done anything different. I don’t believe this is a case of “the wrong people in the right place” since any unregulated massive opportunity in history has gone this way. Saying the wrong people were in charge robs us of learning for next time. More useful to say that this is a lesson in human nature and we should prepare for the next Facebook accordingly.

shuckles 4y ago
Not sure I believe this. Instagram could’ve conceivably killed Facebook a decade ago if they’d chosen not to sell. Reminds me of Steve Jobs talking about Microsoft bringing about the dark ages of desktop computing: https://512pixels.net/2010/05/the-desktop-computer-industry-is-dead/ https://512pixels.net/2010/05/the-desktop-computer-industry-....
- philistine 4y ago
  The dark age of social networks was absolutely started the second Facebook bought Instagram. We're still in it.
- madrox 4y ago
  Then the question becomes whether Instagram would’ve become Facebook if they kept going. I believe they would have once they hit Facebook’s scale. Ironically, I believe you could take that Jobs quote, swap Apple for Microsoft, and you’d be talking about the mobile industry. I doubt I’m even the first person to observe that. You really do become the villain if you gain enough market dominance.

specialist 4y ago

Yes and: Facebook's algorithmic hate machine is the paper clip maximizer of understanding the human psyche. Facebook understanding of hate and fear are unsurpassed, at the expense of every other human quality.