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On one hand we have Facebook. A company with billions of users that is routinely used to destabilize democracy and spread propaganda. On the other hand we have

On one hand we have Facebook. A company with billions of users that is routinely used to destabilize democracy and spread propaganda. On the other hand we have Apple. A company with a 14% market share in the mobile market that has restricted Facebooks ability to track users outside of Facebook. For the good of Facebook, Apple must be stopped. -Putin, probably.

splistud 4y ago
whimsicalism 4y ago
Is it Facebook you don't like or the ability for billions of people to communicate with each other without an intermediary you dislike? When I hear people criticize FB for "destabilizing democracy" or "spreading propaganda" what I generally hear is: "Having ordinary people able to communicate to each other without review by media &/or government is dangerous for our society." Can you distinguish your critique from that?
- parkingrift 4y ago
  WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram are places for people to communicate without review. Facebook is a place for a corporation to decide what you see, regardless of the impact on society. Maximum engagement at all costs. I would be happy to see Facebook revert to their original feed which only showed you content from your direct friends and in reverse chronological order. Facebook is indistinguishable from opinion journalism but they’re allowed to masquerade as a social media site to avoid being treated as the news publisher they undeniably act as.
  - whimsicalism 4y ago
    > A company with billions of users that is routinely used to destabilize democracy and spread propaganda. People criticize Whatsapp for this same thing even though it is merely messaging. Whatsapp is owned by FB. But okay, your problem is with the algorithmic feed - that is a good distinction. I will say that there seems to be substantial consumer appetite for algo feed given the success of TikTok. It also seems natural to me that they would want to maximize engagement - this is a proxy for the value that the user gets out of the platform.
soneil 4y ago
> On the other hand we have Apple. A company with a 14% market share in the mobile market that has restricted Facebooks ability to track users outside of Facebook. A detail I don't find insignificant - they haven't restricted facebook at all. They put the option to the user. I don't see it as Apple's fault that 80-90% of users prefer to opt-out.

splistud 4y ago

whimsicalism 4y ago

Is it Facebook you don't like or the ability for billions of people to communicate with each other without an intermediary you dislike? When I hear people criticize FB for "destabilizing democracy" or "spreading propaganda" what I generally hear is: "Having ordinary people able to communicate to each other without review by media &/or government is dangerous for our society." Can you distinguish your critique from that?

parkingrift 4y ago
WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram are places for people to communicate without review. Facebook is a place for a corporation to decide what you see, regardless of the impact on society. Maximum engagement at all costs. I would be happy to see Facebook revert to their original feed which only showed you content from your direct friends and in reverse chronological order. Facebook is indistinguishable from opinion journalism but they’re allowed to masquerade as a social media site to avoid being treated as the news publisher they undeniably act as.
- whimsicalism 4y ago
  > A company with billions of users that is routinely used to destabilize democracy and spread propaganda. People criticize Whatsapp for this same thing even though it is merely messaging. Whatsapp is owned by FB. But okay, your problem is with the algorithmic feed - that is a good distinction. I will say that there seems to be substantial consumer appetite for algo feed given the success of TikTok. It also seems natural to me that they would want to maximize engagement - this is a proxy for the value that the user gets out of the platform.

soneil 4y ago

> On the other hand we have Apple. A company with a 14% market share in the mobile market that has restricted Facebooks ability to track users outside of Facebook. A detail I don't find insignificant - they haven't restricted facebook at all. They put the option to the user. I don't see it as Apple's fault that 80-90% of users prefer to opt-out.