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> Meta are the only case where we have substantiated allegations of a company being aware of a large, negative impact on society Robinhood has entered the chat

> Meta are the only case where we have substantiated allegations of a company being aware of a large, negative impact on society Robinhood has entered the chat Why would one specific industry be better? The toxic people will migrate to that industry and profit at the expense of society. It’s market efficiency at work.

Ozzie_osman 11mo ago
I do think an industry is often shaped by the early leaders or group of people around them. Those people shape the dominant company in that space, and then go off to spread that culture in other companies that they start or join. And, competitors are often looking to the dominant company and trying to emulate that company.
- chroma205 11mo ago
  > I do think an industry is often shaped by the early leaders or group of people around them Yes, but did any industry live long enough to not become the villain? Early OpenAI set the tone of safe, open-source AI. The next few competitors also followed OpenAI’s lead. And yet, here we are.
  - justinclift 11mo ago
    > Early OpenAI set the tone of safe, open-source AI. Um, wat?
    - chroma205 11mo ago
      > Um, wat? https://github.com/openai https://github.com/openai
      - justinclift 11mo ago
        "Safe"?
  - Planktonne 11mo ago
    > Early OpenAI set the tone of safe, open-source AI. Early OpenAI told a bunch of lies that even (some of) their most-ardent fans are now seeing through. They didn't start off good and become the villain.
- throawayonthe 11mo ago
  not sure how much sense that makes when the overarching culture is profit seeking
slaterbug 11mo ago
For the uninformed, what large negative impact has Robinhood had on society?
- bnjms 11mo ago
  Gamifying day trading is just turning the retail market into gambling. Obvious objections will be that this has been possible for a long time now. But never did I know young men to casually play the market day to day like Wall Street Bets do now the way they would follow sports in the past.
- virtue3 11mo ago
  https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/gambling-addiction-experts-see-familiar-aspects-robinhood-app-n1256213 https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/gambling-addi... tip of the iceberg.
- vkou 11mo ago
  Gamifying and advertising the shit out of options trading to make it more attractive to morons isn't, strictly speaking, an improvement of our world.
- mike50 11mo ago
  Exploring unsophisticated investors. Trading on margin used to be for extremely experienced and educated people working for a large financial institution. The risk of margin trading is extreme with unlimited losses.
  - lewisgoudy 11mo ago
    Losses on long positions are limited to the value at risk. It does not matter whose money it is.
vintermann 11mo ago
Also, tobacco companies and oil companies famously got into trouble from revelations that they were perfectly aware of their negative impacts. For the gambling and alcohol industry, it probably wouldn't even make the news if some internal report leaked that they were "aware" of their negative impact (as if anyone thought they would not be?) Social media is way down on the list of companies aware of their negative impact. The negative impact arguably isn't even central to their business model, which it certainly is for the other industries mentioned.

Ozzie_osman 11mo ago

I do think an industry is often shaped by the early leaders or group of people around them. Those people shape the dominant company in that space, and then go off to spread that culture in other companies that they start or join. And, competitors are often looking to the dominant company and trying to emulate that company.

chroma205 11mo ago
> I do think an industry is often shaped by the early leaders or group of people around them Yes, but did any industry live long enough to not become the villain? Early OpenAI set the tone of safe, open-source AI. The next few competitors also followed OpenAI’s lead. And yet, here we are.
- justinclift 11mo ago
  > Early OpenAI set the tone of safe, open-source AI. Um, wat?
  - chroma205 11mo ago
    > Um, wat? https://github.com/openai https://github.com/openai
    - justinclift 11mo ago
      "Safe"?
- Planktonne 11mo ago
  > Early OpenAI set the tone of safe, open-source AI. Early OpenAI told a bunch of lies that even (some of) their most-ardent fans are now seeing through. They didn't start off good and become the villain.
throawayonthe 11mo ago
not sure how much sense that makes when the overarching culture is profit seeking

slaterbug 11mo ago

For the uninformed, what large negative impact has Robinhood had on society?

bnjms 11mo ago
Gamifying day trading is just turning the retail market into gambling. Obvious objections will be that this has been possible for a long time now. But never did I know young men to casually play the market day to day like Wall Street Bets do now the way they would follow sports in the past.
virtue3 11mo ago
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/gambling-addiction-experts-see-familiar-aspects-robinhood-app-n1256213 https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/gambling-addi... tip of the iceberg.
vkou 11mo ago
Gamifying and advertising the shit out of options trading to make it more attractive to morons isn't, strictly speaking, an improvement of our world.
mike50 11mo ago
Exploring unsophisticated investors. Trading on margin used to be for extremely experienced and educated people working for a large financial institution. The risk of margin trading is extreme with unlimited losses.
- lewisgoudy 11mo ago
  Losses on long positions are limited to the value at risk. It does not matter whose money it is.

vintermann 11mo ago

Also, tobacco companies and oil companies famously got into trouble from revelations that they were perfectly aware of their negative impacts. For the gambling and alcohol industry, it probably wouldn't even make the news if some internal report leaked that they were "aware" of their negative impact (as if anyone thought they would not be?) Social media is way down on the list of companies aware of their negative impact. The negative impact arguably isn't even central to their business model, which it certainly is for the other industries mentioned.