Sean Parker Unloads on Facebook 'Exploiting' Human Psychology (axios.com)

Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, spoke to news outlet Axios about the ways social networks have made hundreds of millions of users addicted to their platforms. He said, from the interview: When Facebook was getting going, I had these people who would come up to me and they would say, 'I'm not on social media.' And I would say, 'OK. You know, you will be.' And then they would say, 'No, no, no. I value my real-life interactions. I value the moment. I value presence. I value intimacy.' And I would say, ... 'We'll get you eventually. I don't know if I really understood the consequences of what I was saying, because [of] the unintended consequences of a network when it grows to a billion or 2 billion people and ... it literally changes your relationship with society, with each other ... It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains. The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them, ... was all about: 'How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?' And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever. And that's going to get you to contribute more content, and that's going to get you ... more likes and comments. It's a social-validation feedback loop. He says people like him, and Mark Zuckerberg knew the potential consequences, but they did what they did anyway.

Comments

Re:Its your fault

[cayenne8]

Hm.....I don't get it.

I've never felt the need to join FB or other social media to date.

I have no problem interacting and deal with friends and meeting NEW ones in meatspace.

I guess I've just never felt compelled to being a voluntary part of their product they sell.

Facebook is getting boring

[i286NiNJA]

It might have been addictive for awhile but it's getting pretty dull and feels more like myspace every day. I have a feeling the culture will eventually become dumb and toxic enough that the thing implodes an people will move to some other format for social media. Given Zuckerberg's interest in other social media platforms I have to wonder if he feels the same way.

I don't have much proof but it's happened to every similar service and website before it.

The Oppenheimer Moment

[Rick Schumann]

A distillation of what Sean Parker had to say about Facebook:

I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

Yes, Mister Parker, you have. Facebook is a cancer to humanity, a virulent disease. It should never have been created in the first place, and I for one am glad that I have nothing to do with it.

..and NO, you can't find anything about me on Facebook. I don't have an account there, no one I know is allowed to reference me there, and I defy anyone who says different.

Then perhaps Sean Parker...

[Khyber]

...should pay the social and monetary costs for the damage he's done to society. He knew the consequences, and took the action any goddamned way. Full responsibility lies on him and Mark and they should pay dearly. Slam them straight back to middle class.

Re:Its your fault

[AuMatar]

I worked at Facebook. We had graphs of ages of users. Basically, it stayed low until a spike at 18 (when people went to college) and a huge spike at 22 (graduating college). Facebook isn't so much for old people, as it is for people who want to keep up with old friends. Until you're old enough to have those it has lower value.