Former Facebook Exec Says Social Media is Ripping Apart Society (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report on The Verge: Another former Facebook executive has spoken out about the harm the social network is doing to civil society around the world. Chamath Palihapitiya, who joined Facebook in 2007 and became its vice president for user growth, said he feels "tremendous guilt" about the company he helped make. "I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works," he told an audience at Stanford Graduate School of Business, before recommending people take a âoehard breakâ from social media. Palihapitiya's criticisms were aimed not only at Facebook, but the wider online ecosystem. "The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we've created are destroying how society works," he said, referring to online interactions driven by "hearts, likes, thumbs-up." "No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth. And it's not an American problem -- this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem." Also read: Sean Parker Unloads on Facebook 'Exploiting' Human Psychology

Comments

Re:He's right.

[bobbied]

It's not Facebook.... Facebook is but one of the current tools being used and abused for this.

Let's face it, the issue is cultural, not technological. We have long ago abandoned our founding principles of self reliance, personally looking out for your neighbors, tolerance, fairness and freedom. We now suffer from believing that equal outcome is the measure of fairness, where I count for more than everybody else and I am owed things like healthcare services or a college education without cost.

This isn't the fault of Facebook specifically or social networking platforms in general though they do enable the self importance, I'm important, look at me culture shift.

Re:He's right.

[BronsCon]

The real pieces of shit are still the minority, but he internet gives them as loud of a voice as they choose to have. Take me, for example; I could never reach this large of an audience without the internet. Now, just think, I'm not even that big of a piece of shit -- and the bigger ones are louder!

That's why it seems that the world is so shitty -- one tiny pebble of poo can stink up the whole room.

Re:Social media is only amplification

[DontBeAMoran]

Also known as the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.

Re:Or Lack of Critical Thinking Skills?

[bobbied]

History Class