We've Toned Down the 'Destroying Society' Shtick, Facebook Insists (theregister.co.uk)

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We've Toned Down the 'Destroying Society' Shtick, Facebook Insists (theregister.co.uk)

Posted by msmash on Tuesday December 12, 2017 @05:20AM from the lol dept.

Facebook has taken the unusual step of responding to comments by former VP Chamath Palihapitiya that the social media giant was "destroying how society works." Palihapitiya said that executives ignored cautionary instincts when creating Facebook, and he now regretted the consequences. In a statement, Facebook said: Chamath has not been at Facebook for over 6 years. When Chamath was at Facebook we were focused on building new social media experiences and growing Facebook around the world. Facebook was a very different company back then, and as we have grown, we have realized how our responsibilities have grown too. We take our role very seriously and we are working hard to improve. We've done a lot of work and research with outside experts and academics to understand the effects of our service on well-being, and we're using it to inform our product development. We are also making significant investments more in people, technology and processes, and -- as Mark Zuckerberg said on the last earnings call -- we are willing to reduce our profitability to make sure the right investments are made.

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I've changed, baby by elrous0 · 2017-12-12 05:24 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm a different man than I was 6 months ago when I fucked your best friend. I've grown SOOO much since then!

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SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
1. Re:I've changed, baby by Baron_Yam · 2017-12-12 05:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  >I'm a different man than I was 6 months ago when I fucked your best friend.
  I can't forgive you; the dog still isn't right.
2. Re:I've changed, baby by Baron_Yam · 2017-12-12 06:18 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  >So the NSA uses Facebook to spy
  In fact, Facebook has to be the ultimate orgasm-inducer for anyone who wants to track relationships, and that probably includes every level of government, law enforcement and otherwise. You used to have to know somebody to know who their friends are, now there's an API for that.
"Toned down" by DarkRookie · 2017-12-12 05:32 · Score: 3, Insightful

The only way it would toned down is that they closed up shop.

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The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
1. Re:"Toned down" by DickBreath · 2017-12-12 05:44 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  FaceBook is not trying to destroy society or civil discourse. They're merely trying to put a stop to it.
  
  --
  
  I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
What role? by Frederic54 · 2017-12-12 05:38 · Score: 3, Interesting

> We take our role very seriously
What role? what is their purpose? What do they create? Are they useful?

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"Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
1. Re:What role? by Vermonter · 2017-12-12 05:45 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  > What is their role?
  Their role is to gather as much data about people as possible
  > What is their purpose?
  To make money for their stockholders
  > What do they create?
  They create data packages for marketing and advertising firms
  > Are they useful?
  If you are one of their customers, yes.
The new improved Facebook by bobstreo · 2017-12-12 05:42 · Score: 3, Funny

Now featuring 1/2% less Social Destruction. YAY
1. Re:The new improved Facebook by geekmux · 2017-12-12 06:31 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Now featuring 1/2% less Social Destruction. YAY
  That might have been good enough back when they came out with 2% milk.
  These days your Social Media products fucking better be gluten free, cholesterol free, non-GMO, vegan, kosher, contain no artificial colors, flavors, or fluoride, and manufactured in a facility where everyone wears hemp clothing, rides bicycles to work, and recycles toilet paper.
Re:Crap by DickBreath · 2017-12-12 05:42 · Score: 4, Insightful

Agree. I have never had FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, Instagram, and whatever other mental defect sites that I don't even know the names of. It is actually possible to have a great life without the black hole for time that is FaceBook.

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I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
Invasive and unethical. by Gravis+Zero · 2017-12-12 05:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

Facebook has always been invasive and unethical, that part hasn't changed because their entire business model is built upon it. What has changed and grown is the number of people who have become aware of how Facebook operates. This isn't totally unexpected and it's still a small minority as plenty of people are still addicted to social media and their "smart" devices which are spying on them 24/7.
I love technology and the web but social media and "smart" devices aren't worth what they actually cost.

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Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
In terms of destroying society by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · 2017-12-12 06:15 · Score: 3, Insightful

Facebook still has a long way to go in comparison to Twitter. If some moron I went to high school with posts a link to an article that says "Hillary Clinton under the control of communist, ISIS loving illegal immigrants from Mars" and the dude says he believes it, many people just shrug their shoulders and conclude the guy is an idiot and get on with life. On Twitter, major sources (CNN, Yahoo, and many many more) post comments by nobodies ranting or raving about this or that and act like what this unknown person just said is just THE ... MOST.... IMPORTANT... THING... EVER... SAID ...IN... HISTORY. Facebook certainly does or did a lot to spread nonsense, but I still see Twitter as far more destructive because nobody in the media seems to think that anything on Twitter can just be ignored.
1. Re:In terms of destroying society by bobbied · 2017-12-12 06:36 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  You know, I think I agree with you. Twitter is the lazy reporter's go to when you don't feel like pounding the pavement looking for interesting stuff to report on.
  Case in point... Trump's incessant Tweeting.... The lazy reporters get all a twitter every time he calls them (rightly or wrongly) out or says something crazy. They go nuts. Remember the "coffeve" thing? We got at least two days of breathless reporting on what amounted to a troll tweet. It's like Trump's tweets are a laser pointer and the media are a group of cats chasing it. Remember the "wires tapped" tweet? How many days was that one? Surely it's obvious how Trump is using this to control the subject of the day to one he wants, yet they keep jumping at them like catnip.
  
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  "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
2. Re:In terms of destroying society by sysrammer · 2017-12-12 09:01 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Douglas Adams mentioned (actually, went on about it) that a President's job is to attract attention away from power. In that respect, Trump just may be the best President since PT Barnum.
  
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  His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
Re:Please no! Censorship? Really? by duke_cheetah2003 · 2017-12-12 07:11 · Score: 3, Insightful

The problem here is cultural. What's on Facebook is just one symptom of many issues in the culture today.
I can't agree with this 100%. Yes perhaps the problem is cultural, but we were getting along pretty good prior to Facebook becoming a thing.
Facebook amplifies social issues quite a bit. It makes little shit really big and ugly. It polarizes people deeply. It encourages disrespectful, crude, uncivil and rude behavior. There's no consequence for telling people stuff you'd NEVER say face to face.
Prior to Facebook, if you wanted to say something really horrible about someone, there was a real risk of that person punching you in the nose. I'm not saying violence is a good outcome, what i'm saying is the possibility kept people a bit more civil and polite to each other.
Now adays, we can say anything and hide behind our screens. Not healthy. And heavens forbid someone threaten someone else for being a total dickwad, the terrorist police will swoop down and be all over you like a bad rash.
I hate Facebook, I hate everything it represents. It's outright evil. It needs to go away. Forget censorship, just shut the whole thing off, it's not doing anyone any good, except for the small handful of people making boatloads of money off society's malignancy site.