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

Posted by msmash on 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.

5 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. I've changed, baby by elrous0 · · 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!

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:I've changed, baby by Baron_Yam · · 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 · · 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.

  2. Re:What role? by Vermonter · · 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.

  3. Invasive and unethical. by Gravis+Zero · · 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.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.