I genuinely believe Facebook is a threat to society at this point. It's a website which is designed with decades of psychology in mind specifically to trigger animal-like instincts of immediacy and self-gratification with no real purpose other than to raise Facebook's market value.
It helps us stay connected sure (though it feels more like some kind of serfdom where you have to keep a Facebook account), but it also encourages narcissism, envy, and echo chambers. Don't like an opinion (or fact)? Scream, block, or dispute it and get that person out of your life so you've got a nice curated feed which fits all your preconceptions. What has its ecosystem created which is of lasting value?
I've never trusted Facebook from an ethical standpoint but as they exist longer, its hard to trust them from a social engineering standpoint either. They have more data available to them than anyone save god, better machine learning capabilities and stats than anyone else, and it takes them until after the election to recognize fake news is a problem? Of course, conveniently, the result of the election didn't fit Zuckerberg's political views.
You can get downvoted on HN for stating an opinion or fact that someone doesn't like for whatever reason. Some people are very spiteful. This is the solution?
Clarifying: I'm not agreeing because the point's unpopular, but rather, am publicly stating my agreement despite the status. My original wording bothers me.
It helps us stay connected sure (though it feels more like some kind of serfdom where you have to keep a Facebook account), but it also encourages narcissism, envy, and echo chambers. Don't like an opinion (or fact)? Scream, block, or dispute it and get that person out of your life so you've got a nice curated feed which fits all your preconceptions. What has its ecosystem created which is of lasting value?
I've never trusted Facebook from an ethical standpoint but as they exist longer, its hard to trust them from a social engineering standpoint either. They have more data available to them than anyone save god, better machine learning capabilities and stats than anyone else, and it takes them until after the election to recognize fake news is a problem? Of course, conveniently, the result of the election didn't fit Zuckerberg's political views.
You can get downvoted on HN for stating an opinion or fact that someone doesn't like for whatever reason. Some people are very spiteful. This is the solution?