I Mentored Mark Zuckerberg. I Loved Facebook. But I Can't Stay Silent About What's Happening.
I am really sad about Facebook.
I got involved with the company more than a decade ago and have taken great pride and joy in the companys success until the past few months. Now I am disappointed. I am embarrassed. I am ashamed. With more than 1.7 billion members, Facebook is among the most influential businesses in the world. Whether they like it or notwhether Facebook is a technology company or a media companythe company has a huge impact on politics and social welfare. Every decision that management makes can matter to the lives of real people. Management is responsible for every action. Just as they get credit for every success, they need to be held accountable for failures. Recently, Facebook has done some things that are truly horrible, and I can no longer excuse its behavior.
Nine days before the November 2016 election, I sent the email above to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg. It was the text for an op-ed I was planning to publish about problems I was seeing on Facebook. Earlier in the year, I noticed a surge of disturbing images, shared by friends, that originated on Facebook Groups ostensibly associated with the Bernie Sanders campaign, but it was impossible to imagine they came from his campaign. I wanted to share with Sandberg and Zuckerberg my fear that bad actors were exploiting Facebooks architecture and business model to inflict harm on innocent people.
I am a longtime tech investor and evangelist. Tech has been my career and my passion. I had been an early adviser to ZuckerbergZuck, to many colleagues and friendsand an early investor in Facebook. I had been a true believer for a decade. My early meetings with Zuck almost always occurred in his office, generally just the two of us, so I had an incomplete picture of the man, but he was always straight with me. I liked Zuck. I liked his team. I was a fan of Facebook. I was one of the people he would call on when confronted with new or challenging issues. Mentoring is fun for me, and Zuck could not have been a better mentee. We talked about stuff that was important to Zuck, where I had useful experience. More often than not, he acted on my counsel.
When I sent that email to Zuck and Sheryl, I assumed that Facebook was a victim. What I learned in the months that followedabout the 2016 election, about the spread of Brexit lies, about data on users being sold to other groupsshocked and disappointed me. It took me a very long time to accept that success had blinded Zuck and Sheryl to the consequences of their actions. I have never had a reason to bite Facebooks hand. Even at this writing, I still own shares in Facebook. My criticism of the company is a matter of principle, and owning shares is a good way to make that point. I became an activist because I was among the first to see a catastrophe unfolding, and my history with the company made me a credible voice.
http://time.com/5505441/mark-zuckerberg-mentor-facebook-downfall/?fbclid=IwAR2FqL2qjlU-8Id3y7pWNtVxLQ3TdzxO1J6wnM-1LOG9pxMugq9_P0CsDho
klook
(12,174 posts)In my experience, most Facebookers are intensely loyal to the platform and very emotional about it.
I wish him success.
virgogal
(10,178 posts)My grandkids rarely post there now,they are young adults.
It is full of middle aged women,like my daughters.
klook
(12,174 posts)still_one
(92,526 posts)Many of my friends have minimized their use.
I'm getting tired of it, cause I get messages all the time, when chat is supposed to be off, but they show me as online, when I'm just checking my feed and a few posts!
You get tired of this, especially when you have CHAT OFF.
BigmanPigman
(51,667 posts)about a year ago and he was speaking about this. I really admired and respected what he said. One thing that stood out was that he said he could show/tell Fakebook and Fuckerberg what to do to fix all the crap and get back on track for its users. He said he doubted he would ever even be asked to do this.
DURHAM D
(32,618 posts)the other day. It was interesting she is 100% Ashkenazi jew.
This is an article about her parents -
https://www.lzb.lt/en/2017/02/13/about-sheryl-sandbergs-parents-the-sandberg-family/
Here is an article about Sheryl's attempt to smear George Soros, a holocaust survivor -
Sheryl Sandberg personally asked Facebook's staff to look into George Soros, reports claim
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/11/30/sheryl-sandberg-personally-
asked-facebooks-staff-look-george/
She has fallen very, very far from the tree. Shame on her.
defacto7
(13,485 posts)but that means there are at least 6 billion people who Do Not use Facebook.
Probably more since not all those account are active.
OhZone
(3,212 posts)and others who claim they have multiple accounts because they get "zucked (banned for posting nasty jokes and memes)," I bet only half of them are real users.
Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)I know several people who have more than one account.
Which makes up for people like me who saw the evils of FB more than a decade ago and refused to get involved.
I'm not only proud of that. I'm smug about it.
defacto7
(13,485 posts)delisen
(6,050 posts)I avoid addicted FB users because they are zombie-like.
Plus FB tries to get my data through users I know
At least the European Union has been pushing back.
At some point lots of people will break their shackles and flee the cult.
There is a massive amount of date in the hands of highly unethical people.
happybird
(4,671 posts)I'm an iOS person but recently got a pre paid Android phone to use as a temporary hotspot for my iPad.
A few nights ago I was looking at how much data each of the phone's apps are using up (I play a couple games on the phone).
Much to my surprise, FB and 2 other FB-labeled apps have been using data. Wth?? All 3 apps are pre-installed bloatware, but I have never opened the FB app. The only time I've even touched it was when I trashed the icon off my home screen the day I got the phone. But it's apparently been running on it's own volition in the background this entire time. And, come to find out, the FB app cannot be uninstalled or disabled. The 2 associated apps can be disabled, but not the main one.
Thanks a lot, Google/Android.