Ppl working at FB, IG and SC, do you feel guilty/ashamed of yourself?
There’s tons of studies coming out showing that social media makes people unhappy and contributes to mental illness. For those of you working at FB, IG, Snapchat (and to a lesser extent Twitter), do you feel guilty/ashamed of your impact on the society? At this point, it’s really no different from working for a tobacco or casino company, that tries to addict its users and cashes in on their addiction. Facebook and IG’s mission: “Addict the world! Rake the cash in” Relevant Economist article: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/05/18/how-heavy-use-of-social-media-is-linked-to-mental-illness
We should be more worried about self responsibility and how quick we are to blame companies that offer products where consumers volunteer consume them.
Funny you express your anger through this "social media"; aren't you fueling the fire?
Social media can be used for good and bad things. Given its effect on mental health, the net effect is negative, especially for teenagers who get addicted easily. Especially the prevalent use of social media among younger people (showing off, broadcasting social activities etc) leads to the negative effects mentioned in the article. Social activism is a positive use of social media, but happens much less often.
Well wouldn't a better question be "how can you work to improve it" rather than "do you feel ashamed" because your question falls towards the net negative of social Media
No. The world needs platforms for communicating. We are not the cause of human nature.... human nature simply expresses itself on our platforms. People will find ways to become addicted and depressed regardless of what you give them access to. A better question is: does capitalism and corporatism serve the interests of society. If you are optimizing for happiness and sustainability, the answer is a clear no. Businesses are built to compete in this system. The system itself has perverse incentives.
What model does optimize for happiness and sustainability? Seems like by rewarding individuals based on demand, that’d be the best way to optimize happiness?
The scandi countries are doing much better on happiness, social support, and environmental sustainability. I don’t know of business models that optimize for happiness since most of them are designed to increase and tap into your sense of insecurity/inferiority.
Didn't have school shootings until social media.
...that's just literally untrue.
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And the new ad facebook has come out with. I don’t know it is pathetic or hilarious when it claims “We will protect your privacy” 😂
I boycotted social media in 2010. Now I'm slowly getting back to Facebook because the news feed has improved and does not make me depressed:)
Good thread. I’m curious what the other responses are going to be. We try to avoid using growth hacks and spammy push notifications. But the discover page is pretty clickbaity in its own way. I feel, not shame, but a disdain for my pride and ambition. I think humility is extremely important, and I think we should have appreciation for our comparatively large salaries rather than fighting in an ego-fueled rat race. To this end, the general worldliness and greed of tech careers is something that troubles me much more than the particularities of social media. Because pride and greed and ego exists at every company. I love getting to work on cool projects with strong ownership, and snapchat really allows me to do it. the company also grants me plenty of opportunity to pursue excellence.
Instagram etc are modern junk food vendors
@op are you ashamed you didn’t get a job there?
Good thing G+ didn't make us have to worry about that :)
It’s actually there in the report, but the corresponding column is all transparent (: