And still we connect people.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Andrew Bosworth
June 18, 2016

The Ugly

We talk about the good and the bad of our work often. I want to talk about the ugly.

We connect people.

That can be good if they make it positive. Maybe someone finds love. Maybe it even saves the life of someone on the brink of suicide.

So we connect more people

That can be bad if they make it negative. Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.

And still we connect people.

The ugly truth is that we believe in connecting people so deeply that anything that allows us to connect more people more often is *de facto* good. It is perhaps the only area where the metrics do tell the true story as far as we are concerned.

That isn’t something we are doing for ourselves. Or for our stock price (ha!). It is literally just what we do. We connect people. Period.

That’s why all the work we do in growth is justified. All the questionable contact importing practices. All the subtle language that helps people stay searchable by friends. All of the work we do to bring more communication in. The work we will likely have to do in China some day. All of it.

The natural state of the world is not connected. It is not unified. It is fragmented by borders, languages, and increasingly by different products. The best products don’t win. The ones everyone use win.

I know a lot of people don’t want to hear this. Most of us have the luxury of working in the warm glow of building products consumers love. But make no mistake, growth tactics are how we got here. If you joined the company because it is doing great work, that’s why we get to do that great work. We do have great products but we still wouldn’t be half our size without pushing the envelope on growth. Nothing makes Facebook as valuable as having your friends on it, and no product decisions have gotten as many friends on as the ones made in growth. Not photo tagging. Not news feed. Not messenger. Nothing.

In almost all of our work, we have to answer hard questions about what we believe. We have to justify the metrics and make sure they aren’t losing out on a bigger picture. But connecting people. That’s our imperative. Because that’s what we do. We connect people.

Can all corporate executives be this refreshingly honest?


Don't interpret this post as saying that any service is bad if people use it for violent ends. I'm saying that this mentality of working towards 'the goal' above all else is part of a culture which has facilitated the creation of a service that is negligent in implementing protections that can co-exist with (only minor impact towards) 'connectivity' whatever that means.

And all that is putting aside the obvious argument that 'connectivity' is horse**** to begin with, unless they are talking about connecting users to ads.

[Husar]

Facebook is a tool. Tools don't spy on people, people spy on people.

[drone]

Well that's all very noble. In this fantasy world of his, is Zuck supposed to be Nebuchadnezzar or Enki?

[Fragony]

Messenger remains really handy, laptop as a house-phone is awesome. Facebook is creepy though. I do not understand why people say where they are and what they are doing, that's so dumb

[Csargo]

It's so weird. I can understand all the collecting data on people that agree to it, even if I think it's . Companies are in the business of making money, so anything goes really, it's not like Google hasn't be collecting GBs of peoples data for years now. Yeah, facebook is a platform to connect people, but like acin said it's so that the company gets more ad-revenue. This is a whole other realm of weird to me. These companies are creating their own weird cult-like ideologies to follow that their employee's buy into, and it's sort of freaky. They're deluding themselves, and it's really freaking creepy to see firsthand. It's not isolated to facebook either.

[rory_20_uk]

The denials were the best bit - "oh he said this even though he didn't mean it to make a point".

If the service is free, you are the product.

[Strike For The South]

Techies are trash.

[Husar]

Techies are trash.

Are those the people who watch Star Tech?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Are those the people who watch Star Tech?

And who adamantly refuse to war red polo shirts....

[caravel]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/0...g-data-brokers

[a completely inoffensive name]

How can someone with so much power show up to Congress, sit on a booster seat in front of dozens of cameras and perform like this?

Clips from the livestream:

https://clips.twitch.tv/GorgeousFunnyNeanderthalBIRB

https://clips.twitch.tv/BigGiftedBatteryItsBoshyTime

https://clips.twitch.tv/BrightBlueLapwingYouWHY

https://clips.twitch.tv/FineSnappyKe...esidentSleeper

[Fragony]

He kinda owned the relics of the senate

[rory_20_uk]

Facebook is following the tried and tested defence in depth as demonstrated in Yes Prime Minister:

Stage 1 - there is nothing to regulate - company too small or not the sort of thing that would need regulating.
Stage 2 - there is something, but there is no need to regulate. Bigger company but not for regulation.
Stage 3 - there is need for regulation, but only self regulation and this will work.
Stage 4 - OK, so self regulation isn't sufficient and there might be need for external regulation - but only the "right" sort of regulation. Probably very limited and a long time in the future ideally.

Beyond the Senate grandstanding, what exactly could they really do? They are unlikely to get meaningful legislation in place since the Republicans are mainly against state regulations and Donald isn't going to show any leadership if it takes longer than an afternoon. Plus most of the populace of the USA would at the end of the day not want to loose Facebook.

And lets for one moment say the unheard of happened - the government in the USA properly instigated a really tough law on Facebook. I would imagine that the company would simply re-base abroad.

Perhaps if companies withdrew advertising things might alter... not something I can see happening.

[HopAlongBunny]

I watched one lady go to town on Zuckerburg.
All he did was evade, deny, "not understand"... It was pretty clear that Zuckerburg did not intend to answer any questions.
It was essentially a commercial for Facebook