I've seen many angles on how Facebook's kind of repeating history, including the parallels with tobacco's history. It's a very strong stance that I believe will be proven over time, and I'm worried about the negative impact Facebook will have on many lives in the meantime.
If the commenter's sources are legitimate, I could see this being the start of real progress to create change. Facebook is dodging questions and, possibly, hiding research which is deceptive and disturbing. I'm not fully bought-in on the financial incentives outlined here. I agree with the limit on the negative impact (ie. reduction in addiction outcomes). My biggest question is -- is there a reliable scale for social media addictiveness and depression/anxiety impact? It seems like figuring out this piece is critical to the FTC being able to enforce a fined threshold.
In the end, Facebook is a company driven by metrics to an extreme. Tech is incentivized to optimize for engagement and ads revenue, and these employees are not only incentivized with more influence but with money through promotions and bonuses. I believe they're good people, but at times the wrong incentives. Given Facebook's audience size, any small "optimization" on their end for money can be devastating for a large group of people. I hope the FTC does something about this, and soon.
If the commenter's sources are legitimate, I could see this being the start of real progress to create change. Facebook is dodging questions and, possibly, hiding research which is deceptive and disturbing. I'm not fully bought-in on the financial incentives outlined here. I agree with the limit on the negative impact (ie. reduction in addiction outcomes). My biggest question is -- is there a reliable scale for social media addictiveness and depression/anxiety impact? It seems like figuring out this piece is critical to the FTC being able to enforce a fined threshold.
In the end, Facebook is a company driven by metrics to an extreme. Tech is incentivized to optimize for engagement and ads revenue, and these employees are not only incentivized with more influence but with money through promotions and bonuses. I believe they're good people, but at times the wrong incentives. Given Facebook's audience size, any small "optimization" on their end for money can be devastating for a large group of people. I hope the FTC does something about this, and soon.