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A pretty good look into Facebook. While it probably didn’t uncover much new information previously unavailable, it did present a lot of information in an interesting and comprehensive style. Would recommend for anyone who is interested in Facebook, with or without previous knowledge of the matters. 4 stars.
This book was tough to read at this time. I just couldn't get away from all the bad because it's been in this book and in the news pretty steadily over the past weeks. Coincidentally, I've been reading this book at the same time a whistleblower brought the internal documents proving that FB doesn't really care about anything but engagement, which is much better to liken to addiction. The comparison to big tobacco seems pretty accurate (from the whistleblower, not the book).
Essentially, Zuckerberg wants the appearance that Facebook is taking concerns about election interference and increases in teen suicide and calls to violence on his platform seriously, but he doesn't actually want to do anything about it because doing something would affect engagement and therefore the bottom line.
One item of interest comes from the GOP's line of attack toward FB. By claiming that FB favors liberal content and silences conservative voices, they have forced the platform to the right. It's hard to say that FB silences conservative voices when seven of the ten most shared articles come from conservative news sources, mostly Fox.
I agree with the whistleblower's suggestion that Section 230 should be modified to exempt algorithms from lawsuits. Facebook and other social media might be a lot more careful about what their algorithms amplify if they knew they'd get sued for amplifying lies and disinformation. Personally, I'd like to see FB go back to a chronological timeline. And, it might not hurt if Facebook eliminated sharing posts. Users can't share posts in Instagram, and Instagram is still quite popular. Finally, no more political ads. Criminey, we get enough as it is. The election cycle never ends.
Let's go back to the days where folks updated Facebook with information about their eating habits and family parties.
Essentially, Zuckerberg wants the appearance that Facebook is taking concerns about election interference and increases in teen suicide and calls to violence on his platform seriously, but he doesn't actually want to do anything about it because doing something would affect engagement and therefore the bottom line.
One item of interest comes from the GOP's line of attack toward FB. By claiming that FB favors liberal content and silences conservative voices, they have forced the platform to the right. It's hard to say that FB silences conservative voices when seven of the ten most shared articles come from conservative news sources, mostly Fox.
I agree with the whistleblower's suggestion that Section 230 should be modified to exempt algorithms from lawsuits. Facebook and other social media might be a lot more careful about what their algorithms amplify if they knew they'd get sued for amplifying lies and disinformation. Personally, I'd like to see FB go back to a chronological timeline. And, it might not hurt if Facebook eliminated sharing posts. Users can't share posts in Instagram, and Instagram is still quite popular. Finally, no more political ads. Criminey, we get enough as it is. The election cycle never ends.
Let's go back to the days where folks updated Facebook with information about their eating habits and family parties.
Like. High engagement. Biased at times. Extra star for the schadenfreude.
I am not an ardent user of Facebook for last few years.
Ugly truth reduced my Insta screen time from 30-45 mins to less than 5 mins a day. Whatsapp became the default messenger of my life and I cant do much to control its use. :P
Ugly truth reduced my Insta screen time from 30-45 mins to less than 5 mins a day. Whatsapp became the default messenger of my life and I cant do much to control its use. :P
If you follow tech news, this book contains nothing new. The author's did a nice job of writing a five year timeline of history at Facebook but with very little insight into Zuckerberg or Sandberg.
Kang and Frenkel excel in framing this longform journalism in the context of the mid-to-late aughts and the 2016 election. It would be too easy to say that this is all information we knew, that Facebook is evil, etc. The truth is deeper, more insidious, as ugly as promised. This is as much a thorough indictment of Facebook as it is our antiquated antitrust laws and effective gerontocracy.
My main critique would be the treatment of others responsible for Facebook's atrocities, aside from Zuckerberg and Sandberg. It is clear that the pair don't stand on solid ground. The many secondary and tertiary people hold some responsibility and get off fairly easy in this book, sounding almost like heroes.
In reflecting on Isabel Allende's Soul of a Woman in conjunction with An Ugly Truth, it is clear that women alone are not the saviors of our society, that we need to push beyond European heteronormative standards of success.
My main critique would be the treatment of others responsible for Facebook's atrocities, aside from Zuckerberg and Sandberg. It is clear that the pair don't stand on solid ground. The many secondary and tertiary people hold some responsibility and get off fairly easy in this book, sounding almost like heroes.
In reflecting on Isabel Allende's Soul of a Woman in conjunction with An Ugly Truth, it is clear that women alone are not the saviors of our society, that we need to push beyond European heteronormative standards of success.
informative
slow-paced
it did in fact inform me about a lot of the things that facebook has done that have been absolutely heinous and ungodly. thankfully it wasn't too long because to tell the truth, it was very boring sometimes even when the content itself was interesting!
This started well but as I read further and further, I began to lose interest. I think it was because whilst I knew about the controversial topics facing Facebook in a broad sense, such as the election interference by Russia, privacy scandals and rise of hate speech on the platform, it went into so much detail about who, when and where of American corporate culture and political lobbying that I lost interest. As an Australian I wasn't familiar with many of the names of politicians, lobbyists, etc. etc. so I don't think I had the context. It felt very much written for an American audience which was likely the intention of the author anyway.
It was well-written, but I was hoping it would cover the impacts of Facebook and how it has changed how we communicate and get our information. How online connections have replaced human connections and the impact of that, not to mention, people being able to find their "group" to reinforce extreme thinking. I would have also liked more insight into the culture within Facebook itself as an organisation. It's corporate structure, how it tracks its employees key strokes, etc. and designs Facebook to keep users on the platform to the detriment of a balanced healthy life.
It was well-written, but I was hoping it would cover the impacts of Facebook and how it has changed how we communicate and get our information. How online connections have replaced human connections and the impact of that, not to mention, people being able to find their "group" to reinforce extreme thinking. I would have also liked more insight into the culture within Facebook itself as an organisation. It's corporate structure, how it tracks its employees key strokes, etc. and designs Facebook to keep users on the platform to the detriment of a balanced healthy life.
informative
medium-paced
A lot of this has been said and discussed before. But there was more information on what I already knew and there were points that I hadn't known. It definitely doesn't make me like Facebook any better and I still fight with myself to delete my account. I like my family's pictures too much.
People, please don't get your news from FB, don't believe anything you see there either. If it seems interesting, go elsewhere to see if it is anywhere else. Does anyone else remember all the different dead celebrities that weren't dead. For a while it was happening a couple times a week.
People, please don't get your news from FB, don't believe anything you see there either. If it seems interesting, go elsewhere to see if it is anywhere else. Does anyone else remember all the different dead celebrities that weren't dead. For a while it was happening a couple times a week.