Hacker News Reader

Comment by throwawaysea | Hacker News Reader

This is yet another clickbait article artificially amplifying the voices of a minority group of activists attacking [a tech company]. How many of these do we need to prop up on HN or Reddit or wherever? Writing something critical of Facebook is the lowest risk, least interesting piece a journalist can author.

The reality is that Zuck has done a fantastic job in bringing Facebook to where it is, and uncritical thinkers are laying blame at Facebook’s feet for what largely is human nature or differing values/opinions across Facebook’s customer base. And of course mixed in with various charges from these groups are the usual garden variety shareholder proposals that are just the far-left progressives weaponizing a corporate governance process for political ends.

View on HN

The reality is your subjective take on Facebook? HARD PASS on your steaming hot take.

My subjective take is no more valid or invalid than others' personal opinions.

I don't think Facebook is without flaws, by the way. But I do think they're doing a lot correctly as well, and that Zuckerberg is smart enough to navigate the company carefully through very difficult decision points. It is easy for armchair activists to rant about Facebook en masse but there are no easy solutions, and at some point they have to square with the fact that yes, Facebook serves a lot of people who aren't themselves and who think differently from themselves.

When I see the constant stream of one-sided articles that offer no nuanced intellectual take on Facebook or operating such platforms neutrally, it does make me write off those journalists and those groups of activists whom the journalists feature. And the reason really is that they comes off as willing bad-faith participants in a political power dynamics struggle (who can foment the most outrage!) rather than people pushing for a principled outcome that fairly serves everyone, including those they disagree with.

I don't know. I consider Facebook (the company) to be utterly toxic, but I would be a lot less antagonistic toward them if they would reciprocate by leaving me out of their business model.

Is breaking the law by selling and breaching the data of millions of users what you are referring to when you say that "Zuckerberg is navigating the company carefully through very difficult decision points" ?

That's under the "I don't think Facebook is without flaws, by the way"

Your article reads like a sarcastic defense of Zuck.

Preach!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com