We Like You So Much and Want to Know You Better

Apart from the hardware, it could be Facebook, too. And, surely, it could be Microsoft, in a few years time.

"Zing" is a beautiful term, by the way. It resembles 'to sing' (especially for those who speak Dutch), with all its positive correlations. And, of course, the name is taken; both zing.com and zing.nl exist.

Neil Postman compares them: http://www.prosebeforehos.com/image-of-the-day/08/24/huxley-...

For everything being known by all, it would take O(N!) edges for N vertices. Which type of satellites could hold under this throughput? It's just purely incredible!

The general schema of her book is she became obsessed with Facebook while just a user. So she applied when she saw a job ad for Facebook (on Facebook). Started out in customer service (later renamed to something else because customers are people who pay for a service). The engineers and the engineering floor was the place to be. She managed to make it to their domain through a clever side project of her own. Facebook started to grow up once Sheryl Sandberg came in. She made it all the way to the inner sanctum (ghost writing for MZ).

It really is a quick read. The parallels that I will be looking for - does DE's character protagonist start to reject the 'cult' culture gradually over time - all the while jumping and up the ranks.

The supporting details of the story are what matter: Since FBers all had inside knowledge of FB and couldn't manage to slip up and spill projects under development in casual social encounters, they started close-circling their social lives until they just basically hung out night-and-day with other fellow FB employees. And there was a nice passage where she described an ephemeral experience and how it could not be FB'd. Also, a widely reported FB anecdote - female employees had to wear shirts with MZ's face on it and male employees had to wear sandals on MZ's birthay (she called in sick - it was too much). All FB company events were professionally photographed - not an accident they looked good (so as to project the best FB brand - smiles, we're all having young young fun fun fun)... There was a pivotal moment with a co-worker where they did not go forward (romantically, in the moment) because of what would all their co-workers say when it was FB'd... The summer pool house was her idea - and she ruled that domain pool-side with her fellow non-geeks.

I have a lot of respect for what Eggers has done with 826 Valencia, The Writing Center. If he has co-opted Kate's personal story (including some details, like above - even if slightly refactored), I will be sad.

http://826valencia.org

It's plausible, I admit. But much more likely, to me, is just artistic exploitation 101 (if it turns out he did borrow a lot from her story). She has a specific problem with Eggers getting away with it. She would too if her article was published in the NY Times. She seems to be playing identity politics in a situation that doesn't warrant it: Perhaps she was unlucky in her career? Perhaps Eggers has better agents? Perhaps Eggers is a better writer, or has more experience? Perhaps Eggers' brother works at the NY Times? I would posit that, in this case, it's unlikely that Eggers had his piece published and got away with ripping off her article because he is a white male.

I recognize that sexism and racism definitely exist in Silicon Valley, but the problem she's trying to point out is broader — it's the overzealous linguistic bullshit promoted throughout culture (and that includes other industries, mind you). It's the 'engineering perspective' applied to all situations without discretion. Solve every problem in all domains like its a physics problem. Silicon Valley has a penchant for hyperbole and thus is always "killing," "disrupting," and "breaking" things.

In a linked essay, she declares it to be myopic to promote Facebook's mantra of "move fast and break things" because it leads to unjustly enforced criminal activities like trespassing — and might be "rapey" ("rapey" is her language). Facebook's mantra started in the context of writing internet software. Minorities and women have little disadvantage in that specific context. The problem rose when the life advice language got so widespread (applied to every possible situation in Medium blog posts) as to become meaningless. Now she's pissed off because minorities and women can't get away with breaking things and asking for forgiveness in all areas of life, but young, white men can...and that's exemplified through the popular philosophy of Silicon Valley. First, that again is so broad as to be meaningless (e.g. I can think of plenty of examples where being a young woman let's you get away with things others' can't). Second, "act first and then ask for forgiveness" and related Ferrissisms are all tropes carried over from other industries and books (ever heard of 'sales'?). Third, it targets Silicon Valley as the epicenter of discrimination, which kind of makes it look like she's never worked or lived in any other industry or area of the world.

Downvoting you because your link is to unrelated "Patriarchy 101" nonsense.