By James Simons-
A former Facebook executive has blasted social media and said he would not want his kids using social media.
Chamath Palihapitaya, who was vice president for user growth at Facebook before he left the company in 2011 He berated facebook and social media in general a slacking in civil discourse, cooperation, misinformation, and mistruth.” He said:
“The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth.”
His remarks, were made at a Stanford business School event in November, but only just surfaced by tech website the Verge on Monday.
Palihapitiya said he felt “tremendous guilt” over his work on “tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works”,
Palihapitiya was vice-president for user growth at Facebook before he left the company in 2011, said:
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“This is not about Russian ads,” he added. “This is a global problem … It is eroding the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other.”
Palihapitaya said that he was now hoping to use the money he made at Facebook to do good in the world.
“I can’t control them,” Palihapitaya said of his former employer.(facebook). “I can control my decision, which is that I don’t use that shit. I can control my kids’ decisions, which is that they’re not allowed to use that shit.”
SOUL SEARCH
The former facebook executive also called on his audience to “soul search” about their own relationship to social media.
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“Your behaviors, you don’t realise it, but you are being programmed,” he said. “It was unintentional, but now you gotta decide how much you’re going to give up, how much of your intellectual independence.”
Social media companies have been under the knife for its access to terrorists who have used the platform to further their evil goals. It has also been criticised for the political divisions caused when dubious individuals and groups use it to achieve anti-democratic objectives.
Despite the useful function of uniting otherwise lost relationships all over the world, many have criticised the level of self consciousness, vanity, and depression several thousands experience through social media platforms like facebook. Social media has also been partly blamed for its role in bringing about the shock U.S 2016 election outcome that saw President Donald Trump become the American president.
Facebook also recently admitted unintentionally selling advertisements to Russian operatives seeking to sow division among US voters during the 2016 election. The former facebook’s criticism of social media will not please the social media giant who may wish he could give up the money he made with them and send it back to them.
We wait to see what plans the former executive has with the money he plans to do good to the world. Perhaps he should give it to charity.
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