Thanks to the magic of the Streisand effect, I just heard about #CarelessPeople - a book by former Meta employee Sarah Wynn-Williams.
Apparently the company is FREAKING OUT and seeking legal ways to stop its promotion. I can see why. This article about it in the Times made my jaw drop: https://web.archive.org/web/20250310221013/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/books/review/careless-people-sarah-wynn-williams.html
I will definitely order it at my local bookshop.
Edit: included non-paywalled link (thanks @gemlog)
An update: last night I started reading #CarelessPeople and I cannot emphasize enough HOW GOOD it is. A real page-turner.
No wonder #Meta executives are trying to shut down its promotional tour. They come across as shallow, greedy and irresponsible.
The author wrote in the prelude that working there was "like watching a bunch of fourteen-year-olds who’ve been given superpowers and an ungodly amount of money, as they jet around the world to figure out what power has bought and brought them."
Update no. 2:
Yesterday my 4-year-old woke up at 7am thus thwarting my plans to read #CarelessPeople for a good hour.
So today I woke up at 6am to resume reading the book. It’s THAT GOOD.
The leaders at #Meta have been shockingly irresponsible in their decisions since the early days. All they care about? Gathering data and influence and making big bucks. I’m so glad I got out of all their platforms and I’m on the #Fediverse instead.
History books won’t be kind to Zuck, Sandberg et al.
Excerpt from #CarelessPeople :
« When we start to run into politicians who put up roadblocks to our expansion, the growth team is quick to suggest that we “juice” the algorithm to help them bolster their Facebook presence. The way they put that? “Let’s dial up the algorithm to give politicians some love.” »
BTW Javi Olivan, who led the growth team at the time, has been elevated to the role of Meta’s COO (since the departure of Sheryl Sandberg).
@_elena We can have a public talk about this book.