Facebook Founder Warns "God Only Knows What It's Doing To Kids' Brains"
Content adapted from this Zerohedge.com article : Source
38-year-old founding president of Facebook, Sean Parker, was uncharacteristically frank about his creation in an interview with Axios. So much so in fact that he concluded, Mark Zuckerberg will probably block his account after reading this.
Confirming every 'big brother' conspiracy there is about the social media giant, Parker explained how social networks purposely hook users and potentially hurt our brains...
"When Facebook was getting going, I had these people who would come up to me and they would say, 'I'm not on social media.' And I would say, 'OK. You know, you will be.' And then they would say, 'No, no, no. I value my real-life interactions. I value the moment. I value presence. I value intimacy.' And I would say, ... 'We'll get you eventually.'"
"I don't know if I really understood the consequences of what I was saying, because [of] the unintended consequences of a network when it grows to a billion or 2 billion people and ... it literally changes your relationship with society, with each other... It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains."
"The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them, ... was all about: 'How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?'"
"And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever. And that's going to get you to contribute more content, and that's going to get you ... more likes and comments."
"It's a social-validation feedback loop ... exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology."
"The inventors, creators — it's me, it's Mark [Zuckerberg], it's Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it's all of these people — understood this consciously. And we did it anyway."
In this 'confessional', it appears Parker has become "something of a conscientious objector" on social media.
Howeever , as Axios notes, Parker ends with just enough crazy to make you wonder...
"Because I'm a billionaire, I'm going to have access to better health care so ...I'm going to be like 160 and I'm going to be part of this, like, class of immortal overlords. [Laughter]
Because, you know the [Warren Buffett] expression about compound interest. ...[G]ive us billionaires an extra hundred years and you'll know what ... wealth disparity looks like."
Hmm it seems like a revelation...at least momentarily.
What he says is true...it is a hook and they know it. The validation on social media is instant. Post something on your wall on FB and you will get instant replies if you have a large following. It is the same on here in fact....those with a large following get instant upvotes.
That said, I dont think it is malicious to try and get people hooked on your product. That is what advertisers do all the time. Of course, hooked and addicted are two different things as in the case with cigarettes. Nevertheless, social media does a good job bringing people back.
As for the human longevity, he is right in that he is a billionaire so there is a good chance he has his life extended. However, there is a chance everyone in his age group gets the same chance. Biology is now akin to IT in that it is just coding...hence we will see a radical reduction in prices over time.
It isnt the billions that give him a better chance, it is being 38 as opposed to 58 or 68.
I think he makes fair points about adults who use Facebook. I've seen many people who should know better post way too much information about their personal lives just to get attention, including things such as breast augmentation surgery with pictures and commentary.
But I do take comfort in the fact that young people think Facebook is passe. My teenage kids don't use it, and derisively refer to it as something only "old people" use. I think Zuckerberg's empire has hit its high point, though it will be with us for some time still.
My kids (24 & 28) don't do social media either. But..the one is hooked on xbox. I'm going to try to get him to upload some of his game play recordings onto dtube. He watches them all the time on youtube. Why not bring everyone to steemit instead ya know? At least here trending is actual trending, not what 'they' want to be trending...😉
I always thought Mark Zuckerberg was the one who created Facebook.
facebook funder = one of facebook funders
A revealing post. It's so sad that as humans we can be so easily exploited. Well done him for saying, pity he didn't say it earlier.
Basically they were just making a version of steemit where all the contributors were slaves producing and consuming content wasting their lives away. No wonder Fakebook and the like spread vanity like a disease. these idiots who were dumb enough to be exploited would simply be putting out something to get some feedback. In steemit we have a system to ensure quality which some other projects like https://alismedia.jp/ https://yoyow.org/index_en.html and https://tronlab.com/ are also trying to emulate.
Social interactions must always be an exchange of value. If no value is exchanged, what we are left with is a waste. When I look at the Mainstream social media, that's all I see; A Waste.
I don't think Fakebook will collapse fast. There are too many idiots. Idiots are always attracted to vanity. Just look at most of the millennials. As a millennial myself, I know that most of the young crowds will be hopeless in a value based community like steemit. they just want something for nothing. They want everything to be equal and every pointless thing to matter. Steemit will become sort of an elitist social media that is reserved for intelligent and productive people. Sort of a safe heaven for us free market free thinkers.