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in reply to Aral Balkan

My copy should be delivered on Monday. I’m always conflicted about these kind of books: at what point do you stop turning a blind eye while taking the money and become a whistleblower?
in reply to Aral Balkan

And now somebody is filling in some of the blanks: restofworld.org/2025/careless-…

Aral Balkan reshared this.

in reply to Aral Balkan

Well the book is good. As in damning. And not just for Mark or Sheryl. Ireland, especially, comes out looking terrible in ways the EU will be most interested in having insider confirmation on (and anyone who’s been following @noybeu’s work will not be surprised by). Will post some highlights tomorrow after I finish reading it.
in reply to Aral Balkan

@noybeu Read it yesterday in one session. Couldn’t put it down. Glad I ditched Facebook years ago. Simply appalling behavior described in the book, and the narrative arc from idealism to disillusion makes it thoroughly believable.
in reply to Ralph Brandi

@thereisnocat @noybeu People do love a good redemption arc but, just for context, Zuckerberg calling the people who trust him with their data “dumb fucks” came out in 2010.

That said, it’s why I’ve been so vocal in challenging the creation myths of these venture-capital funded startups (that they are started by starry eyed idealists who just want to improve the world and then, somehow, “enshittify”). No, they are shit from day one. Understanding that won’t fix the ones we have but might stop the next one existing. (We still haven’t understood this and that’s why we keep getting surprised and disappointed… over and over and over again.)

in reply to Aral Balkan

@noybeu The more I read through Careless People, the angrier I get. Not because this isn’t anything I didn’t already know from the outside (you only need to know he saw Facebook’s users as “dumb fucks” for trusting him and Facebook’s business model) but because of all the people who are listed trying to get “the powers that be” to do better. “Effecting change from the inside” is the biggest crock of bull.

When you’re fighting an infection, you don’t negotiate with the virus. You don’t try to make the virus a kinder virus. And you sure as hell don’t put yourself in a position where your survival – sickly as it might be – depends on the continued wellbeing of the virus. You kill the damn virus.

Elena Rossini ⁂ reshared this.

in reply to Aral Balkan

@noybeu

Thinking back to an earlier "Facebook whistleblower" Frances Haugen

in reply to Aral Balkan

@noybeu
I was struck by how much Zuck craves adulation of the crowds, so much like the Orange One.
in reply to Alex Schroeder

@alex @noybeu Yeah, I've got a visceral reaction to seeing that highlighter too. That poor book!
in reply to ticho

@ticho @alex @noybeu I guess I’ll just have to post a photo of all the dog ears, then 😈

(Books are meant to be engaged with.)

in reply to Aral Balkan

@noybeu I've got that Game & Watch thing lying on the shelve in the bathroom, and I too use it as a bookmarklet when reading there.

I've bought the book but have yet to start. I'm super curious about it.

in reply to Aral Balkan

I am about 25% into this book and I've been mouthing "what the fuck" most of the time.
in reply to Aral Balkan

Here's a copy for free, for people who can't buy it: pdfhost.io/v/9URfKHJCZh_Carele…

Hosted on this site since the original z-library link needs an account.

This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)