Good article, but given the title, it's surprising that Facebook is only mentioned in the very last sentence:
> We all hate Facebook, and Facebook (the corporation) is, admittedly, terrible. But to a large extent, we hate Facebook because Facebook is other people.
That said, I think there is something to this, and some parts of this article put some ideas into words that I think I'd previously subconsciously noticed, but had never quite fully grasped and crystallised into concrete thoughts.
The description of his older relative who is just starting to get online was particularly poignant. It's easy to forget how hard this must be for so many people who didn't have the luxury of growing up with this technology like I and many others here did.
This bit particularly hit home:
> If he gets online, he is at serious financial risk; never very financially savvy, he will be defenseless against the legions of outright scammers, identity thieves and ransomware extortionists.
And this rings true too:
> And his presence as a consumer of online news will have negative consequences, both for himself and for the wider information environment. He is an embittered, lonely man, the perfect target for information fraudsters who will claim to explain that the source of his pain is some despised group (immigrants, the deep state).
A lot of food for thought.
> We all hate Facebook, and Facebook (the corporation) is, admittedly, terrible. But to a large extent, we hate Facebook because Facebook is other people.
That said, I think there is something to this, and some parts of this article put some ideas into words that I think I'd previously subconsciously noticed, but had never quite fully grasped and crystallised into concrete thoughts.
The description of his older relative who is just starting to get online was particularly poignant. It's easy to forget how hard this must be for so many people who didn't have the luxury of growing up with this technology like I and many others here did.
This bit particularly hit home:
> If he gets online, he is at serious financial risk; never very financially savvy, he will be defenseless against the legions of outright scammers, identity thieves and ransomware extortionists.
And this rings true too:
> And his presence as a consumer of online news will have negative consequences, both for himself and for the wider information environment. He is an embittered, lonely man, the perfect target for information fraudsters who will claim to explain that the source of his pain is some despised group (immigrants, the deep state).
A lot of food for thought.