A few years ago I had a date with a backend engineer at Meta.

I asked if they'd ever considered the societal implications of the work they did. They said "Oh wow I've never even thought about it". Probably a solid hire from Meta's perspective.

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nostrademons 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I know an ex-Facebook employee who told me that "Nobody at Facebook ever makes a conscious decision about whether something is good or bad. You are given a metric, and your job is to make that metric go up. If it turns out that making the metric go up has negative consequences [for the business, I don't think it's anyone's job to worry about the rest of society], then somebody else is given another metric to ameliorate the negative consequences of you making your metric go up."

He didn't last all that long, he had a conscience. I've heard similar things, but not quite in such clear words, from several other people I know who have worked at Facebook/Meta.

	▲	jonah 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		That's a really effective way to get a group of people to do horrible things. Break it up into small pieces where each one isn't that bad in and of itself.
	▲	motbus3 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I know couple of people who said exactly same thing. One of them is quite smart and I asked what was his/her personal opinion and I've heard: "I'd rather not talk about it ever again"
	▲	knollimar 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		That sounds mysterious and important

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kingofmen 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Or you missed the eye-rolling sarcasm in the answer they have to give on every goddam first date.

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ryandrake 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Maybe I'm just a wacky Bleeding-Heart, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect someone who worked on a product that amplified hate, leading up to a massacre in Myanmar, to at least address that without sarcasm while getting to know them.

	▲	sunnybeetroot 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Maybe it’s a question for the third date?

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Dumbledumb 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Getting to know the views and values of your date is not a weird thing to do on the first date. If it’s a question that annoys them, they should consider why.

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throwanem 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Imagine dating someone who works at Facebook, though. I can't imagine who would be so utterly dense as to offer so presumptuous a complaint, but he'd better be at least a 13 out of 10 or I'm not even bothering to pretend to go to the bathroom and then sneak out the back.

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smohare 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[dead]

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zeroonetwothree 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You sound fun to date

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brabel 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

That can only be a sarcastic answer, don’t you think?? You really believe people would get a job at former Facebook, after lots of scandals have been exposed, and not even think about that?? Sorry no way.

	▲	SpaceNoodled 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		You seriously underestimate how myopic people can be. Not everyone is a sophisticated and socially aware HN commenter like you and I.