1/ The dull inevitability of the Facebook rebranding effort is already boring me. You could rename it Miss Mary Sunshine’s Cute Kitten Memetown and the following things will still be true:
Marc Z is a broken, sociopath without the ability to interact with or understand humans.
Marc Z is a broken, sociopath without the ability to interact with or understand humans.
2/ Marc will still exercise absolute control over the platform and all of its pathologies will reflect that control.
It will still be the world’s primary modality for exercising algorithmic sorting and manipulation.
It will still be a morass of conspiracy nonsense.
It will still be the world’s primary modality for exercising algorithmic sorting and manipulation.
It will still be a morass of conspiracy nonsense.
3/ it will still be imbued with the belief that its technology is morally agnostic and that the gods of quarterly shareholder value must be appeased.
As has been consistently demonstrated, the worst and darkest impulses of humanity will find a fertile ground there.
As has been consistently demonstrated, the worst and darkest impulses of humanity will find a fertile ground there.
4/ The giant ocean of cash Facebook enjoys will let it to continue to metastasize, absorbing potential competitors in their digital infancy. Any platform that threatens will be bought or detonated.
Innovation will slow as companies configure themselves only as buyout targets.
Innovation will slow as companies configure themselves only as buyout targets.
5/ and if you’re dreaming that either party in Washington will regulate Facebook or break them up, get real. They employ the armies of lobbyists of every stripe.
any regulations that are passed are simple regulatory capture to further empower Facebook and crush competition.
any regulations that are passed are simple regulatory capture to further empower Facebook and crush competition.
6/ monopolies are not inevitable or eternal, but Washington is completely ill-equipped to understand the scale of the danger Facebook poses around the globe and politically unwilling to do anything about it, other than the occasional cringe hearings with the android.
7/ The algorithm that makes Facebook so very powerful will continue to be exploited and hacked by authoritarians around the globe and by people like Trump and Bannon.
The silo of false information, conspiracy and racial provocation will grow ever deeper and more intractable.
The silo of false information, conspiracy and racial provocation will grow ever deeper and more intractable.
8/ So call it what you want, but armies of PR and branding folks will labor mightily to gild a sewer pipe, to no avail.
Are they all with merrily to an early grave.
End.
Are they all with merrily to an early grave.
End.
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