Is Facebook dividing people or bringing them together?
Feb 21, 2017, 6:33 PM | Updated: 6:34 pm
(AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, was recently interviewed by Wired magazine. In the piece, Zuckerberg talked about how Facebook is dividing people when his original intent was to bring people together.
Related: Are advances in tech always a good thing?
Now, Zuckerberg is a technology and business genius. That is undeniable. In our society, we want to think that people who have brilliance in one area are brilliant in every area. But hardly anyone can be brilliant on multiple levels.
Zuckerberg was asked if he thought the election had changed people’s perception of Facebook. He wasn’t really able to answer the question. And this is so true of technology people.
They do not understand that there is no technology in politics that is not used to divide. There is no technology in politics that is not designed to set one group off against another. There are no positive uses for technology in politics.
The simple solution would be to let people opt in to a “no politics” block. It would be a simple algorithm to write. But that would eat into the social media company’s model.
They could also stop taking political ads.
Zuckerberg needs to realize he built a weapon. And that this has become a feelings war.
As always, please listen to the full audio clip for complete context.