Amid Facebook Controversies, Meta's Head of PR 'Leaves a Company on Fire' (gizmodo.com) 43
Gizmodo writes that "It's hard to blame someone for running away from a burning building. The same can be applied to Silicon Valley, where the head of public relations at Meta, Facebook's parent company, is stepping down."
His departure comes as the tech giant struggles to put out several PR fires, most notable among them the fallout from the "Facebook Papers," a series of damning reports first published by the Journal last fall that included thousands of leaked internal documents.
"The central thesis of Haugen's leaks is that that Facebook and its executives know about the problems Facebook helps ignite and proliferate, from political lies to eating disorders, and don't do enough to stop them," writes Insider.com. They add that whistleblower Haugen "has also taken aim at the company's efforts to expand encryption to increase user privacy, suggesting such a move may make it easier for Facebook to ignore countries conducting espionage on its platforms."
And they note that Facebook also lost its VP of Product Communications, Roberta Thomson.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the departure of communications head John Pinette is "creating a void at the top of the department managing the controversies surrounding the tech giant." John Pinette had overseen the company's external communications since 2019. Prior to joining what was then Facebook, Pinette handled business and philanthropic dealings for deceased Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. He also ran communications for Alphabet Inc.'s Google in Asia and advised Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in past jobs.
"The central thesis of Haugen's leaks is that that Facebook and its executives know about the problems Facebook helps ignite and proliferate, from political lies to eating disorders, and don't do enough to stop them," writes Insider.com. They add that whistleblower Haugen "has also taken aim at the company's efforts to expand encryption to increase user privacy, suggesting such a move may make it easier for Facebook to ignore countries conducting espionage on its platforms."
And they note that Facebook also lost its VP of Product Communications, Roberta Thomson.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the departure of communications head John Pinette is "creating a void at the top of the department managing the controversies surrounding the tech giant." John Pinette had overseen the company's external communications since 2019. Prior to joining what was then Facebook, Pinette handled business and philanthropic dealings for deceased Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. He also ran communications for Alphabet Inc.'s Google in Asia and advised Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in past jobs.
"Houston we have a problem. We lost PR" (Score:2)
Re:"Houston we have a problem. We lost PR" (Score:5, Insightful)
The only mission I have seen that FB has is to track people and sell the data.
So nothing will be lost.
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Mod parent and GP funny but true.
Just to share again my solution approach to the Facebook engagement problem: It's 5-minute timer for daily usage. Broke the engagement and most days I don't even feel like looking at Facebook.
(Which reminds me. I posted a New Year's greeting on Facebook about a week ago. Time to go scan and ACK the replies... The timer is ready!)
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I have never used facebook and ii seems like utter useless to me. I guess other people are also starting to realize that as well, including their staff and top management. I guess it's good news. I don 't see much future for them whatever they might try to do.
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I have never used facebook and ii seems like utter useless to me.
The interest groups on Facebook can be both entertaining (hobbies) and life-saving (illnesses and medical conditions). Connecting to friends and family is filled with landmines, but sticking to non-political groups can provide both information and support.
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I have never used facebook and ii seems like utter useless to me.
The interest groups on Facebook can be both entertaining (hobbies) and life-saving (illnesses and medical conditions). Connecting to friends and family is filled with landmines, but sticking to non-political groups can provide both information and support.
I am a member of a couple of really fantastic retro computing groups (TRS-80 color computer and Apple ][), one for my 41 year old italian sports car, and several related to retired racing greyhounds.
The only ones that get any drama are the greyhound groups. Some people really get their noses bent out of shape about greyhound racing.
(I am not a fan, but it is hard to fully condem the place where the best dog in the world came from.)
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Is "ii" a different system than Facebook or a typo for "it"?
With regards to the substance, I think that maintaining personal relationships is a good thing but Facebook has become a contaminated and poisonous tool for that purpose. The business model is all wrong, no matter what the stock market gamblers think.
Re:"Houston we have a problem. We lost PR" (Score:5, Insightful)
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The only mission I have seen that FB has is to track people and sell the data.
So nothing will be lost.
Indeed. Google must be so happy to be out of the crosshairs for a while.
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And we trust them to create our metaverse? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Can't run away without legs...
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Re: And we trust them to create our metaverse? (Score:3)
"Meta - the company fishing for all your information"
Meta as a verb in Swedish is one of the words for fishing. More specific using a pole with line and hook. Go figure.
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I do not know who "we" is, but I do not trust them with anything. Seems also they assigned the mission of "building the metaverse" (what ever deranged thing that may be) to themselves.
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Except when it's their job to put the fire out, or at least to keep it under control. It's quite easy to blame them then.
You got the wrong guy. His job is to tell you that you should be grateful for the fire which is the only reason you are being kept warm. Getting so many people to talk about virtual reality and act as if cloning second life 20 years later was some new massive transformation is a pretty major achievement and distraction. Managing to sell some sets of integers for money ("virtual real estate") is also pretty good. Maybe he feels it's time to leave whilst he's on the up, relatively speaking?
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Facebook monetizes (Score:2, Insightful)
This is capitalism. They have a business model. They make money. That’s why they exist. Period. End. O
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First, I don't use Facebook. Never have outside of creating an account to view memorial videos of dead friends who's surviving family can't figure our how to post them anywhere else.
That bring said, what laws do you think should be passed that do not conflict with the free speech rights of the users? It has never been a secret that when stupid people communicate, stupid things can happen but that is a possibility we have accepted for several hundred years in society.
As a side note, I'm curious to the so ca
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Stuff in India
Transhumanists (Score:4, Interesting)
Interesting that the people most excited about the Metaverse and the silencing of political critics by Big Tech tend to be on the transhumanism spectrum.
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Well, these people do not live in the real. They are at the very least a few centuries early.
Typical and timing is curious... (Score:3)
Such departures are not uncommon and on those positions/roles, everyone knows the emperor is naked. Yet, what's more interesting to know (for me) is why now? what factors make this the time to bolt? And on the other hand, will its "users" finally abandon it?
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Such departures are not uncommon and on those positions/roles, everyone knows the emperor is naked. Yet, what's more interesting to know (for me) is why now? what factors make this the time to bolt? And on the other hand, will its "users" finally abandon it?
Facebooks whole business model is based on the fact that most of its users and not computer savvy enough to know how badly they are being used.
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I suspect these two have seen the strategy that ZuckTheFuck is going to apply to the problem and have decided to get out as fast as possible. I expect some nice fireworks ahead. I do think the whole "Meta" business has the stink of desperation to it.
Will someone sell me some petrol ... (Score:2)
I want to ensure that the job is done properly.
A shame re: Oculus (Score:2)
It's a shame that it's Facebook, because the Quest 2 is a really good bit of hardware for the price.
I got one to understand what the fuss is about, and was surprised how well it's made and how
well it works. Usually don't like most modern toys for one reason or another, but this thing is very, very cool.
Didn't require a Facebook account to work, either.
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Last year I decided to upgrade my rig and get a VR. I did my research and discovered that Oculus seemed to have everybody beat on price and quality. Then I discovered...Facebook. Well, shit.
It's good that it doesn't require an FB account to use, but still I'm sure FB still has its way of culling and selling my data, as another commenter mentioned. Also, a recent article here says: "Developers have complained that Meta uses its market power to thwart companies that offer competing games and services on Ocul
I can't wait till it burns to the ground (Score:2)
Smart people (Score:2)
They know an indefensible case when they see it. They may even have a bit of personal integrity, but that is unlikely in these positions.
Wow (Score:2)
John Pinette (Score:1)
Whaaaaattt??? (Score:1)
So, it seems unlikely this guy didn't have the stomach for the Zuck's flavor of corporate sociopathology. Quite the contrary. He should have felt himself right at home at Meta.
I'm guessing something else is up besides a new-found sense of morality.
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Prolly didn't want to be a scapegoat.