Nearly three billion world residents now use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram more than once a month. All products from the stable of Mark Zuckerberg, the man who, according to a recent article in The Atlantic possesses all the characteristics of an autocrat, except a territory.
The article raises the question of whether we should still see Facebook as a company now that so many earthlings have voluntarily joined this empire with all their wealth. Author Adrienne LaFrance calls it a cosmocracy, which seems to be the realization of Einstein’s 1947 utopia of a world government to avert the danger of the atomic bomb.
Big words like these often sound very convincing. But who saw how the company was put through the cracks by the US Senate last week, saw that Emperor Zuckerberg wears fewer and fewer clothes.
Yes, Facebook is powerful, but look, for example, how quickly the wheels suddenly came to a halt when the company had to rush last week to stop the development of Insta Kids – Instagram for prepubescents. Meanwhile, the company must defend itself against a barrage of revealing articles in The Wall Street Journal.
The relativity of Facebook’s supposed omnipotence is best reflected in the flood of ads the company has been posting these weeks. Precisely in the medium that, according to many observers, Facebook would compete for the history books: the paper newspaper. Also readers of NRC can sometimes read on one page how Facebook is under fire and five pages further follow how the company connects entrepreneurs. Facebook announced a major publicity offensive last Friday to improve its image. With the so-called Project Amplify it wants to emphasize the positive stories that can also be told.
But maybe there’s more to it than a company trying to polish its image. Even YouTube – part of Google – is supremely powerful, but it is increasingly backing down. Last week, for example, it announced that it would unceremoniously remove videos with misinformation about vaccines.
Could it be that these companies are slowly but surely are learning what traditional media companies once had to learn? That they will see the importance of phenomena such as editing, curation and moderation and the danger of commercial interference in such processes?
In a wise article on the website TechDirt Author Mike Masnick argues that Facebook is neither completely evil nor completely incompetent. To put it in Facebook language: it’s complicated. The suggestion of a quick fix is also a form of precisely the kind of pride that has already caused so many problems for Facebook.
Viewed in this way, as he slowly approaches 40 – he is 37 – Emperor Zuckerberg is especially given the insight that a monarch must accept the limitations of his power. And a people, including journalists, who remind him of that every now and then.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of October 4, 2021
Nearly three billion world residents now use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram more than once a month. All products from the stable of Mark Zuckerberg, the man who, according to a recent article in The Atlantic possesses all the characteristics of an autocrat, except a territory.
The article raises the question of whether we should still see Facebook as a company now that so many earthlings have voluntarily joined this empire with all their wealth. Author Adrienne LaFrance calls it a cosmocracy, which seems to be the realization of Einstein’s 1947 utopia of a world government to avert the danger of the atomic bomb.
Big words like these often sound very convincing. But who saw how the company was put through the cracks by the US Senate last week, saw that Emperor Zuckerberg wears fewer and fewer clothes.
Yes, Facebook is powerful, but look, for example, how quickly the wheels suddenly came to a halt when the company had to rush last week to stop the development of Insta Kids – Instagram for prepubescents. Meanwhile, the company must defend itself against a barrage of revealing articles in The Wall Street Journal.
The relativity of Facebook’s supposed omnipotence is best reflected in the flood of ads the company has been posting these weeks. Precisely in the medium that, according to many observers, Facebook would compete for the history books: the paper newspaper. Also readers of NRC can sometimes read on one page how Facebook is under fire and five pages further follow how the company connects entrepreneurs. Facebook announced a major publicity offensive last Friday to improve its image. With the so-called Project Amplify it wants to emphasize the positive stories that can also be told.
But maybe there’s more to it than a company trying to polish its image. Even YouTube – part of Google – is supremely powerful, but it is increasingly backing down. Last week, for example, it announced that it would unceremoniously remove videos with misinformation about vaccines.
Could it be that these companies are slowly but surely are learning what traditional media companies once had to learn? That they will see the importance of phenomena such as editing, curation and moderation and the danger of commercial interference in such processes?
In a wise article on the website TechDirt Author Mike Masnick argues that Facebook is neither completely evil nor completely incompetent. To put it in Facebook language: it’s complicated. The suggestion of a quick fix is also a form of precisely the kind of pride that has already caused so many problems for Facebook.
Viewed in this way, as he slowly approaches 40 – he is 37 – Emperor Zuckerberg is especially given the insight that a monarch must accept the limitations of his power. And a people, including journalists, who remind him of that every now and then.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of October 4, 2021
Nearly three billion world residents now use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram more than once a month. All products from the stable of Mark Zuckerberg, the man who, according to a recent article in The Atlantic possesses all the characteristics of an autocrat, except a territory.
The article raises the question of whether we should still see Facebook as a company now that so many earthlings have voluntarily joined this empire with all their wealth. Author Adrienne LaFrance calls it a cosmocracy, which seems to be the realization of Einstein’s 1947 utopia of a world government to avert the danger of the atomic bomb.
Big words like these often sound very convincing. But who saw how the company was put through the cracks by the US Senate last week, saw that Emperor Zuckerberg wears fewer and fewer clothes.
Yes, Facebook is powerful, but look, for example, how quickly the wheels suddenly came to a halt when the company had to rush last week to stop the development of Insta Kids – Instagram for prepubescents. Meanwhile, the company must defend itself against a barrage of revealing articles in The Wall Street Journal.
The relativity of Facebook’s supposed omnipotence is best reflected in the flood of ads the company has been posting these weeks. Precisely in the medium that, according to many observers, Facebook would compete for the history books: the paper newspaper. Also readers of NRC can sometimes read on one page how Facebook is under fire and five pages further follow how the company connects entrepreneurs. Facebook announced a major publicity offensive last Friday to improve its image. With the so-called Project Amplify it wants to emphasize the positive stories that can also be told.
But maybe there’s more to it than a company trying to polish its image. Even YouTube – part of Google – is supremely powerful, but it is increasingly backing down. Last week, for example, it announced that it would unceremoniously remove videos with misinformation about vaccines.
Could it be that these companies are slowly but surely are learning what traditional media companies once had to learn? That they will see the importance of phenomena such as editing, curation and moderation and the danger of commercial interference in such processes?
In a wise article on the website TechDirt Author Mike Masnick argues that Facebook is neither completely evil nor completely incompetent. To put it in Facebook language: it’s complicated. The suggestion of a quick fix is also a form of precisely the kind of pride that has already caused so many problems for Facebook.
Viewed in this way, as he slowly approaches 40 – he is 37 – Emperor Zuckerberg is especially given the insight that a monarch must accept the limitations of his power. And a people, including journalists, who remind him of that every now and then.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of October 4, 2021
Nearly three billion world residents now use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram more than once a month. All products from the stable of Mark Zuckerberg, the man who, according to a recent article in The Atlantic possesses all the characteristics of an autocrat, except a territory.
The article raises the question of whether we should still see Facebook as a company now that so many earthlings have voluntarily joined this empire with all their wealth. Author Adrienne LaFrance calls it a cosmocracy, which seems to be the realization of Einstein’s 1947 utopia of a world government to avert the danger of the atomic bomb.
Big words like these often sound very convincing. But who saw how the company was put through the cracks by the US Senate last week, saw that Emperor Zuckerberg wears fewer and fewer clothes.
Yes, Facebook is powerful, but look, for example, how quickly the wheels suddenly came to a halt when the company had to rush last week to stop the development of Insta Kids – Instagram for prepubescents. Meanwhile, the company must defend itself against a barrage of revealing articles in The Wall Street Journal.
The relativity of Facebook’s supposed omnipotence is best reflected in the flood of ads the company has been posting these weeks. Precisely in the medium that, according to many observers, Facebook would compete for the history books: the paper newspaper. Also readers of NRC can sometimes read on one page how Facebook is under fire and five pages further follow how the company connects entrepreneurs. Facebook announced a major publicity offensive last Friday to improve its image. With the so-called Project Amplify it wants to emphasize the positive stories that can also be told.
But maybe there’s more to it than a company trying to polish its image. Even YouTube – part of Google – is supremely powerful, but it is increasingly backing down. Last week, for example, it announced that it would unceremoniously remove videos with misinformation about vaccines.
Could it be that these companies are slowly but surely are learning what traditional media companies once had to learn? That they will see the importance of phenomena such as editing, curation and moderation and the danger of commercial interference in such processes?
In a wise article on the website TechDirt Author Mike Masnick argues that Facebook is neither completely evil nor completely incompetent. To put it in Facebook language: it’s complicated. The suggestion of a quick fix is also a form of precisely the kind of pride that has already caused so many problems for Facebook.
Viewed in this way, as he slowly approaches 40 – he is 37 – Emperor Zuckerberg is especially given the insight that a monarch must accept the limitations of his power. And a people, including journalists, who remind him of that every now and then.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of October 4, 2021