A huge number of mental health specialists have warned us about the harmful effects of social networks, but their numbers continue to grow. Maybe what is needed to better understand the situation is the word of those who were previously "on the other side" and even defended their development. In the specific case of Facebook, its first president Sean Parker admitted that the social network "exploits a vulnerability in human psychology," and now it is the turn of Chamath Palihapitiya, former vice president of "user growth," who shared some very harsh expressions during a public talk at Stanford.
There is a phrase floating around the Web that says: "Delete Facebook, Hit the Gym, Lawyer Up". The last two elements propose going to the gym as a "therapy" to solve many of our personal conflicts and not getting into trouble with the law by doing things properly, but most people get stuck on the first part, which is deleting your Facebook account. Why do we keep going there if it makes us feel so bad? How is it possible that despite the warnings it has more than two billion active users? Logically, everyone who participates in Facebook (and who in a certain way has their fortune there) makes a fierce defense of the social network, highlighting its positive aspects at every opportunity. However, opinions change drastically once they leave those ranks.
(Editor's note: What you're looking for is at 21:21, turn on subtitles)
In early November it was Sean Parker, one of the original founders of Napster and first president of Facebook, who questioned the effects of the social network. He spoke of "unintended consequences" in the development of a platform with more than two billion users, about changes in relationships between people and society in general, about its interference in productivity, and about its influence on the youngest, adding "Only God knows what it's doing to our children's brains". Shortly after, the former vice president of "user growth" at Facebook, Chamath Palihapitiya, shared similar criticism during a talk at Stanford. Palihapitiya said that "we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric," and that everything is due to an element also mentioned by Parker: the "social validation feedback loop." Each Like, each comment, each supposedly positive exchange is a touch of dopamine that the user receives... and wants more.
But Palihapitiya didn't stop there. He admitted to feeling "a tremendous guilt", and that deep down, everyone involved knew something bad could happen. He also added that it is "a global problem" (US politics and the Russian ads are just a part), and concluded: "Your behaviors... you don't realize it, but you are being programmed". His solution? Not using those tools anymore. Palihapitiya abandoned them years ago, and his children are forbidden from using them.
