Interestingly enough, Facebook is a routine high performer in third-party surveys. Just about every Blind study paints the company in a favorable light. Glassdoor reviews are also high. These two data-points don’t jibe with the internal survey. It’s also not the first (or only) company that has fallen on hard times for its business practices. Uber is a precursor for Google and Facebook, in the sense of employees voicing concerns on a variety of issues, forcing media scrutiny and subsequent internal change. If all goes according to precedent, Google and Facebook will also change policies and right their respective ships. But the long tail of bad news doesn’t bode well for Facebook, now or in the future. We know the average tenure at the company is roughly two years, so turnover is already high. With all that’s been (and being) reported, the company is starting to develop a black eye amongst tech pros.U.S. congressman David Cicilline, the top democrat on the House antitrust subcommittee, in an emailed statement after the NYT piece: pic.twitter.com/xJ7iXjWUGa
— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) November 14, 2018
Ethics is coming to the foreground for tech companies. Now that the halcyon days of Silicon Valley are behind us, we’re left to examine how we’ve arrived at this point. Facebook is a shining example of how broken tech can be, brokering personal data for ad buys while trying to puppet-master Congress. Google is no better, but at least reacts well to employee outrage. Facebook chose to pen a retort to the New York Times that admits to slowness in handling issues, sprinkled with promises to do better; that, as much as anything else, speaks to its character as a company.Are we there yet? https://t.co/ZD5tEGjRnh
— Ben Sandofsky (@sandofsky) November 14, 2018