Early FB users demanded privacy but _actually_ wanted an information asymmetry over their friends. Each user wants both…
Control over how they specifically are perceived. "Who can see what?"
Power to internet stalk their friends way more than they'd ever admit
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2009 HBR case study: 70% social networks = viewing pics / profiles. Breakdown (largest % first): • Men looking at women they don't know • Men → women they do • Women → women they know "Overall, women receive two-thirds of all page views."
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/understanding-users-of-social-networks …pic.twitter.com/WIBFqNAEvU
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Hypothetical: Imagine an alt universe where FB's founder took privacy seriously. All else is equal. Product decision: By default, can users view pics of friends-of-friends? Effectively, can dudes stalk pics of women they don't know? Choose wisely. Huge impact on engagement!
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Hypothetical #2: Imagine a world w/ a less arrogant Zuck who viewed FaceMash (viral Harvard student hot-or-not, publicly denounced) as crossing the line. FB knew people were freaked out by the news feed. Tons of outrage post-launch. What would well-adjusted Zuck have done?pic.twitter.com/7rzaZTSk5z
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Many success stories have uncomfortable truths buried in their origin. We reduce them to factoids. Haters use them as weapons. Our _serious_ mental models forget them. Forgetting taboo makes us all less effective. I'll be writing about this, starting with Facebook. Stay tuned!
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Twitter had a similar internal tool called Looking Glass that allowed employees to view a user’s TL as the user sees it. Apparently it was quickly sunsetted after it was found to quickly step over propiety’s boundaries.
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Fascinating. Where'd you learn that? I'm collecting taboo / sensitive early startup history facts. Well intentioned / pro-tech reasons. IMO hidden stuff like this (maybe not Twitter's exactly) is critical for modeling company success which makes scrubbing it from history sketchy
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I’m having difficulties tracking down the original tweets, so it may not be worth noting this example after all…but it was brought up in a thread from earlier this year between a couple of former Twitter engineers.
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Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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