A direct acknowledgement that people inside of Facebook know that "growth" means "questionable practices" and that it's "justified".
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I know that not everyone inside of Facebook agreed with this memo. He says so. "Most of us have the luxury of working in the warm glow of building products consumers love. But make no mistake, growth tactics are how we got here."
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But nakedly stating that any ends justify the means is a parody of Silicon Valley and mustache-twirling villain territory.
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He even bothers to lay out the consequences he says people might be worried about. "Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies."
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But the ends justify the means, he says. Because "we believe in connecting people so deeply that anything that allows us to connect more people more often is *de facto* good".
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There's no reason to weigh tradeoffs. Connecting people is de-facto good, so "all the work we do in growth is justified" ("All the questionable contact importing practices. All the subtle language that helps people stay searchable by friends.")
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And how much Facebook is being "de-facto good" by "connecting people" can, of course, be measured. "It is perhaps the only area where the metrics do tell the true story as far as we are concerned."
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The metrics are good because connecting people is good. We're changing the world! Damn the kids who get killed by bullies.
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Disturbingly, this is actually more naked than the Silicon Valley parody of Silicon Valley.
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So while we ought to be using the opportunity to talk about the broad issues of privacy that plague all mega-corps, we shouldn't simply lump Facebook in with the wider problem.
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(Aside: I understand that there are many things that Google has said and done over the years that is very disturbing -- I've criticized a lot of it very vocally -- I just don't think it comes close to what Facebook has done and appears willing to do)
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(Another aside: I understand that there are many employees at Facebook, many of whom do not agree with their behavior on these fronts. I hope that they feel emboldened to push back harder internally.)
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