An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination
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- Author：Sheera Frenkel
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Summary
Award-winning New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang unveil the tech story of our times in a riveting， behind-the-scenes exposé that offers the definitive account of Facebook’s fall from grace。
Once one of Silicon Valley’s greatest success stories， Facebook has been under constant fire for the past five years， roiled by controversies and crises。 It turns out that while the tech giant was connecting the world， they were also mishandling users’ data， spreading fake news， and amplifying dangerous， polarizing hate speech。
The company， many said， had simply lost its way。 But the truth is far more complex。 Leadership decisions enabled， and then attempted to deflect attention from， the crises。 Time after time， Facebook’s engineers were instructed to create tools that encouraged people to spend as much time on the platform as possible， even as those same tools boosted inflammatory rhetoric， conspiracy theories， and partisan filter bubbles。 And while consumers and lawmakers focused their outrage on privacy breaches and misinformation， Facebook solidified its role as the world’s most voracious data-mining machine， posting record profits， and shoring up its dominance via aggressive lobbying efforts。
Drawing on their unrivaled sources， Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang take readers inside the complex court politics， alliances and rivalries within the company to shine a light on the fatal cracks in the architecture of the tech behemoth。 Their explosive， exclusive reporting led them to a shocking conclusion: The missteps of the last five years were not an anomaly but an inevitability—this is how Facebook was built to perform。 In a period of great upheaval， growth has remained the one constant under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg。 Both have been held up as archetypes of uniquely 21st century executives—he the tech “boy genius” turned billionaire， she the ultimate woman in business， an inspiration to millions through her books and speeches。 But sealed off in tight circles of advisers and hobbled by their own ambition and hubris， each has stood by as their technology is coopted by hate-mongers， criminals and corrupt political regimes across the globe， with devastating consequences。 In An Ugly Truth， they are at last held accountable。
Once one of Silicon Valley’s greatest success stories， Facebook has been under constant fire for the past five years， roiled by controversies and crises。 It turns out that while the tech giant was connecting the world， they were also mishandling users’ data， spreading fake news， and amplifying dangerous， polarizing hate speech。
The company， many said， had simply lost its way。 But the truth is far more complex。 Leadership decisions enabled， and then attempted to deflect attention from， the crises。 Time after time， Facebook’s engineers were instructed to create tools that encouraged people to spend as much time on the platform as possible， even as those same tools boosted inflammatory rhetoric， conspiracy theories， and partisan filter bubbles。 And while consumers and lawmakers focused their outrage on privacy breaches and misinformation， Facebook solidified its role as the world’s most voracious data-mining machine， posting record profits， and shoring up its dominance via aggressive lobbying efforts。
Drawing on their unrivaled sources， Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang take readers inside the complex court politics， alliances and rivalries within the company to shine a light on the fatal cracks in the architecture of the tech behemoth。 Their explosive， exclusive reporting led them to a shocking conclusion: The missteps of the last five years were not an anomaly but an inevitability—this is how Facebook was built to perform。 In a period of great upheaval， growth has remained the one constant under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg。 Both have been held up as archetypes of uniquely 21st century executives—he the tech “boy genius” turned billionaire， she the ultimate woman in business， an inspiration to millions through her books and speeches。 But sealed off in tight circles of advisers and hobbled by their own ambition and hubris， each has stood by as their technology is coopted by hate-mongers， criminals and corrupt political regimes across the globe， with devastating consequences。 In An Ugly Truth， they are at last held accountable。
Reviews
Brian Katz
，
An interesting read about Facebook， it’s infancy， adolescence and early adult life。 It certainly is a controversial company given its global reach and the desire to connect people and allow for a free exchange of ideas。 I am not a big fan of government regulation， but my sense of reading this book and knowing how corporate America can put profits at the forefront - tells me that some sort of regulation is needed。 That would apply to all social media platforms too。 I say this because some sort of An interesting read about Facebook， it’s infancy， adolescence and early adult life。 It certainly is a controversial company given its global reach and the desire to connect people and allow for a free exchange of ideas。 I am not a big fan of government regulation， but my sense of reading this book and knowing how corporate America can put profits at the forefront - tells me that some sort of regulation is needed。 That would apply to all social media platforms too。 I say this because some sort of “standards” are needed for the entire industry。 It won’t be affective if one platform adopts rules that are vastly different than another。 This would lead to cherry picking of rules with the view of minimizing the impact on profits。 No - give the entire industry a set a standards and tell them all to comply。 I’ve got a better sense now of Sheryl Sandberg and her role in the company， which is to exploit the platform and advertising opportunity to generate profits。 It’s interesting to learn of the many “products” developed on the platform and how they resulted in more engagement from users， which drove more profits。 She was more pigeonholed than I would have thought - stepping away from the more difficult PR issues when the company was faced with a public backlash。 But the book does give her appropriate credit for her ability to scale the business and generate cash flow。 As for Zuckerberg， he appears in many circumstances to have let issues fester longer than appropriate。 In a few cases， one wonders if his teams were pushing problems up the chain or not - as he seemed aloof once finally engaged with an issue。 It was clear that his primary focus was on engineering and tweaking the platform to improve user engagement。 This cost him a lot because he was behind the eight ball all too often when he was asked to testify on Capital Hill。 It appears only recently that he became more proactive with the impact of the platform on society where he developed different approaches to problems that previously would have him left dumbfounded。 Failing to anticipate what is coming can kill you。 Let’s see if he learned his lesson。 。。。more
Qinyi
，
this book will justify and intensify your hatred toward FB but not really offer anything new and insightful。
Lucas
，
Obviously a lot of Facebook is just people posting pictures saying “look at me， look at this beer I’m drinking at this restaurant with this dog”， but there is also a real danger in this platform。 The issue is not that the vast majority of people in the world are inherently awful， but that the vast majority of people （including me） are prone to some level of thought manipulation， and a social network like Facebook gives a small minority of baneful actors “the greatest propaganda machine in histor Obviously a lot of Facebook is just people posting pictures saying “look at me， look at this beer I’m drinking at this restaurant with this dog”， but there is also a real danger in this platform。 The issue is not that the vast majority of people in the world are inherently awful， but that the vast majority of people （including me） are prone to some level of thought manipulation， and a social network like Facebook gives a small minority of baneful actors “the greatest propaganda machine in history” （to quote Sacha Baron Cohen）。 The cost of that has already played out all over the world， so even if it’s not the majority of what happens on Facebook， it’s fair to make it the entire subject of this book。 I can acknowledge that a lot of good happens on Facebook and even sympathize more than most with the general impossibility of creating some perfect algorithm that deletes everything fake or malicious immediately。 But when Zuckerburg makes decisions to just throw his hands up and not even try， like he did when he decided political ads wouldn’t be subject to fact checking， it’s hard to defend。 I also think it’s hard to read this book and not acknowledge the role capitalism plays in all this。 This entire ethos of “Talk about how you want to make the world a better place but actually pursue growth at any cost” is not just what capitalism rewards， but basically what it demands？ In one story in the book， they literally do an experiment labeling things “good for the world” and “bad for the world”， then prove that they have the ability to demote “bad for the world” content in the News Feed， and Zuckerburg says no because the “good for the world” content results in shorter session lengths from users。 Even if the reporters got the reasoning for that decision wrong， it speaks to the general decision making hierarchy going on here， where Zuckerburg will monitor metrics like “do users think Facebook is good for the world” and “do users think Facebook cares about them”， but those are always secondary metrics below growing engagement， even if that means amplifying divisive and dishonest content。 And his tunnel visioned pursuit of growth while being willfully naive about the implications to the world continues to be financially rewarded。 Companies that buy ads on Facebook have done a few notable boycotts， but ultimately as this most recent Q2 2021 Earnings Call showed， they’re going to keep buying ads from Facebook， even as the price goes up， because it’s just a much more effective way to sell to targeted users than placing an ad in the New York Times。In regard to this book itself， if you’ve kept up with the stories in the news， there might not be a ton that is new， but I found it engaging and learned a lot。 I think it is very impressive reporting， if they got it all right。 There’s a lot of descriptions from very private meetings that must have been incredibly hard to get and hats off to the authors for doing that work。 I feel like they got Zuckerburg generally correct， but am less sure about the depiction of Sheryl Sandberg。 As Kim Elsesser in Forbes pointed out， the quotes in the book “call （Sandberg） out for behavior that would likely go unnoticed if it came from a male leader”， including yelling， not befriending every single female employee， being over prepared at a Congressional hearing， etc。 The authors also portray her as afraid to challenge Zuckerburg and clinging to her power as second in command， a position which they allege she is losing。 I could easily see Sandberg being more direct with Zuckerburg in one on one meetings， rather than the big meetings that the authors had sources in。 。。。more
Harpal
，
Facebook needs to be broker down as it has become a threat to democratic societies。
Meghan
，
I was conflicted reading this book。 On the one hand， An Ugly Truth provides a detailed history of Facebook’s 17 years as a company， and addresses many important topics。 Specifically， can Facebook’s duty to society be reconciled with its duty as a growing， global company？ Is there a duty at all？ On the other hand， the bias of the two authors is very apparent， almost distractingly so。 While I agree with Frenkel and Kang on some points， it’s worth acknowledging their own backgrounds in print media， I was conflicted reading this book。 On the one hand， An Ugly Truth provides a detailed history of Facebook’s 17 years as a company， and addresses many important topics。 Specifically， can Facebook’s duty to society be reconciled with its duty as a growing， global company？ Is there a duty at all？ On the other hand， the bias of the two authors is very apparent， almost distractingly so。 While I agree with Frenkel and Kang on some points， it’s worth acknowledging their own backgrounds in print media， and how its business model might not be so different from the one they disparage their digital competitor for。 。。。more
G
，
The stupidity is staggering。 For those who have to follow the company’s perpetual litany of screw-ups， it’s still depressing to see just how disastrous everything they do is。 A very readable， infuriating read。
Michelle Swanson Michelon
，
Wow！ This needed to be put into a book！ Goodbye social media of his sort！ Unbelievable！
Eliana Garces
，
The book is a one sided superficial narrative and not a real discussion of very complicated issues。 It won’t make you wiser， it won’t make you smarter。 It’s just an expression of dislike for a company。
John
，
If you hate Facebook （as I do， as you should）， you’re going to enjoy it。 It goes over a lot of the main stories you already know， but it adds （through a lot of reporting） a lot of detail about what was actually happening at the very top levels; what was known， what was discussed， etc。The book is especially harsh on Sandberg and draws attention to some of the rifts between her and Zuckerberg。 It also shows the FB was well aware of how harmful its algorithm is in that it promotes whatever increase If you hate Facebook （as I do， as you should）， you’re going to enjoy it。 It goes over a lot of the main stories you already know， but it adds （through a lot of reporting） a lot of detail about what was actually happening at the very top levels; what was known， what was discussed， etc。The book is especially harsh on Sandberg and draws attention to some of the rifts between her and Zuckerberg。 It also shows the FB was well aware of how harmful its algorithm is in that it promotes whatever increases engagement even if that’s Myanmar generals/monks calling for genocide; posts that make you hate your friends and family; fake election/vaccine news， etc。Facebook is basically the Phillip Morris of the modern age - the best thing Zuckerberg could do for the world would be to shut down the whole thing。 。。。more
Tess
，
Eerie， to say the least。 And while it offers quite a critical review of Zuckerberg， it gives a scathing review of Sheryl Sandberg。 For those that couldn’t stomach the privilege folded into Lean In， this feels like poetic justice。 But I wish this book offered better solutions on balancing free speech while eliminating hate speech。
Shannon Lindbloom
，
It's important to understand Facebook's impact on our democracy （and on our mental health， though that's not the focus of this book）。 This is a concise history of Facebook's genesis， driving principles， and lasting impacts on our society。 It's important to understand Facebook's impact on our democracy （and on our mental health， though that's not the focus of this book）。 This is a concise history of Facebook's genesis， driving principles， and lasting impacts on our society。 。。。more
Konrad Iturbe
，
A rare five stars。 The shocking insider stories and detailed accounts shown in this book - some of which had the higher ups at FB nervous before the release of the book - describe what really happened inside Menlo Park's blue company。 The closed feedback loop of let people post， mine that data， show ads/suggested groups based on data， repeat lead us into a dark hole， and the people at the top did not care until too late。 A rare five stars。 The shocking insider stories and detailed accounts shown in this book - some of which had the higher ups at FB nervous before the release of the book - describe what really happened inside Menlo Park's blue company。 The closed feedback loop of let people post， mine that data， show ads/suggested groups based on data， repeat lead us into a dark hole， and the people at the top did not care until too late。 。。。more
Jill
，
Great read。 Facebook is evil。
Sara
，
really amazing and well done book， the time frame it focuses on is really well developed and a lot of amazing insight is here， especially about sheryl sandberg & mark zuckerbeg's partnership and the way they've reacted to the challenges facing facebook now really amazing and well done book， the time frame it focuses on is really well developed and a lot of amazing insight is here， especially about sheryl sandberg & mark zuckerbeg's partnership and the way they've reacted to the challenges facing facebook now 。。。more
Steve Bullington
，
The book is 5 starts / Facebook is 0 starsIf only half of the reporting in the book is true （and I thinks its all true） Mark Zuckerberg should be run out of America。
Jeff
，
If you've been following tech news over the years， much of this may not surprise you， though there is definitely more depth of insight to be found in this book。 The real power here lies in lining all of the events of the past decade plus in order， and taking a high-level view of Facebook's behavior over the years。 I would definitely recommend this book to folks who may not have been following as closely， as this might be one of the best "first drafts of history" I've read。 I listened to the audi If you've been following tech news over the years， much of this may not surprise you， though there is definitely more depth of insight to be found in this book。 The real power here lies in lining all of the events of the past decade plus in order， and taking a high-level view of Facebook's behavior over the years。 I would definitely recommend this book to folks who may not have been following as closely， as this might be one of the best "first drafts of history" I've read。 I listened to the audiobook and really disliked the main narrator: I found it grating when he would intonate quotes with what he thought were the correct emotional beats。 It lacked a dispassion I would expect from a book aiming for impartiality in its telling of the most important tech/social issue of our generation。 。。。more
Sharla
，
It's well-reported， thorough， and interesting， but I was a bit disappointed to see that the book does not address other critiques of social media （i。e。 health， crime， trafficking， etc） to focus solely on politics。 Also， I wish the authors had attempted to be more prescriptive in their reading of Facebook。 It's well-reported， thorough， and interesting， but I was a bit disappointed to see that the book does not address other critiques of social media （i。e。 health， crime， trafficking， etc） to focus solely on politics。 Also， I wish the authors had attempted to be more prescriptive in their reading of Facebook。 。。。more
Jacob
，
The history of social media is yet to be seen and the effects are not neutral （paraphrased）。Fascinating book on the rise of Facebook， and the accompanying moral questions of having a major hand in determining the media content viewed by billions of individuals world wide。 This book provided me a greater understanding of Facebook as a company as well as expanded insight into decisions made in the past 10 years。The book goes through the beginnings of the tech giant， with a lot of focus on its effe The history of social media is yet to be seen and the effects are not neutral （paraphrased）。Fascinating book on the rise of Facebook， and the accompanying moral questions of having a major hand in determining the media content viewed by billions of individuals world wide。 This book provided me a greater understanding of Facebook as a company as well as expanded insight into decisions made in the past 10 years。The book goes through the beginnings of the tech giant， with a lot of focus on its effects during the 2016 and 2020 elections， and the increasing polarization we see。"。。。the platform is built upon a fundamental， possibly irreconcilable dichotomy: its purported mission to advance society by connecting people while also profiting off them。" 。。。more
Grant
，
Frenkel and Kang have crafted a very solid book that deftly navigates a number of issues without getting bogged down in unnecessarily details。 However， my struggle with this book is with scope。 Do you evaluate a book strictly based on the scope its authors set， or is it fair to criticize a book for having too much focus？An Ugly Truth thoroughly succeeds in all the areas you would expect， and it's an evenhanded critique that shows examples of Silicon Valley ignorance and arrogance through the act Frenkel and Kang have crafted a very solid book that deftly navigates a number of issues without getting bogged down in unnecessarily details。 However， my struggle with this book is with scope。 Do you evaluate a book strictly based on the scope its authors set， or is it fair to criticize a book for having too much focus？An Ugly Truth thoroughly succeeds in all the areas you would expect， and it's an evenhanded critique that shows examples of Silicon Valley ignorance and arrogance through the actions of one of its most dominant behemoths。 The book hits all the major plot points one would expect given its historical focus， and even though many of these incidents are familiar， the book will still serve as a helpful recap and help shade in some of the details that contemporaneous coverage may have lacked。 Sheryl Sandberg now feels a lot more three-dimensional to me， and the book also fleshes out Facebook's rogue's gallery of top ranking executives， notably Kaplan。 It helpfully points out the company's relentless lobbying in Washington and how it kowtowed to right wing interests and failed on diversity even while presenting a sunny California image。 The writing is straightforward， conversational without being too casual， and nicely narrated in the audiobook version。 For better or worse （mostly better）， it reads like what you'd expect from New York Times reporters。That is also where the problems come in， as does the question of scope。 Politically [to me as a left-of-centre Canadian]， this book is what I expect from New York Times reporters。 There's a little too much emphasis on Russiagate， and not enough willingness to engage with some of the broader problems of Silicon Valley， venture capital， and surveillance capitalism。 Obviously that's a lot of ground to cover， and people like Shoshana Zuboff or Rana Foroohar， among others， have written thorough books about the industry。 Facebook is only one of the tech giants， but it's still an example of many of its vices and worst problems。 The book is a little reticent to call out many of the ways the company mistreats workers， such as the horrible conditions and lack of mental health support faced by many （subcontracted） content moderators that have been well-documented in other publications。 While Facebook's WhatsApp and Instagram acquisitions are nicely discussed， there isn't much coverage of how it liberally photocopies features from competitors in attempts to kill them， such as the thievery of Snapchat's stories feature， or more recent mimicry of Substack and Clubhouse， etc。 It's a good book， but it's just not as pugilistic as I think we should want our tech coverage to be in 2021。 Forget WhatsApp and Instagram antitrust: should companies like this even exist？ But that may be a matter of this book being a work of journalism rather than of criticism。 。。。more
Gokul Nath Sridhar
，
This is a moronic book written by someone who's woke and who obviously has a bias against technology / capitalism and it tries to paint Zuckerberg as an entitled idiot。 Is he entitled？ Sure。 Is he an idiot？ No。Should they have listened to Stamos and done better？ Surely。 But should they also have Kaplan and the likes on the team？ Absolutely。 Should they have deleted misinformation？ Absolutely not。 This is a moronic book written by someone who's woke and who obviously has a bias against technology / capitalism and it tries to paint Zuckerberg as an entitled idiot。 Is he entitled？ Sure。 Is he an idiot？ No。Should they have listened to Stamos and done better？ Surely。 But should they also have Kaplan and the likes on the team？ Absolutely。 Should they have deleted misinformation？ Absolutely not。 。。。more
Madison Skinner
，
Brought together the many controversies and challenges that FB has had in a thoughtful， coherent narrative。 When laid out all together， I realized how little has changed or been learned
arkadi cloud
，
https://blog。arkadi。one/an-ugly-truth。。。 https://blog。arkadi。one/an-ugly-truth。。。 。。。more
Allie
，
I’ve seen reviews commenting that this was nothing that hasn’t already been covered in the news， but I think at this time of divided （and short） attention， it’s important to consolidate all of this information into a singular tome。 In addition， it provided details and really fleshed out certain situations that I understood only topically。 On a personal note， this was my final push to permanently delete Instagram。
Abdul
，
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely。 Mark Zuckerberg is the most powerful person in the world right know， by virtue of singlehandedly controlling a social network that could be its own country and be the most populous one on earth。 This wonderful book reads like a charge sheet of Fb and Zuck， with Z’s guiding principle （growth/increased engagement at any cost） leading to multiple disasters。 From the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar to Russian manipulation of 2016 elections and Brex Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely。 Mark Zuckerberg is the most powerful person in the world right know， by virtue of singlehandedly controlling a social network that could be its own country and be the most populous one on earth。 This wonderful book reads like a charge sheet of Fb and Zuck， with Z’s guiding principle （growth/increased engagement at any cost） leading to multiple disasters。 From the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar to Russian manipulation of 2016 elections and Brexit， Fb went from one ignominy to the next， without paying any significant penalty。 We learn that fb knew about the Russian malfeasance ahead of the elections， didn’t do much about the Kenosha murders or Jan 6 insurrection despite plenty of early warnings。 Instead， Z wanted to promote ppl to join private groups and spent more than most other companies on lobbyists in DC to soothe the waters there。 Congress acted slowly and too late to put brakes on this freight train until the hounds were at its doors。 Facebook also became a monopoly without much oversight。 Its time to move fast and break facebook （pun intended）。 。。。more
Michael Messinger
，
Algorithmic amplification。 Well written， thought provoking page turner。 Covers a lot of ground and gives insight into the internal decision making at Facebook。 Raises fundamental questions of power， freedom and profit motive， we need to resolve in an open democratic society。
Frank
，
While many of the issues presented in this book have been widely covered by news media， the authors did a good job finding patterns common across all the incidents Facebook went through in the past decade。 I appreciated the attention to detail in some of the incidents: The chapters describing ex-CSO Alex Stamos' fall from grace after investigating Russian influence operations read more like a thriller。 I really liked Casey Newton's take on that section using analogies from The Wire: https://www。 While many of the issues presented in this book have been widely covered by news media， the authors did a good job finding patterns common across all the incidents Facebook went through in the past decade。 I appreciated the attention to detail in some of the incidents: The chapters describing ex-CSO Alex Stamos' fall from grace after investigating Russian influence operations read more like a thriller。 I really liked Casey Newton's take on that section using analogies from The Wire: https://www。platformer。news/p/an-ugly。。。 It was also interesting from an engineering/product perspective to see how big of a role the lobbying team under Sheryl played in helping Facebook navigate DC/other governments。 For a company running a social media platform， that seems inevitable as the platform scales。 So is having a strong PR team that can help sway the public sentiments。 。。。more
Carter
，
This is one， of those books， where it seems like the authors， were faced with a bit of a conundrum; publish early， with the story not quite complete， or see how the anti-trust plays out。 They opted for early， perhaps to pressure FB， in the anti-trust lawsuit。 （We can speculate， as to what the incentives may have been。） The battle isn't over。 FB's greatest failure， has been controlling， misinformation， and the evolving information warfare techniques， informed by data science， and machine learning This is one， of those books， where it seems like the authors， were faced with a bit of a conundrum; publish early， with the story not quite complete， or see how the anti-trust plays out。 They opted for early， perhaps to pressure FB， in the anti-trust lawsuit。 （We can speculate， as to what the incentives may have been。） The battle isn't over。 FB's greatest failure， has been controlling， misinformation， and the evolving information warfare techniques， informed by data science， and machine learning。 Screening， subtle psychological influence， via tailored propaganda messages， is difficult with current technology。 The question here， for most of us， is why isn't this a problem for Google Adwords？ Is the nature， of what ads to display， perhaps not subject to strict enough， secure multi party computation rules？ Or additionally， and perhaps more importantly， privacy information controls， on as to what data is examined by the recommender？ 。。。more
Slappy
，
Deeply researched recap of the destruction wrought by Sandberg & Zuckerberg。 Some reviews of this book have complained that it's simply a rehash of a lot of reporting over the last few years 。 The reporting has been done BY THESE AUTHORS。 After reading Empire of Pain， you might think the Sacklers are the most evil Americans in the 21st century， perhaps tied with the Trump family。 Well， don't give any awards yet because Zuckerberg & Sandberg would like to enter the running。 Deeply researched recap of the destruction wrought by Sandberg & Zuckerberg。 Some reviews of this book have complained that it's simply a rehash of a lot of reporting over the last few years 。 The reporting has been done BY THESE AUTHORS。 After reading Empire of Pain， you might think the Sacklers are the most evil Americans in the 21st century， perhaps tied with the Trump family。 Well， don't give any awards yet because Zuckerberg & Sandberg would like to enter the running。 。。。more
Mandy
，
Okay， so this book doesn't contain many facts about facebook that I hadn't heard or read before。 BUT！！！ The authors of this book present a huge cohesive background report on the character of the company， formed by the characters of its leader（s）。 Also， the book refrains from petting facebook on the head and saying all of its downsides are unintentional side effects of the way it's been constructed。 These two authors prove that whatever downsides facebook has - hate spreading， incenting violence， Okay， so this book doesn't contain many facts about facebook that I hadn't heard or read before。 BUT！！！ The authors of this book present a huge cohesive background report on the character of the company， formed by the characters of its leader（s）。 Also， the book refrains from petting facebook on the head and saying all of its downsides are unintentional side effects of the way it's been constructed。 These two authors prove that whatever downsides facebook has - hate spreading， incenting violence， fake news spreading with all due consequences， influencing people's moods - is as intentional as can be。 Conscious decisions are taken about every one of those issues。 Decisions that always favor the amount of time people spend on facebook。 Hate and negativity keep people there longer and get them more involved on the network， so it is NOT banned。 Instead groups are now favored in which hate， fake news and incenting violence can go on uncontrolled and uncorrected by a larger society - all this with even graver danger of things getting out of control in real life。 The network influences our society， our politics， our willingness to defend ourselves against a virus and even our willingness to commit crimes - against individuals， against peoples。 And none of that falls outside the vision of facebook's leaders like some authors suggested， for instance the author of "Zucked"， who suggested that it was all just an unintended side effect that facebook's leaders didn't have a clear notion of yet。 The research done for this book proves that there's no such thing as naivity involved here。 At all。 It may not be intentional， but it sure is taken in their stride and the world just has to put up with it until lawmakers do something about it。 Which will be。。。。never？Readers who are looking to find new juicy facts might be let down by this book。 Not very much tea here。 But if you're looking to get a better understanding of how the mechanism of one of the world's greatest companies works， this book is highly recommended。 It takes Sandberg and Zuckerberg out of the shadows and puts them in broad daylight so we get to see a clear picture of who they are， what drives them and thus， what we can expect from them in the future。Should we， the readers， still be on facebook？ That question sings in the back of your mind throughout the book， which doesn't answer it for your， by the way。 This book is not written to drive people away from it。 And， as there are no real alternatives， who dares make the jump anyway？ On the other hand， this book gives a clear insight into the fact that instead of devoting our time， attention and energy to a social platform， we are really involving ourselves deeply with an advertising platform。 Zooming out that far， does that really make facebook unmissable in our lives？ Great book。 Well written。 Audiobook version well read and good and not-repetitive content with a solid base of thorough research。 。。。more
Farooq Chaudhry
，