This is a short thread.

1. It may be hard for some @Facebook staff to reconcile this week's reality with the mission they've been sold, for years, that the platform is fundamentally a societal good. With the latest from Zuck, they may (finally) realize that this is not true.

2a. 30 years ago, @langdonw wrote of just this phenomenon for new technologies: "The factory system, automobile, telephone, radio, television, the space program, and of course nuclear power itself have all at one time or another been described as democratizing, liberating force

2b. "...Scarcely a new invention comes along that someone does not proclaim it the salvation of a free society"

From "Do Artifacts Have Politics" https://eclass.uniwa.gr/modules/document/file.php/MSCRES101/Winner%20do%20artifacts%20have%20politics.pdf

3. Facebook is neither inherently good nor bad -- but most importantly it is certainly not morally neutral. To pretend it is elides the messy, confusing, and complicated reality around how this technology has ordered our world, and how we must now grapple with the consequences.

4. As its leaders, Zuck should take accountability for the platform he originated, shaped, and continues to -- every day -- define. (And he should probably talk to his local historian of technology)