Careless People

Facebook was genuinely fun back in the day. How differently things have turned out nearly 20 years later. This book puts a terminal bullet in those optimistic, halcyon Facebook days. 

The rise of misinformation during the Trump and Brexit year culminating in the Cambridge Analytica scandal left Facebook dead to me, but from what I’ve read in this no-holds-barred insider account, it was worse than I thought. 

The book is a gripping read. After a brief, shocking early life story, we follow Wynn-Williams as she joins Facebook having pitched constantly for months to create a new Policy role. She’s an optimistic believer in the company as a force for good, which gradually gets eroded as she progresses up through the ranks. As the company becomes one of - if not the - most powerful on earth, the flaws and unethical behaviour of its leadership are exposed time and again. 

If you thought Meta was a sketchy company before, you’re almost certainly going to want to delete your Facebook and Instagram accounts after reading it. Some of what’s told is genuinely shocking. 

The author has been banned from promoting the book because Meta claims it is “false and defamatory”. Maybe it is, but given the amount of existing evidence out there about Facebook malpractice, it’s very hard to believe it’s not true.