FB whistleblower Frances Haugen (timed exercise)

France Haugen worked for Facebook and did research on the effect that the software has on its users. She came out revealing many internal documents and research that exposes Facebook. These documents proved the harm that the software does on its users. Since there are 2.8 billion users on facebook, which is nearly 60% of all internet users globally. She believes that the algorithm is more focused on making profit than the wellbeing of the users. This led to many users suffering from eating disorders and mental disorders such as depression and anxiety.

I personally believe that what she is saying is important for people to know, but at the same time, for an extremely large company like facebook to handle everything perfectly for 2.8 billion people is extremely difficult. They have to find a balance for people to speak out but also to keep everything clean. The algorithm has always been quite weird to me but instead of hating on it I use it to my advantage to get a feed that I want. There are accounts that evolve around negative thoughts and ideas, which have many followers since these seem relatable to certain people. These accounts could potentially encourage mental disorders. I personally do not have experience with this. Something that has been said is the way people are now editing themselves online to look better which causes fake body types. This arouses jealousy in some people and could lead to anorexia and other eating disorders. This is more a problem with the users itself than the app. The algorithm knowing much about you can be quite tricky and personally I don't mind it. But I believe blaming all the disorders that came from the app on the makers of the app, is not totally accurate either. At the same time they should try to prevent it which they aren't doing.

I see certain similarities between France Haugen and Edward Snowden, which one obvious similarity is that they both whistleblowed. However, I do believe that what Edward Snowden found is bigger news and a greater shock, and actually more important and frightening. France Haugen made clear points with lots of data and is going through with what she believes in, which Edward Snowden has also done, but Edward Snowden was whistleblowing against a way larger group, and threw his life away for it, which France haugen hasn't. This doesn't mean it is less important though.