Roger McNamee

Pre-publication subtitle: The education of an unlikely activist.

Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe

Zucked

Nick Simson

** spoiler alert **
           Boomer investor/technocrat wakes up and smells the coffee, advocates for antitrust regulations on a corporation he has advised, owns shares in and still uses the core product on a regular basis.

I applaud the author taking a hard turn and adopting a more critical stance, but I think he’s a little late to the party. Since the Harvard days, or at least the emotional manipulation “study” in 2014, the Zuckerberg/Sandberg playbook has always been the same: apologize, commit to doing better, and double down on the core business strategy that have exacerbated each successive fuck-up. I’m quite surprised the author doesn’t advocate removing Zuck and Sheryl from the company (after enabling a freakin’ genocide, people) but I am definitely on the side of breaking up the monopoly for the sake of the product(s).

Among other things, McNamee correctly points out that the Russians didn’t hack Facebook but were paying customers of its ad product. He also lays out the details of Cambridge Analytica and Myanmar better than most media I have come across on these events.

The book is a little too preachy and repetitive to get four stars from me, but I’m already convinced by his main argument. Its interesting to me that this book’s publishing date and Elizabeth Warren’s plan to break up the tech monopolies were so close. We’ll need all the help we can get, even if a few are defectors from the investor class. If you think you might tire from reading about filter bubbles, monochrome screens, and this guy’s famous buddies, instead pick up a copy of Astra Taylor’s still relevant “The People’s Platform” or Corey Pein’s “Live Work Work Work Die” and get ready to join the revolution.

Zucked Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe

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