krushing

The best aspect of social media is social cohesion, and Facebook is decent at it. Being able to maintain, develop or otherwise keep in touch with people has a huge impact on quality of life.

The tragedy of Facebook is that it has integrated my ability to connect with friends and random people with 'news' using perverse solicitous internet marketing.

Of course, most of these temptations I've requested, essentially forcing myself to scroll through a Reddit-like waste of time just to see what my cousins or friends are up to. Yet the inertia of bad decisions is hard to steer against.

I'd view more ads or pay $100/month if Facebook was purely about individuals, had no brands or influencers, and it was just a way to maximize social cohesion.

If Facebook introduced a big "No News" button as an easy way to opt out of the noise, would it make the world a better place? Zuckerburg is making the world a better place through philanthropy but in business he's in the unique position of being able to magnify human ideals and spark a type of social enlightenment and cultural renaissance.

Imagine if the US just bought all the foreign media companies it could and then controlled the news to protect national security. Would that be ethical or legal?

This is analogous to what the government is doing with privacy rights. The US can't say we're a nation rooted in innate human rights but then dismiss those rights when dealing with the rest of the world.

To the contrary, the US should be supporting countries that don't spy on their citizens and punishing those that do. We should want to encourage liberal free societies, and not become a global threat to freedom.

A floating camera has to be one of the major hardware projects Snap is working on.

And, of course, the United States is based on the concept of natural rights. Hence the Bill of Rights saying, "Congress shall may no law".

Americans 4th Amendment right wasn't created by the 4th Amendment, but merely acknowledged by it. All human beings have an inherent right to privacy -- to suggest otherwise as a US citizen is self-contradictory.

Why not modify Facebook's News Feed to promote critical thinking, philosophy, self-reliance, resilience, tempered consumerism and practical ways to learn new skills?

You have the world's largest television and the tangible ability to promote powerful, positive ideas over mere distractions. Your goal shouldn't be to digitize the tabloid aisle and put it on my forever buzzing handheld computer.

All the clickbait, fake stories, trolling, mindless advertisements, contrarian articles, political hyperbolic narratives and conspiracy theories are analogous to a lot of other wasteful pursuits of thinking and existing that are perfectly acceptable by today's culture.

Connect the world in uplifting ways. Cater to our higher ideals not our base emotions.