I invested in Facebook. By 2016, I couldn’t stay silent.

Why an early Facebook investor is now Facebook's biggest critic.

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  • Investor Roger McNamee joined Facebook as an early investor when the company was just two years old.
  • In this video, he explains why he went from Facebook supporter to public critic, and why he came to write the book "Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe".
  • The next billion dollars Facebook makes means nothing if it doesn't reform its practices, says McNamee.
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The 1 thing to avoid in online political arguments

IF your goal is to persuade people, that is.

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  • A recent study examined the role that incivility plays in how people perceive online political arguments.
  • The results showed that incivility led to more negative perceptions of political arguments — even when the argument was logical.
  • The researchers suggested that name-calling, mockery and other forms of incivility should be avoided if you want to persuade people along political lines.
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Surprising Science

Does Facebook's decision to ban white nationalism violate free speech?

Some are worried this represents an Orwellian move. At heart, it's not.

Right-wing demonstrators taunt counter-demonstrators during the Denver March Against Sharia Law in Denver, Colorado on June 10, 2017. (Photo by Jason Connolly/AFP/Getty Images)
  • Last week, Facebook announced it would remove all white nationalist content from its main platform, as well as Instagram.
  • When someone posts white nationalist content they will now be redirected to the nonprofit organization, Life After Hate.
  • White nationalist groups actively recruit new members on social media platforms, aided by algorithms.
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Politics & Current Affairs

Google Maps apologizes for going rogue in Japan

The navigation tool has placed a school in the sea, among other things.

  • Google has apologized for the sudden instability of its maps in Japan.
  • Errors may stem from Google's long-time map data provider Zenrin – or from the cancellation of its contract.
  • Speculation on the latter option caused Zenrin shares to drop 16% last Friday.
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Strange Maps

Data spies: The dark and shady practices of Silicon Valley

This is how data harvesting really works. You're not going to like it.

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  • In this absorbing talk spanning the last 20 years of tech, Roger McNamee starts at the origins of the PayPal Mafia (which included entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman) and traces them to Silicon Valley's global domination.
  • Data is used by online vendors in all industries to make behavioral predictions for profit – often in unethical or cloaked ways.
  • Did we sign up for this? Roger McNamee calls for a halt to blind participation and asks for a national debate on whether commerce based on personal data (but not for personal benefit) should be legal.
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