Do no evil – that used to form part of Google’s code of conduct until it turned into “Do the right thing.” Meta (the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) never laid down such bold aspirations. Still, it is serving so many people that it is under constant public scrutiny and should try to right its way. That is not always the case.
Lotte Rubæk, a Danish psychologist who advised Meta on suicide prevention and self-harm, quit in anger and made serious allegations against the firm. She said the company turned a blind eye to harmful content and contributed to rising suicide figures. Rubæk said Meta uses such Instagram posts to keep users engaged and increase profits.
She told the Observer that
how to keep their users’ interaction and earn their money by keeping them in this tight grip on the screen, collecting data from them, selling the data and so on.
This is not the first time Mark Zuckerberg’s firm has been accused of favoring profits over the well-being of its users, and certainly not the only social media company or corporation in general that seems to prioritize profit over all else. A spokesperson said Meta is taking such issues incredibly seriously and constantly improving. I have no way to confirm or disprove these allegations.
One may say that this is the nature of capitalism and that it should be balanced by public outcry—such as the Rubæk’s stepping forward—or by regulation. These debates are out of the scope of this post and aren’t new. However, I want to focus on one important aspect—the business model.
When the product is free, you are the product
Meta makes its money from advertising, and to get more cash, it needs more users and for these users to spend more time on its platforms. This is a 100% legitimate model, but it can create the wrong incentives. When banks offered their workers bonuses for selling more mortgages, they indirectly incentivized lower standards. When Volkswagen managers pushed for sales of more Diesel cars, they indirectly incentivized cheating on emissions tests.
Can an advertising model remain clean? Sure, but there is a better way.
What about Touch Base? It is a for-profit company aiming to make money—not an NGO. I do not want to create any other impression. Nevertheless, the model is different. By adopting a paid model, the product is the application, not the user. And the user is a human who needs help reaching out and staying in touch, not another set of ad-clicking eyeballs that need to be optimized.