In this episode, we look at Facebook’s development from dorm-room prank to being one of the world’s most powerful and dangerous companies. Find out more at https://callingbullshitpodcast.com/.

January 6th, 2021. For the first time in U.S. history, an armed mob at the U.S. Capitol attempted to disrupt the peaceful transition of power from one presidential administration to the next. In the aftermath, it became clear that Facebook had played an outsized role in inciting the event.

How did Facebook go from a place for people to share silly cat videos, to a space for bad actors to make the world considerably worse? In this episode we look at Facebook, starting all the way back to when it began as a dorm-room prank and trace its development into one of the world’s most powerful and dangerous companies.

Guests:

Sinan Aral - MIT Professor & Author 

Lucie Greene - Strategist & Author 

Rosemarie Ryan - CEO of co:collective

Kamran Asghar - Fonder & CEO of Crossmedia

We’d love to hear what you think about the show. Maybe you’re inspired to take action, maybe you disagree with today’s bullshit rating. Either way, we want to hear about it. Leave us a message at 212-505-2305. You might even be featured on an upcoming episode. Find out more at https://callingbullshitpodcast.com/ 

Show Notes:

• In October of 2021, The Atlantic scoured thousands of internal documents from Facebook to explore the company’s impact on our democracy and how employees feel about their contributions.
• What can the humanities do to instill a moral or ethical compass within Big Tech, or more specifically, Mark Zuckerberg? Not much, according to Wired.
• Lobbying by Big Tech is at an all-time high, with companies such as Meta and Amazon spending big to curb strict regulations and ensure their power holds steady.

Background Reading:

• Read Sinan Aral’s book: The Hype Machine
• Learn more about Light Years and read Lucie Greene’s book here. 
• Learn more about co:collective and Rosemarie Ryan here.
• Read about CrossMedia and Kamran Asghar here.

If you love the show, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Find out more at https://callingbullshitpodcast.com/.