Facebook's Uncertain Future

Facebook's Uncertain Future

Facebook has once again found itself in the hot seat. Things heated up for the company after a whistleblower shared thousands of pages of Facebook internal documents with The Wall Street Journal and Congress last month. The documents reveal that the company had researched how its apps affect the people who use them—and that Facebook often chooses to put its business interests ahead of the wellbeing of its users.

This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED politics writer Gilad Edelman about the overall impact of the whistleblower’s revelations, whether anything will change internally at Facebook, and how plausible it is that even big, sweeping changes to the platform here in the US could fix Facebook’s issues overseas.

Show Notes:

Read The Wall Street Journal’s Facebook Files series. Read Gilad’s story about the Facebook whistleblower. He also wrote about why Facebook is not too big to moderate. Here’s Gilad’s story about Section 230 (and also our episode of this show about it). And here’s how you can permanently delete your Facebook account.

Recommendations:

Gilad recommends listening to CDs. Mike recommends the segment from Last Week Tonight about misinformation. Lauren recommends swiping right on dates (the fruit, that is) and also Kara Swisher’s Sway podcast, particularly the episodes with Monica Lewinsky and Matthew McConaughey.

Gilad Edelman can be found on Twitter @GiladEdelman. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.

If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Episoder(427)

Breaking Up, Hooking Up

Breaking Up, Hooking Up

Tech companies are very good at serving up personalized content based on what they know about you. But they're not very good at picking up on big, sudden changes in your life. For example, Google Phot...

9 Apr 202134min

Free Shipping

Free Shipping

Last week, the cargo ship Ever Given got itself stuck in the Suez Canal for six days. The blockage completely disrupted maritime trade routes, captured worldwide attention, and became the subject of m...

2 Apr 202128min

Reentry Anxiety

Reentry Anxiety

Vaccines are here, unemployment is down, and the pandemic is nearing its end. These are obviously good things. Still, the idea of returning to "normal" might seem daunting. That's because our brains a...

26 Mar 202132min

Future Computing the Facebook Way

Future Computing the Facebook Way

How will we interact with computers in the future? When we finally evolve beyond keyboards, mice, touchscreens, and voice controls, what’s next? This month, Facebook hinted at how it’s thinking about ...

19 Mar 202132min

WTF Is an NFT?

WTF Is an NFT?

When you think of digital media, you probably think of something like a YouTube video or a meme. Something you can access for free, any time you want. But some relatively new technologies are being us...

12 Mar 202139min

Facing Our AR Future

Facing Our AR Future

While augmented reality has long been billed as the "next big thing" it hasn't quite arrived. Some pretty basic logistical problems get in the way. The headsets are too clunky, there aren't many decen...

5 Mar 202135min

Gadgets on Mars

Gadgets on Mars

Hey, did you know that the new Mars rover is really cool? Its eyes see crazy different colors! It shoots out a helicopter drone! It can vaporize rocks with a laser! Plus, Perseverance traveled more th...

26 Feb 202145min

How to Get a PlayStation 5

How to Get a PlayStation 5

Do you have a PlayStation 5? If so, good for you. If not, well, join the club. Sony’s newest game console has been very difficult to purchase since it was released in November—so much so that folks ha...

19 Feb 202133min

Populært innen Teknologi

lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
romkapsel
teknisk-sett
shifter
rss-impressions-2
fornybaren
rss-ki-praten
tomprat-med-gunnar-tjomlid
elektropodden
rss-alt-vi-kan
rss-ai-forklart
energi-og-klima
hans-petter-og-co
pedagogisk-intelligens
nasjonal-sikkerhetsmyndighet-nsm
rss-teknologioptimistene-energibransjens-it-podcast
rss-digitaliseringspadden
rss-praktisk-proptech
rss-startup
rss-polypod