Frederic Neyrat on Mon, 4 Nov 2019 01:27:41 +0100 (CET)


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Re: <nettime> Facebook / MZ, "trust," and "mythic forces"


Thanks Geoffrey, indeed, illuminating! 

Yet I also try to get the other part of it, i.e. the "trust"/belief aspect that the "Dumb fucks" description cannot grasp at all. 
I think I understand who MZ is, no doubt, and that Libra is an antiphrasis.
I also know that MZ doesn't know where his power comes from, but he's able to use it very well. To know how to use something doesn't mean knowing what this thing is, knowing for instance - as Walter Benjamin says in his Arcades project, that capitalism is a "reactivation of mythic forces" [K, 391]. Without a redirection of these "mythic forces" (or whatever we call them), MZ will be powerful ad vitam aeternam.

My best,

FN

 

On Sun, Nov 3, 2019 at 2:17 PM Geoffrey Goodell <goodell@oxonia.net> wrote:
P.S. I should have included a link to an article I co-authored about Facebook
Libra:

https://ssrn.com/abstract=3441707

Abstract:

The announcement by Facebook that Libra will "deliver on the promise of 'the
internet of money'" has drawn the attention of the financial world. Regulators,
institutions, and users of financial products have all been prompted to react
and, so far, no one managed to convince the association behind Libra to apply
the brakes or to convince regulators to stop the project altogether. In this
article, we propose that Libra might be best seen not as a financial newcomer,
but as a critical enabler for Facebook to acquire a new source of personal
data. By working with financial regulators seeking to address concerns with
money laundering and terrorism, Facebook can position itself for privileged
access to high-assurance digital identity information. For this reason, Libra
merits the attention of not only financial regulators, but also the state
actors that are concerned with reputational risks, the rule of law, public
safety, and national defence.

On Sun, Nov 03, 2019 at 08:13:13PM +0000, Geoffrey Goodell wrote:
> This pithy exchange attributed to Mark Zuckerberg [1,2] might illuminate the
> issue:
>
> Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
>
> Zuck: Just ask.
>
> Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
>
> [Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
>
> Zuck: People just submitted it.
>
> Zuck: I don't know why.
>
> Zuck: They "trust me"
>
> Zuck: Dumb fucks.
>
> ---
>
> Later, in an interview with David Kirkpatrick [3], Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed
> his view on privacy:
>
> "Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity."
>
> I'm inclined to agree with Michael Zimmer's assessment [4]:
>
> "Zuckerberg and those who surround him tend to be relentlessly forward-looking
> on privacy: The issue for them is not how to protect users’ current sense of
> privacy but to shape their willingness to share in the future."
>
> ---
>
> If we imagine that there are some people who stand to benefit from this
> dystopia we are building, or others who think that they stand to benefit
> because they have not considered the implications of this new emerging morality
> in which common people are transparent but powerful interests have many faces,
> then we can see how Facebook and its progeny might seem inevitable, or even a
> necessary antidote to the fatigue of the modern world.
>
> Enjoy the links, they tell a more complete story than I ever could.
>
> Best wishes --
>
> Geoff
>
> [1] http://www.bitsbook.com/2010/05/mark-z-grow-up/
>
> [2] https://www.businessinsider.com/well-these-new-zuckerberg-ims-wont-help-facebooks-privacy-problems-2010-5
>
> [3] David Kirkpatrick, _The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company
> That Is Connecting the World_.  Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (June
> 8, 2010), ISBN-13: 978-1439102114.
>
> [4] http://www.michaelzimmer.org/2008/11/18/do-you-trust-this-face-gq-on-mark-zuckerberg/
>
> On Sun, Nov 03, 2019 at 10:28:01AM -0600, Frederic Neyrat wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'd like to know if some people on this list - be they activists,
> > environmentalists, artists, thinkers, contributors - are (still) on
> > Facebook and if yes, why, being given the extreme noxiousness of this
> > "social" (?) network.
> >
> > This article
> > https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/03/facebook-politics-republicans-right
> > is not the reason of my email, but its occasion.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for your light on this matter,
> >
> > Frederic Neyrat
>
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