Sean Parker, Facebook’s founding president, has voiced his concerns about the social media platform’s impact on society. He believes that the site was intentionally built to consume as much human attention as possible, exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology. Parker admits that he, Mark Zuckerberg, and others understood the implications of what they were doing, but disregarded them. They were concerned with getting people to invest time and share personal content on the platform.
Parker also notes that Facebook’s design, with its ‘likes’ and ‘comments’, aims to provide a little dopamine hit, making users upload more content, thus creating a social-validation feedback loop. He is worried about the effects of this on children’s brains, stating “God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains”.
Parker’s criticism of Facebook comes amid growing concerns about the power and influence of the platform. As he has stepped back from the company, he has become a philanthropist and is now more aware of the potential societal consequences of Facebook. He believes the site literally changes users’ relationship with society and each other, possibly even reprogramming the human social structure.
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