Respond to Facebook's "Ugly
Memo" using consequentialism and
deontological theory, highlighting issues of
business and technology.
Respond to Facebook's "Ugly Memo" using consequentialism and deontological theory, highlighting issues
of business and technology.
In 2016, Andrew Bosworth (Facebook's VP, Consumer Hardware) sent out this memo:
"The Ugly"
We talk about the good and the bad of our work often. I want to talk about the ugly.
We connect people.
That can be good if they make it positive. Maybe someone finds love. Maybe it even saves the life of
someone on the brink of suicide.
So we connect more people.
That can be bad if they make it negative. Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe
someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.
And still we connect people.
The ugly truth is that we believe in connecting people so deeply that anything that allows us to connect
more people more often is de facto good. It is perhaps the only area where the metrics do tell the true
story as far as we are concerned.
That isn’t something we are doing for ourselves. Or for our stock price (ha!). It is literally just what we do.
We connect people. Period.
That’s why all the work we do in growth is justified. All the questionable contact importing practices. All the
subtle language that helps people stay searchable by friends. All of the work we do to bring more
communication in. The work we will likely have to do in China some day. All of it.
The natural state of the world is not connected. It is not unified. It is fragmented by borders, languages, and
increasingly by different products. The best products don’t win. The ones everyone use win.
I know a lot of people don’t want to hear this. Most of us have the luxury of working in the warm glow of
building products consumers love. But make no mistake, growth tactics are how we got here. If you joined
the company because it is doing great work, that’s why we get to do that great work. We do have great
products but we still wouldn’t be half our size without pushing the envelope on growth. Nothing makes
Facebook as valuable as having your friends on it, and no product decisions have gotten as many friends
on as the ones made in growth. Not photo tagging. Not news feed. Not messenger. Nothing.
In almost all of our work, we have to answer hard questions about what we believe. We have to justify the
metrics and make sure they aren’t losing out on a bigger picture. But connecting people. That’s our
imperative. Because that’s what we do. We connect people.