When I think of if I would take a job at Meta I jump to 2 big arguments: the company’s commercial strategy and my role in the company. As a whole one could say that Meta’s objective is to connect people online and create a social scene that’s not limited to the real world. Meta’s objective is one I can get behind. Meta’s commercial strategy, on the other hand, banks on users being plugged in and almost addicted to Meta. The objective and how they create revenue can be related but in this case, and for many other social networking apps, it goes beyond creating a social network and becomes more of a social crutch you did not know you needed. Overall, Meta does not seem to really care about their users or their initial objective and has now switched to researching new verticals and ways to increase revenue.
Despite this moral dilemma, my mind shifts to the second argument: my role in the company. As an intern or full time employee I know the impact I’d make on changing the social media setup of the world is minute. Meta is not the only company that sees their market in this way and it is certainly not changing because I’ve decided to not take a job from them. I do think that being on the inside of a company with “unethical” mindsets can be uplifting from a utilitarian perspective. As a PM, designer, senior exec, etc you have the power to change how new Meta products reel in users and stay relevant. In my mind the social media dilemma is already created and my rejection of a minute role is certainly not stopping others from perpetuating this but my involvement in the company could help foster a change in mindset.
Taking both these big concerns into factor, I’d take a role at Meta.
