Would I take a job at Facebook?
This question would have been a no-brainer to me three years ago. At the time I prioritized the benefits and notability of the job more than its impact on society. As mentioned in Section 5.1 of Finding Jobs to Want, it is challenging to sort out the priorities, and often we need to “trade one against another when considering specific jobs and career paths”. As a freshman, my only priority was to find good career opportunities, and working at Facebook would open up many other opportunities for me in the tech world. However, years later there are much more things that I value such as the company culture, values, work dynamic, etc. This is mainly due to my realization that work is going to take up a huge chunk of my life and I want to be proud of what I do both technically and morally.
We all know Facebook as a whole has a lot of issues as its products cause stress and addiction under the mask of increasing connectivity. On top of that, their power is now hard to limit as they control the media and stories that billions of people consume on a daily, and most importantly they have access to all the consumer data. Many might argue, I can work at Facebook but stay away from unethical products and projects. In response, I think it is also very important to consider to what extent would I be personally responsible for the things my company does” as mentioned in Section 5.2 Working for Ethically Complicated Organizations. Because of my limited power as a junior employee, I don’t feel I’d be personally responsible for my company’s Big Actions. However, I would be frustrated if I need to contribute to projects with values and goals that I don’t believe in.
Therefore, answering this question now, it is unlikely for me to accept a job at Facebook because once again I do not think I would have the power as a mere employee to stay away from harmful products or even fix them. Thus, unless it is the only job I can find, I would rather work for a company with products I love!
