My Background (…or bias)
As a first-generation low-income student and daughter of immigrants, I can’t ignore the sacrifices that went into giving me the opportunities I have today. For me, every decision about internships or jobs carries the weight of not only my own ambitions but also the labor of my family. That’s why the question of “Would I work at Meta?” feels so interesting. Around Stanford, the common opinion is that it would make you a sellout, the kind of person people side-eye or recognize (not in a good way) from LinkedIn. Back home, though, the reaction would be completely different and my dad would probably brag about it on Facebook to his family friends/haters. These two perspectives, one shaped by privilege and ideals and the other shaped by sacrifice and survival, feel contradictory, and being right in the middle, I see and understand both.
A Recent Conversation I had with a Stanford Professor
I’ve actually been thinking about this question a lot, especially since I’m in the interview process with a company that is, let’s just say, even more controversial than Meta. When I brought it up to one of my professors, they told me, “you need good people in bad places too.” Honestly, I think of Stanford’s obsession with ethics classes the same way. They don’t pile on all those lectures because they ignorantly expect us to become monks or nonprofit saints. They do it because they know that most of us are headed to big, messy, ethically questionable companies. The hope is that when we get there, we’ll at least recognize the dilemmas and try to do better than turning our heads the other way.
Sugar Cereal and Social Media
One part of the reading that really made me think deeply was the example of General Mills employees who would never let their own children touch sugar cereal. I realized I have a similar relationship with social media. Personally, I don’t keep social media apps on my phone because I know how addictive they can be. At the same time, I do use them for my family’s small e-commerce business, because I can’t deny how powerful their reach is for connecting with customers. And just like those General Mills parents, I draw a line for my younger siblings by not letting them spend time on social media because I know how harmful it can be. If I worked at Meta, I think I would approach it in the same way: recognizing the contradictions, but also being honest about both the harms and the benefits.
