Facebook “friends” or “audience”?

None of us were surprised when one of the former Facebook executives confirmed that it’s having a very negative effect on society.  He confessed that they knew, all along, how it would become addictive.  They knew the immediate, short-term, reward-driven feedback loops would lead to misinformation, lies and a lack of cooperation and civil conversation.  They relied on what psychology knows about how humans work.  They were able to get us and keep us hooked on the social-validation feedback loop.  What I call the “Look at me” syndrome.  Facebook Friends aren’t friends.  They’re an audience.  The goal?  To consume as much time and conscious attention as possible.  Done and done.  While they asked themselves, “What will this do to our children’s brains?”, they really didn’t care about that as much as they did about gaining power and making money.  Don’t let these people control your lives!