Change is the Only Guarantee

Can governments, academia and other institutions move fast enough to keep up with a constantly evolving tech sector?

Jul 31, 2022

My favorite iconic red letter poster at Facebook says, “Every day feels like a week” meaning the company moved at a pace faster than pretty much any other industry. These last two weeks have certainly felt that way in the tech world as story after story unfurled like waves crashing on the beach. It can be impossible to keep up.

The thread amongst all of them is change. Companies, products, and policies are all changing. Some of them are changing within days. Instagram announced changes to its feed and then quickly reversed them when there was a backlash. (Notice no one seems to care about Facebook’s recent change to their feed.) Hulu said it wouldn’t take some issue ads and also quickly reversed when the Democrats loudly complained.

Meta’s earnings call was full of change. When I was at the company and new employees would ask my advice I’d tell them that the only thing I could guarantee about the company is that it would be constantly changing. Yes, some themes and issues would remain consistent but how that work manifested itself and how the company would need to be structured to handle that would constantly evolve. If they wanted to succeed they would need to learn how to live in that kind of uncertainty, and chaos. The key was knowing where they could make an impact.

This has always been the culture of the company. Mark even addressed it in the earnings Q&A when he said, “But I think at the end of the day, what that really comes down to is just I try to push the company to be one that learns faster and just keeps iterating and moving faster than we did in the past than others in the industry do. And I think if we can do that well, then we’ll continue to succeed. But I think the moment that we stop doing that, then we’ll basically fall behind.”

This rapid iteration and hyper-focus on metrics I think is why people responded poorly to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri’s video about the changes. Listening to him I felt like I was back in a Facebook conference room with a bunch of engineers who just couldn’t understand why people were complaining when the data said something different. Instagram - and Meta as a whole - are operating off of data that says people are changing. The people haven’t recognized yet that they have. They think they want the Instagram of the past, but it’s not how they are using it.

This presents a challenge for all platforms. How much should they rely on what the users want versus coming up with new ideas or identifying what might be best for them? Ross Douthat in the New York Times wants fewer algorithms and more visionaries like the character Miranda Priestly in the Devil Wears Prada.

Moreover, how do we more quickly identify the harms that new technology might pose? Amongst all the news this week Jonathan Haidt wrote a follow-up to his widely read essay from back in April about how social media is undermining democracy. While he makes some good points I continue to worry that the institutions we want to hold tech accountable keep coming up with solutions to fix the way these platforms were in the past - not for where they are going in the future. Haidt is right that tech companies shouldn’t be the only ones to “move fast and test things.” We need governments and academia, in particular, to pick up the pace.

I also agree with Haidt that our future world will be built by, “[C]itizens who understand the forces that brought us to the verge of self-destruction, and who develop the new habits, virtues, technologies, and shared narratives that will allow us to reap the benefits of living and working together in peace.” We’re in the middle of reworking the social norms that we all live by. To do so things are going to be messy, chaotic, and full of change. No one organization, company, or person is going to be able to do everything. It’s too overwhelming. Best instead to embrace the chaos and find the things you can impact - even if they feel small.

What I’m Reading

Wall Street Journal: EU to Open San Francisco Office Focused on Tech Regulation
The New Yorker: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants
CNBC: Facebook's former CTO Mike Schroepfer explains why he's turning his attention to climate change
Reuters: Kenya orders Meta's Facebook to tackle hate speech or face suspension
The Star (Kenya): Matiang'i: We won't interfere with social media
Bloomberg: Elon Musk-Twitter Trial Will Start Oct. 17, Delaware Judge Rules
Washington Post: The GOP went to war against Google over spam — and may win
Bloomberg: Chinese Government Asked TikTok for Stealth Propaganda Account
Buzzfeed News: TikTok Owner ByteDance Distributed Pro-China Messages To Americans, Former Employees Say
Reuters: Russia Today loses fight against EU ban, Moscow warns of retaliation
Reuters: Tech giants to self-regulate in reducing harmful content in New Zealand
Puck: Aspen’s World War III Rumblings
Axios: Exclusive: Meta to study race in Instagram
CNN: GOP and the Press
Washington Post: DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw makes sure reporters feel the burn
Land of Giants Podcast: Why Instagram Broke Its Square

Think Tanks/Academia/Government

Digital Trust & Safety Partnership: DTSP Safe Assessments Report
Mehlman Castagnetti: Backlash - The Counter-Revolutions Driving Politics & Policy
Stanford Public Policy Center: Governing artificial intelligence in the public interest
Lawfare: After Dobbs, Democrats and Republicans Switch Places on Speech Policy
NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence: Social Media Monitoring Tools: An In-Depth Look
TSE (Brazil), Meta, Womens Democracy Network: With the support of the TSE, Meta launches a guide to combat violence against women in politics
Columbia Journalism Review: Q & A: Is TikTok ready for the midterms?

Companies

Job Openings

Democracy Works: Openings for software engineer and director of HR
Atlantic Council DFR Lab: Variety of positions open. More info at link.
Atlantic Council: #DigitalSherlocks Scholarships
Meta Oversight Board: Variety of positions open. More info at link.
Google: Fall 2022 Google Public Policy Fellowship for U.S.
International Republican Institute (IRI): Director for Technology and Democracy
National Democratic Institute (NDI): Variety of positions open. More info at link.
Protect Democracy: Technology Policy Advocate

Calendar

Topics to keep an eye on that have a general timeframe of the first half of the year:
- Facebook 2020 election research
- Oversight Board opinion on cross-check
- Senate & House hearings, markups, and potential votes

August: Angola elections
August 2 - Arizona and Missouri Primaries (AZ Kelly defending Senate seat, MO open Senate race)
August 9 - Wisconsin Primary (Ron Johnson defending Senate seat)
August 9 - Kenya elections
September 11 - Sweden elections
September 13 - New Hampshire Primary (Hassan defending Senate seat)
September 13 - 27: UN General Assembly
- Sept 20 - High level general debate begins
September 27 - 28: Trust Con
September 28 - 30: Athens Democracy Forum
September 29 - 30: Trust and Safety Research Conference
October: Twitter/Musk Trial (Dates not set yet)
October 2 and 30 - Brazil
October 17 - Twitter/Musk Trial Begins
November 8 - United States Midterms

Events to keep an eye on but nothing scheduled:
- TicTech
- Atlantic Ideas Festival
- Code 2022 - Vox/Recode Silicon Valley Conference