在Facebook成為億萬富翁的他，為何與“金主”為敵

As Silicon Valley experiences a wave of criticism, even some former colleagues are becoming adversaries.

隨著硅谷陷入批評的浪潮，就連一些前同事也變成了對手。

Another prominent skeptic spoke out this week, as a creator of one of Facebook’s top products waded into criticism of the internet giant.

又一位持懷疑態(tài)度的名人在本周發(fā)聲。Facebook頂級產品之一的創(chuàng)始人加入了抨擊這家互聯(lián)網巨頭的行列。

“It is time. #deletefacebook,” wrote Brian Acton, one of the founders of WhatsApp, wrote on Twitter. His company was bought by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014. The deal made him a billionaire.

“是時候了。#deletefacebook(#刪除facebook)，”WhatsApp的創(chuàng)始人之一布萊恩·阿克頓(Brian Acton)在Twitter上寫道。2014年，F(xiàn)acebook出價190億美元(約合1200億元人民幣)收購了他的公司。這筆交易讓他成為億萬富翁。

Mr. Acton’s anti-Facebook message, retweeted more than 10,000 times, captured a moment in the tech industry when even some of its best-known people are publicly calling for change. The chorus has grown louder this week, as Facebook faces questions over how it allowed a political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, to obtain data on 50 million users.

阿克頓這條反Facebook的推文被轉發(fā)了超過一萬次。它抓住了科技行業(yè)一些最負盛名者也在公開呼吁變革的時刻。本周，隨著外界質疑Facebook是如何讓政治咨詢公司劍橋分析(Cambridge Analytica)得以獲取5000萬用戶的數據，一致的呼聲更高了。

“The question is, ‘What are you loyal to?’” said Tristan Harris, a former Google employee who has started The Center for Humane Technology, an organization for Silicon Valley workers who want to change corporate culture. He has been critical of social media companies for creating addictive products that inflame cultural tensions.

“問題是，‘你忠于什么?’”曾在谷歌(Google)任職，后來創(chuàng)立人道技術中心(Center for Humane Technology)，為希望改變企業(yè)文化的硅谷員工服務的特里斯坦·哈里斯(Tristan Harris)說。他一直批評社交媒體公司開發(fā)的產品會讓人上癮，加劇文化對立。

“Are you more loyal to your company,” Mr. Harris said. “Or are you more loyal to protecting the fabric of our society?”

“你是更忠于公司，”哈里斯說。“還是更忠于保護我們這個社會的基本結構?”

The tech defections have accelerated in recent months, especially for Facebook.

最近幾個月，科技業(yè)內人士反水的現(xiàn)象加劇，對Facebook來說尤其如此。

Justin Rosenstein, the creator of the Facebook “like” button, deleted the product from his phone and spoke out about the industry using psychologically manipulative advertising. Chamath Palihapitiya, Facebook’s former head of user growth, said in December that the company was “ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.” And Sandy Parakilas, a former Facebook platform operations manager, wrote on Tuesday in The Washington Post that Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, must “be held accountable for the negligence of his company.”

為Facebook開發(fā)出了點贊按鈕的賈斯汀·羅森斯坦(justin Rosenstein)從手機上刪除了Facebook，并公開談及這個行業(yè)如何使用操縱受眾心理的廣告。Facebook前用戶增長事務負責人查馬斯·帕里哈皮蒂亞(Chamath Palihapitiya)在12月表示，F(xiàn)acebook“撕裂了社會運轉的基本結構”。前Facebook平臺運營經理桑迪·帕拉吉拉斯(Sandy Parakilas)周二在《華盛頓郵報》(The Washington Post)上撰文稱，必須讓Facebook首席執(zhí)行官馬克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)“為他公司的疏忽負責”。

Loyalty to a company is beginning to crack because many tech workers are being asked to build or defend products they question, Mr. Harris said. His center is making resources for engineers on how to build more ethical products and starting an educational campaign, called “The Truth About Tech,” in 55,000 American schools.

哈里斯說，對公司的忠誠開始出現(xiàn)裂痕，因為很多科技從業(yè)者被要求發(fā)展或保護他們質疑的產品。他的人道技術中心正就如何開發(fā)更合乎道德的產品為工程師提供資源，并在美國5.5萬所學校發(fā)起了一場名為“技術的真相”(The Truth About Tech)的教育活動。

“More people are speaking up because they feel like they’ve been told lies,” Mr. Harris said. “You can’t just repeat, ‘We’re making the world more open’ over and over and over again while democracy is burning.”

“發(fā)聲的人增加了，因為他們覺得自己被騙了，”哈里斯說。“你不能只是一遍又一遍地重復，‘我們讓世界變得更加開放’，而民主卻在遭受損失。”

Silicon Valley companies have long prized secrecy and loyalty among their workers, who often exercise, play sports and eat three meals a day together. Facebook especially is known for its tight-knit community. Each employee has an annual “Faceversary” on his or her hire date, a ritual that within the company is seen as deeply meaningful and is usually accompanied by balloons.

硅谷的公司向來重視員工之間的保密和忠誠。他們經常是鍛煉、運動和一日三餐都在一起。Facebook尤其以關系緊密的團體而聞名。每個員工每年都會慶祝自己受雇于Facebook的周年紀念日。在Facebook，這個慣例被認為意義深刻，現(xiàn)場通常會有氣球。

“Until very recently, it was taken as a given that tech equaled progress and tech equaled good and tech equaled economic strength,” said Leslie Berlin, the author of Troublemakers, a history of Silicon Valley.

“直到前不久，還有人想當然地認為科技等于進步，科技等于美好，科技等于經濟實力，”講述硅谷歷史的《麻煩制造者》(Troublemakers)的作者萊斯莉·柏林(Leslie Berlin)說。

She said the defections she sees now are historically unique.

她說，她現(xiàn)在看到的反水現(xiàn)象在歷史上獨一無二。

“The Valley was founded on this notion of, ‘We’re very open,’ ” Ms. Berlin said. “But the secrecy has always been there.”

“硅谷是建立在‘我們非常開放’這個概念上的，”柏林說。“但秘密一直都在。”

“It’s been pretty much a straight line since the start of the Cold War until now,” she said. “This is something new.”

“從冷戰(zhàn)開始到現(xiàn)在，硅谷的發(fā)展幾乎是一條直線，”她說。“這是新情況。”

Employees may feel the freedom to rebel because of Silicon Valley’s success, both technologically and financially. The technology platforms have become more powerful — and the fortunes much bigger — than the programmers ever expected. So while the industry’s power disturbs them, the wealth allows them to speak out without fear of retribution, Ms. Berlin said.

因為硅谷從技術上和經濟上取得的成功，員工們可能會覺得自己有反抗的自由。技術平臺的力量比程序員們之前以為的大，財富更是遠超他們的想象。柏林說，因此盡管這個行業(yè)的力量讓他們感到不安，但財富讓他們能夠暢所欲言，不用害怕遭到報復。

“It’s the shadow of the success,” she said. “You have to understand them together.”

“這是成功的陰影，”她說。“這些情況必須放在一起了解。”

Certainly, not everyone is critical. Mr. Acton’s WhatsApp co-founder, Jan Koum, is on the Facebook board of directors and remains deeply active on the platform, regularly posting pro-President Trump and anti-immigration news.

當然，不是所有人都持批評意見。和阿克頓一起創(chuàng)辦了WhatsApp的揚·庫姆(Jan Koum)是Facebook的董事會成員。他在該平臺上依然非?；钴S，經常發(fā)布支持特朗普總統(tǒng)和反對移民的消息。

And when former leaders have spoken out with criticisms of Facebook, the company has often responded aggressively.

一旦有前高管公開批評Facebook，該公司常會做出激烈的回應。

“They do yell,” said Roger McNamee, an early investor and adviser to Mark Zuckerberg, referring to Facebook leadership’s approach.

“他們的確會大喊大叫，”馬克·扎克伯格的早期投資者兼顧問羅杰·麥克奈米(Roger McNamee)說。他指的是Facebook領導層的應對方式。

But the culture of fear that the company has fostered among employees is not working anymore, he said.

但他說，F(xiàn)acebook在員工中培養(yǎng)的恐懼文化已經不起作用了。

"Facebook is at one of those moments where everybody who works there has to ask which side of history do you want to be on,” Mr. McNamee said. “The facts are not only indisputable, they’re not even complete. It’s going to get worse.”

“Facebook正處在這樣一個時刻，在那里工作的每一個人都不得不問，你要站在歷史的哪一邊，”麥克奈米說。“事實不只無法爭辯，而且還不完整。情況會變得更加糟糕。”