在Facebook成為億萬(wàn)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(píng)的浪潮，就連一些前同事也變成了對(duì)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(jí)產(chǎn)品之一的創(chuàng)始人加入了抨擊這家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)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(shí)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(jià)190億美元(約合1200億元人民幣)收購(gòu)了他的公司。這筆交易讓他成為億萬(wàn)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(zhuǎn)發(fā)了超過(guò)一萬(wàn)次。它抓住了科技行業(yè)一些最負(fù)盛名者也在公開(kāi)呼吁變革的時(shí)刻。本周，隨著外界質(zhì)疑Facebook是如何讓政治咨詢公司劍橋分析(Cambridge Analytica)得以獲取5000萬(wàn)用戶的數(shù)據(jù)，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(wèn)題是，‘你忠于什么?’”曾在谷歌(Google)任職，后來(lái)創(chuàng)立人道技術(shù)中心(Center for Humane Technology)，為希望改變企業(yè)文化的硅谷員工服務(wù)的特里斯坦·哈里斯(Tristan Harris)說(shuō)。他一直批評(píng)社交媒體公司開(kāi)發(fā)的產(chǎn)品會(huì)讓人上癮，加劇文化對(duì)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(shuō)。“還是更忠于保護(hù)我們這個(gè)社會(huì)的基本結(jié)構(gòu)?”

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

最近幾個(gè)月，科技業(yè)內(nèi)人士反水的現(xiàn)象加劇，對(duì)Facebook來(lái)說(shuō)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(kāi)發(fā)出了點(diǎn)贊按鈕的賈斯汀·羅森斯坦(justin Rosenstein)從手機(jī)上刪除了Facebook，并公開(kāi)談及這個(gè)行業(yè)如何使用操縱受眾心理的廣告。Facebook前用戶增長(zhǎng)事務(wù)負(fù)責(zé)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(huì)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的基本結(jié)構(gòu)”。前Facebook平臺(tái)運(yùn)營(yíng)經(jīng)理桑迪·帕拉吉拉斯(Sandy Parakilas)周二在《華盛頓郵報(bào)》(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(fù)責(zé)”。

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(shuō)，對(duì)公司的忠誠(chéng)開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)裂痕，因?yàn)楹芏嗫萍紡臉I(yè)者被要求發(fā)展或保護(hù)他們質(zhì)疑的產(chǎn)品。他的人道技術(shù)中心正就如何開(kāi)發(fā)更合乎道德的產(chǎn)品為工程師提供資源，并在美國(guó)5.5萬(wàn)所學(xué)校發(fā)起了一場(chǎng)名為“技術(shù)的真相”(The Truth About Tech)的教育活動(dòng)。

“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?yàn)樗麄冇X(jué)得自己被騙了，”哈里斯說(shuō)。“你不能只是一遍又一遍地重復(fù)，‘我們讓世界變得更加開(kāi)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(lái)重視員工之間的保密和忠誠(chéng)。他們經(jīng)常是鍛煉、運(yùn)動(dòng)和一日三餐都在一起。Facebook尤其以關(guān)系緊密的團(tuán)體而聞名。每個(gè)員工每年都會(huì)慶祝自己受雇于Facebook的周年紀(jì)念日。在Facebook，這個(gè)慣例被認(rèn)為意義深刻，現(xiàn)場(chǎng)通常會(huì)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(dāng)然地認(rèn)為科技等于進(jìn)步，科技等于美好，科技等于經(jīng)濟(jì)實(shí)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(shuō)。

She said the defections she sees now are historically unique.

她說(shuō)，她現(xiàn)在看到的反水現(xiàn)象在歷史上獨(dú)一無(wú)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(kāi)放’這個(gè)概念上的，”柏林說(shuō)。“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(kāi)始到現(xiàn)在，硅谷的發(fā)展幾乎是一條直線，”她說(shuō)。“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?yàn)楣韫葟募夹g(shù)上和經(jīng)濟(jì)上取得的成功，員工們可能會(huì)覺(jué)得自己有反抗的自由。技術(shù)平臺(tái)的力量比程序員們之前以為的大，財(cái)富更是遠(yuǎn)超他們的想象。柏林說(shuō)，因此盡管這個(gè)行業(yè)的力量讓他們感到不安，但財(cái)富讓他們能夠暢所欲言，不用害怕遭到報(bào)復(fù)。

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

“這是成功的陰影，”她說(shuō)。“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(dāng)然，不是所有人都持批評(píng)意見(jiàn)。和阿克頓一起創(chuàng)辦了WhatsApp的揚(yáng)·庫(kù)姆(Jan Koum)是Facebook的董事會(huì)成員。他在該平臺(tái)上依然非常活躍，經(jīng)常發(fā)布支持特朗普總統(tǒng)和反對(duì)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(kāi)批評(píng)Facebook，該公司常會(huì)做出激烈的回應(yīng)。

“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(huì)大喊大叫，”馬克·扎克伯格的早期投資者兼顧問(wèn)羅杰·麥克奈米(Roger McNamee)說(shuō)。他指的是Facebook領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層的應(yīng)對(duì)方式。

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

但他說(shuō)，F(xiàn)acebook在員工中培養(yǎng)的恐懼文化已經(jīng)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(gè)時(shí)刻，在那里工作的每一個(gè)人都不得不問(wèn)，你要站在歷史的哪一邊，”麥克奈米說(shuō)。“事實(shí)不只無(wú)法爭(zhēng)辯，而且還不完整。情況會(huì)變得更加糟糕。”