Careless People
A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
-
-
4.4 • 44 Ratings
-
-
- $22.99
Publisher Description
#1 New York Times Bestseller
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK. NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, AP, THE ECONOMIST, SLATE, THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, AND MORE!
“Careless People is darkly funny and genuinely shocking...Not only does [Sarah Wynn-Williams] have the storytelling chops to unspool a gripping narrative; she also delivers the goods." -Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
“When one of the world’s most powerful media companies tries to snuff out a book — amid other alarming attacks on free speech in America like this — it’s time to pull out all the stops.” –Ron Charles, The Washington Post
An explosive memoir charting one woman’s career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them.
From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.
Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction when he learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in.”
Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade—told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Meta is a cesspool of petty tyranny and moral callousness, according to this explosive tell-all. Wynn-Williams recaps her seven years as Facebook's manager of global public policy, which entailed dealing with foreign governments on censorship, regulation, and other hot-button issues, as well as ensuring executives didn't make fools of themselves on the world stage (she once scrambled to prevent CEO Mark Zuckerberg from following Big Bird at the Global Citizen Festival). More seriously, Wynn-Williams describes how her idealistic enthusiasm for connecting the world soured as she witnessed the company collaborate with the 2016 Trump campaign to target users with political ads; bow to the Chinese Communist Party's demands to censor criticism; and refuse to take action when Myanmar's military used Facebook to spread disinformation that fueled the ethnic cleansing of the country's Rohingya minority. She hangs a witty picaresque of Facebook life around colorful profiles of its executives—Zuckerberg is "smaller, paler, and... angrier than I anticipated"—while taking aim at rampant overwork and sexual harassment at the company, claiming that she was forced by former COO Sheryl Sandberg to draw up talking points for a meeting while in labor with her first child and was fired after complaining about her boss Joel Kaplan's sexually charged comments. The result is a withering takedown of Facebook's hypocrisy.
Customer Reviews
Fixed my Unhealthy Relationship with Social Media
All the internet/social media addiction leaving my body after reading this book. I’m very serious, this book makes me think thrice before I post a story or even open any one of meta’s apps. I’ve entirely deleted threads and the facebook app, and anytime someone messages me on WhatsApp I tell them I don’t use WhatsApp they should reach me on iMessage or SMS instead if I happen to see a message from them when I open the app. You will also never catch me interfacing with any use of Meta’s AI technology.
Eye Opening Insight into FB Globally
I read this after reading a multitude of Reddit threads and comments discussing this book, and I am NOT disappointed.
This book proved to be an eye opening inside look at how Facebook, and Facebook execs began and then how they grew, becoming something different as the global community adapted to the rise of the internet and social connectivity. What began as a company built on tenets to be proud of, something meaningful connecting people around the world would eventually free fall into becoming the cause of multiple geopolitical events that would ultimately impact citizens globally.
I can’t recommend this enough. Pick it up.