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Thursday 14 december 2017 TECHNOLOGY
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Some of Facebook’s early friends now its sharpest critics

By BARBARA ORTUTAY do we consume as much people take a break from
AP Technology Writer of your time and conscious social media.
NEW YORK (AP) — Some of attention as possible?” Facebook, in an emailed
Facebook’s former friends He called its stream comment, said it is
are starting to express of comments, “likes” “working hard to improve,”
some serious doubts about and reactions a “social and noted that it’s not
the social network they validation feedback loop the same company it was
helped create. that exploits how human when Palihapitiya, who
Facebook exploits a brains work.” left six years ago, worked
“vulnerability in human A few days later, there.
psychology” to addict McNamee wrote another “We’ve done a lot of work
its users, Sean Parker, the essay for the Guardian and research with outside
company’s first president, in which he argued that experts and academics
said in a public forum Facebook and Google to understand the effects
last month. Chamath have used “persuasive of our service on well-
Palihapitiya, a former techniques developed being, and we’re using
Facebook vice president In this Saturday, May 6, 2017, file photo, Sean Parker arrives at by propagandists and it to inform our product
who joined the company an event in Culver City, Calif. the gambling industry,” development,” the
in 2007, recently told an Associated Press combining them with company’s statement
audience at Stanford that modern technology to read. “We are willing to
the company is “ripping with concerns about fake against a steady drumbeat maximize their profits while reduce our profitability
apart the social fabric of news and “filter bubbles” of tweets from President pushing “appeals to fear to make sure the right
how society works.” that can shield people Donald Trump, who used and anger” and other investments are made.”
And Roger McNamee, a from contrary beliefs, the service to praise his material that reinforces Not all early investors
venture capitalist and early segued into pressure on allies and castigate his filter bubbles and addictive are critical. LinkedIn co-
investor in both Facebook Facebook and Twitter to foes, often in inflammatory behavior. founder Reid Hoffman
and Google, wrote that clamp down on trolling fashion. Palihapitiya piled on acknowledged in an
both companies “threaten and online harassment, But the unkindest cut of all too, saying at a Stanford interview concerns around
public health and and culminated with may have come from three Graduate School of how social media systems
democracy” in an August congressional hearings into people who helped build Business talk last month are causing what he
USA Today op-ed . Russian agents’ alleged Facebook in its early days. that he feels “tremendous called “lightly addictive
It has been a rough year use of their platforms to In early November, Parker guilt” about helping behavior.” But, he added,
for the tech industry, meddle with the 2016 told the news site Axios create tools that have “that’s also been true of
especially social media presidential election . that Facebook was built to widened social divisions. television, that’s also been
companies. It opened All of that, of course, came answer the question, “How He recommended that true of sugar.”q

Apple orchestrates deal for song-recognition app Shazam

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — quisition announced Mon- “natural fit” with its services. Some of Shazam’s features answer questions about
Apple has bought Shazam, day. “We have exciting plans conceivably could be songs as part of a 2014 up-
the maker of a song-recog- Technology news site Re- in store, and we look for- blended into Apple’s music date to the iPhone’s oper-
nition app that Apple’s dig- code previously reported ward to combining with streaming services, which ating system.
ital assistant Siri has already Apple is paying about $400 Shazam,” Apple said. The has accumulated more The Shazam deal marks
been using to help people million for Shazam, citing Cupertino, California, than 27 million subscribers Apple’s biggest acquisition
identify the music playing three unidentified people company declined to say since the company cre- in music since paying $3
on their iPhones. familiar with the deal. whether Shazam’s app will ated it in 2015. billion for Beats Electronics’
The companies didn’t dis- Apple Inc. issued a state- still be available after the Siri began drawing upon line of headphones and
close the price of the ac- ment describing Shazam as deal closes. Shazam’s technology to music service in 2014.q

This Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, file photo shows the Apple logo above a store location entrance in
Dallas. Associated Press