小扎发文庆 FB 15周岁:社会将因社交网络更开放更负责
图片来源:视觉中国
2月5日凌晨,Facebook CEO马克·扎克伯格在Facebook上发文,庆祝公司成立15周年。在文章中,扎克伯格表示,社交网络映射出了当今世界如何运作的新现实并在下一阶段重新定义社会中的每一个人,这需要在互联世界的自由和责任之间找到适当的平衡点。
扎克伯格在文章中透露了Facebook在去年深陷隐私门后,对内容监管方面工作的进展,他表示,公司今年计划在安全和保障方面投入更多资金,规模将超过Facebook上市时的全部营收。此外,Facebooke最近也开始使用人工智能帮助大规模的内容管理。
扎克伯格表示,虽然社交网络带来的快速变革催生出了诸多不确定性,但他相信人们也通过社交网络拥有了更多的权力,对社会进行重塑,使其随着时间的推移变得更加开放和负责。他认为,重塑社会的方式可能在未来几十年内都具有深刻的积极意义。
以下为扎克伯格的文章编译及全文:
15年前的今天,我在大学宿舍推出了第一个版本的Facebook网站。当时,让我感到震惊的是,虽然有很多网站可以找到书籍、音乐、新闻、信息、商业——几乎任何东西,单就是没有最重要的东西:人。因此,我建立了一个围绕人际关系的简单网站,在那里我们可以与我们想要的人联系,分享重要的事情。
这种表达自己,相互学习,以新方式联系的渴望比我想象得要强烈。几周之内,三分之二的哈佛学生几乎每天都在使用Facebook。在接下来的几个月里,来自其他地方的学生给我和我的室友发来电子邮件,要求添加上他们的学校,于是我们就开进了近30所学校。一年之内,有超过一百万名学生在网站上进行联系彼此。在之后得几年中,我们一直致力于为每个人提供服务。 大约4年时间,Facebook连接了1亿人,不到10年,连接了10亿人。今天,约有27亿人使用我们的服务联络彼此。
第一个十年,人们上线联系成网络,是一个令人兴奋的时代。许多局外人当时认为,正在发生得事情只是一种时尚,无关紧要,但对于我们这些从早期就使用这类服务的人来说,一些特殊而重要得事情很明显地发生了出来,映射出了当今世界是如何运作的新现实。
过去,人们的许多体验都是由政府、大众媒体、大学、宗教组织等大型等级化组织来定义的,机构中的等级化制度为组织提供了稳定性,但其体验往往遥不可及。如果你想要进步,你就要一步一步地慢慢向上爬。如果你想尝试新事物,传播新想法,没有这些机构的背书就更是难上加难。
我们所处的这个世纪,更多由组成网络的人们所定义。他们可以自由地与他人互动,具有分享想法和经验的能力。Facebook远远不是实现这一变化的唯一网络——它是互联网更广泛趋势的一部分。
在互联网出现之前,如果你和邻居的看法或兴趣不同,那么找到一个与你有共同兴趣的社区就会变得更难。如果你认识的人搬走了,你通常会和他失去联系。如果你想引起一个问题的注意,你通常不得不通过政治家或媒体这些有权发布信息的人。如果你想为你的企业吸引新客户,你通常不得不购买昂贵的广告和广告牌。我永远不会忘记在我们发布News Feed之后,我们看到数百万人在哥伦比亚组织反对暴力的游行时,我们看到社区聚集在一起做病毒筹款活动时,是多么地深感正确。
现在,你可以与任何人联系,发出你的声音。你不必再用老机构的老办法。人们现在拥有更大的权力,这创造了机会,但也带来了新的挑战和责任。
如果本世纪的第一部分是关于连接人际网络,下一阶段将是关于使用这些网络来重新定义我们社会中的每一个人。这需要在互联世界的自由和责任之间找到适当的平衡点。
在过去的几年里,大多数讨论都是关于社交网络引发的社会和道德问题:如何监管内容以平衡自由表达和安全;如何在人们分享如此多信息的世界中,保护隐私的原则;如何在我们始终保持联系的同时改善健康和福祉,并确保我们的选举和民主进程的完整性。这些都是关键问题,我们有责任更积极地管理社交网络,以防止受到伤害。
我们在这些问题上取得了实际进展,并建立了世界上最先进的系统来解决这些问题,但还有很多工作要做。我们现在采取的措施即使在几年前也是不可能实现的。例如,今年我们计划在安全和保障方面投入更多资金,超过我们上市时的全部营收;同时在最近,我们也才要求使用人工智能帮助大规模的内容管理。但是,随着人们利用社交网络塑造社会,我们也必须继续在这些问题上取得进展。
与此同时,还有另一种力量在发挥作用。从政府到商业,从媒体到社区,在社交网络取代传统的等级制度,并对我们社会中的许多制度进行重塑的同时,有些人倾向于对这种变化感到惋惜,过分强调负面信息,甚至到现在,有时还有人说互联网和社交网络给人赋能所带来的转变,最有害于社会和民主。
然而,虽然任何快速的社会变革都会产生不确定性,但我相信我们所看到的,是人们拥有了更多的权力,是长期的趋势正在重塑社会,使其随着时间的推移变得更加开放和负责。我们仍然处于这种转变的早期阶段,而且在许多方面只是刚刚起步。 但是,如果过去15年是们建立这些新网络,并开始看到它们的影响,那么接下来的15年,人们将利用他们的权力重建社会,重塑的方式可能在未来几十年内都具有深刻的积极意义。
创办Facebook时,我相信我们都对关注如何围绕人做更多的事情有着深切的渴望。这些事情不仅仅是内容、商业、公司、App或政治。我今天仍然相信这一点。我也感谢社区中每个人都相信这一点,并且每天都在建设这个世界。 在此,向即将到来的15年致敬。
Fifteen years ago today, I launched the first version of the Facebook website from my college dorm。 At the time, it struck me that there were many websites to find almost anything -- books, music, news, information, businesses -- except for what actually matters most: people。 So I built a simple website organized around people, where we could connect with the people we wanted and share what was important to us。
This desire to express ourselves, learn about each other, and connect in new ways was greater than I‘d imagined。 Within a couple of weeks, two-thirds of Harvard students were using Facebook almost every day。 In the next couple of months, students from other places emailed me and my roommates to launch at their schools, and we opened at almost 30 schools。 Within a year, more than one million students were connecting on the site。 In a couple of years, we were working on making the service available to everyone。 It took about four years for 100 million people to connect, and less than a decade for 1 billion people to connect。 Today, about 2.7 billion people are connected using our services。
That first decade of people wiring up their networks was an exhilarating time。 Many outsiders dismissed what was happening as a fad or inconsequential, but for those of us using these services from the early days it was clear something special and important was happening that reflected a new reality of how the world works today。
Much of people‘s experience in the past was defined by large hierarchical institutions -- governments, mass media, universities, religious organizations -- that provided stability but were often remote and inaccessible。 If you wanted to progress, you worked your way up the ladder slowly。 If you wanted to start something new or spread a new idea, it was harder without the blessing of these institutions。
Our current century is defined more by networks of people who have the freedom to interact with whom they want and the ability to easily share ideas and experiences。 Facebook is far from the only network enabling this change -- it‘s part of the broader trend with the internet。
Before the internet, if you had different views or interests from the people in your neighborhood, it was harder to find a community that shared your interests。 If someone you knew moved away, you‘d often lose touch。 If you wanted to raise attention for an issue, you usually had to go through politicians or the press -- someone with the power to distribute your message。 If you wanted to reach new customers for your business, you often had to buy expensive ads or billboards。 I’ll never forget how right after we launched News Feed, we saw millions of people organize marches against violence in Colombia。 We saw communities come together to do viral fundraisers。
Now, you can connect with anyone and use your voice。 You don‘t have to go through existing institutions in the same way。 People now have much greater power, and that creates opportunity, but also new challenges and responsibilities。
If the first part of this century was about wiring up these networks, the next phase will be about people using these networks to redefine every part of our society。 This will require finding the right balance between the freedoms and responsibilities of a connected world。
For the last couple of years, most of the discussion has been about new social and ethical issues that these networks raise -- whether that‘s governing content to balance free expression and safety, the principles for protecting privacy in a world where people share so much information, how to improve health and well-being when we’re always connected, and ensuring the integrity of our elections and democratic process。 These are all critical issues, and we have a responsibility to manage these networks more proactively to prevent harm。
We‘ve made real progress on these issues and built some of the most advanced systems in the world to address them, but there’s a lot more to do。 We‘re now taking steps that wouldn’t have been possible even just a few years ago -- for example, this year we plan to spend more on safety and security than our whole revenue at the time of our IPO, and the artificial intelligence required to help manage content at scale didn‘t exist until recently。 But as people use these networks to shape society, it’s critical we continue making progress on these questions。
At the same time, there is another force at play as well。 As networks of people replace traditional hierarchies and reshape many institutions in our society -- from government to business to media to communities and more -- there is a tendency of some people to lament this change, to overly emphasize the negative, and in some cases to go so far as saying the shift to empowering people in the ways the internet and these networks do is mostly harmful to society and democracy。
To the contrary, while any rapid social change creates uncertainty, I believe what we‘re seeing is people having more power, and a long term trend reshaping society to be more open and accountable over time。 We’re still in the early stages of this transformation and in many ways it is just getting started。 But if the last 15 years were about people building these new networks and starting to see their impact, then the next 15 years will be about people using their power to remake society in ways that have the potential to be profoundly positive for decades to come。
When I started Facebook, I believed that we all have a deep desire to focus more of what we do around people -- not just content, commerce, companies, apps, or politics。 I still believe this today, and I‘m grateful to everyone in our community who believes this too and is building this world every single day。 Here’s to a great 15 years to come。
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