Social media giants Facebook announced this week that they plan to build apartment blocks to house staff adjacent to their California campus. But is the £70 million complex yet another perk of working for the company, or an overt way to control staff lifestyles?
With property prices in the Valley continuing to rise steady, the lack of affordable housing will effect a great number of the tech employees. And on paper, the project could be seen as a kind gesture to help ‘struggling’ staff to get a foot on the property ladder. But…
Facebook, recently voted world’s best employer, has employees complaining of being on call for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Constantly observed, told what food to eat, who to live with… Ringing any bells?
Perhaps we’re being paranoid. It isn’t like Facebook has removed all barriers, walls and forms of privacy from its work places to encourage group mentalities and cooperation… Oh… Well at least employees haven’t been sold an unrealistic dream that fails to meet expectations. Although a major complaint of staff has been that perception is far from reality with Facebook. Almost as if they are being made to believe something that isn’t really the case…
We’re being silly. Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ had a monopoly of power, and was able to rewrite the rule book by becoming bigger and more powerful than anything before it… Speaking of which, does anyone remember their passwords to MySpace or Bebo? Whatever happened to Ping, Friendster and The Hub? Interesting…
One in every thirteen people in the world have a Facebook account. Over seven hundred billion minutes are spent on Facebook each month. 50% of 18 to 34 year olds check Facebook when they wake up each morning. Has an entire generation slipped under the subversive control of a faceless organisation, determining behavioural patterns and defining personal interactions? We certainly don’t think so, and would condemn anyone who wrote an article suggesting they have.
We joke, we joke. Facebook are lovely… Please don’t delete my account, I need it.