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Chapter 41
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Careless People, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Carelessness, Wealth, and Greed
Idealism and the Failed Promises of Technology
Sexism in the Workplace
Bureaucracy and Obstacles to Change
Summary
Analysis
Facebook knows there will be backlash if the rest of the world finds out about its China plan, and so there is a lot of discussion in the documents about how to deal with potential fallout, while also not being too open about Facebook’s activities. They run focus groups that test how people would react to different hypothetical bad headlines about Facebook in China.
In this passage, Wynn-Williams demonstrates how Facebook can no longer plead ignorance, as its own in-house tests show that it is aware of the negative consequences of what it’s planning to do in China—and that the company seems willing to move ahead anyway.
Active
Themes
Facebook’s documents anticipate the possibility that Zuckerberg might have to testify before Congress and puts forward potential talking points. They expect questions to be tough but hope that Zuckerberg will be able to remain evasive without committing perjury. There is debate within the document about how to mention, if at all, that some non-Chinese data may be held on servers located in China.
This passage provides a clear example of how Zuckerberg has changed over time, as the once media-shy founder now finds himself going through extensive media training. This shows how much he is willing to do for the sake of growing Facebook, including the principles that he once stood for when running the company.
Active
Themes
On April 2018, Zuckerberg actually is called in for a Senate hearing. The hearing is not specifically about China, but when the subject of China comes up Zuckerberg essentially says that Facebook has not made any decision yet about how it would approach trying to introduce its services into China. Reflecting back on this moment, Wynn-Williams knows now that this was a lie. After the congressional hearing, Facebook’s stock price only increases.
