A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
Librarian Andrea Nelson recommends “Careless People” by Sarah Wynn-Williams.
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Back when Facebook (now Meta) was young, a sign hung on the wall of its corporate headquarters: “Move quickly and break things.” Wynn-Williams’ bestselling whistleblower memoir, Careless People, documents Facebook’s journey from beloved American social media platform to global data mining mercenary, in ruthless detail. Along the way and at every crossroad, Mark Zuckerberg and Cheryl Sandberg moved quickly and broke things with less and less regard for the consequences.
What a mess they made.
Facebook was still in its formative years— young, progressive, and idealistic in its public mission to bring connectivity to the world—when Wynn-Williams landed her dream job there. Thrilled by Zuckerberg’s publicly stated desire to bring the internet to remote, impoverished regions, she believed her career in diplomacy could help him understand diplomatic protocols and gain access to foreign heads of state. At first, Zuckerberg and Sandberg were reluctant to devote time and resources to international diplomacy. They seemed unaware, or not to care, about the obstacles they would face or the quid pro quo that would be expected. Wynn-Williams loved the idea of Facebook, but she also saw danger in moving too quickly, particularly in countries governed by autocrats less concerned with human rights. She desperately wanted to help shape and solidify internal company policy before Zuckerberg and Sandberg jumped into international waters to pursue growth at all costs. She learned, however, that Facebook leadership’s true goals were not hers. Time and time again, Zuckerberg chose rapid expansion over human rights and protecting American interests and values.
Wynn-Williams’ memoir pulls no punches.
At times it isn’t flattering to the author herself. In addition to portraying Zuckerberg and Sandberg as wholly mercenary, power-driven and narcissistic, Wynn-Williams alleges sexual harassment and other abusive behavior. Some critics argue that these distract from the main point and diminish the most damning allegations. The author addresses this in her NPR interview.
Regardless, few will dispute that today’s Meta has become a powerful tool for human manipulation. It harvests and sells personal information not just from publicly posted social media, but from a wide variety of sources. By filtering that data through algorithms, it can identify and target content to the people most likely to be receptive. It can, Wynn-Williams alleges, find teens who take and delete multiple selfies and target them for make-up and weight loss ads. Through reading, shopping, and social media commonalities, it can predict and target certain content to people it identifies as likely to believe in conspiracy theories. It can help political organizations target people angry about certain issues with false and inflammatory content designed to enrage them enough to change their vote. Briefly, in response to negative publicity, it engaged a reputed Fact-Checker. No longer. Now it frames itself as a neutral platform for free speech. According to Careless People, Meta is more like a weapons dealer than a champion of free speech.
Algorithmic manipulation is a powerful offering, and its potential for harm is vast.
Wynn-Williams alleges that Zuckerberg liked to compare Facebook’s expansion to a game of Monopoly. He devoted his limited time and attention to acquiring the most valuable and ignored the least, even when the risk of that carelessness was great.
“By the end, I watched hopelessly as they sucked up to authoritarian regimes like China’s and casually misled the public. I was on a private jet with Zuckerberg the day he finally understood that Facebook probably did put Donald Trump in the White House and came to his own dark conclusions from that. But most days, working on policy at Facebook was way less like enacting a chapter from Machiavelli and way more like watching a bunch of fourteen-year-olds who’ve been given superpowers and an ungodly amount of money, as they jet around the world to figure out what power has bought and brought them. That’s the story I’m here to tell.”
When Facebook learned that NPR’s author interview about Careless People was generating real buzz, the company filed suit for injunctive relief against both Wynn-Williams and the publisher, Macmillan Publishing Group, seeking to stop the book’s promotion and publication. Based on the “anti-disparagement” clause Facebook employees were required to sign as a condition of hiring, Meta succeeded in temporarily blocking Winn-Williams from personally promoting the book until further judicial review. It did not, however, succeed in blocking publication. The NPR interview remains online, and the lawsuit only increased the books’ popularity. The week following its March 11, 2025, release, it topped the New York Times Bestseller list.
Note: Careless People is the selected Book Club title for December 3. More about the Book Club/register to join here.
