My verdict — Read it if you still think that social media companies have your best interests at heart. If you understand the concept "If you are not paying for it, you are the product!", you can give this a skip — or save it for when you're in the mood for a light but informative read.
The headline — Meta Stops ex-director from promoting critical memoir — did its job. That's how I discovered Sarah Wynn-Williams, and her book, Careless People. It felt hypocritical that a company claiming to give the voiceless a platform would go to such lengths to silence a personal memoir.
I skimmed through a few reviews online but wasn’t intrigued enough to buy the Kindle version — even though I enjoy highlighting and taking notes. The audio version felt perfect for my daily commute.
This book is a memoir, and the author does a lovely job of describing her idealism and her journey to Facebook (now Meta), hoping to help them influence policy and make the world a better place. She’s very fair to her colleagues and bosses while still offering honest takes on her experiences at Facebook. For example, her impressions of her first private plane ride were so honest and endearing. I could totally relate to her disappointment at realizing she’d miss out on frequent flyer miles — only to be reminded how “lucky” she was to be flying with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta.
I wasn’t at all surprised by the situations she described where Meta prioritized itself over doing the right thing. Her accounts of Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and other senior leaders reinforced my own impression: that many conventionally successful — financially and/or reputationally — people I’ve met come across as two-faced. They seem to maintain a carefully curated public persona — and a very different one that only their close teams see. Their real skill, it seems, is being able to switch between these personas without batting an eyelid or showing any psychological strain.
Toward the end of the book, I was saddened by how Meta treated Sarah — but also relieved to know she has a lovely family and landed on her feet.
I’m sure there are more sides to every story she presents. But I never got the sense that Sarah was trying to claim hers was the absolute truth. I’ve always been skeptical of companies that promote grand social missions while making decisions driven solely by profit. This memoir was a timely reminder to stay vigilant.