Frances Haugen’s Vision for a Better Tech Future
Advocate for accountability and transparency in social media Frances Haugen explains her vision for a better tech future with All Tech is Human Director and Founder David Ryan Polgar.
All Tech Is Human’s David Ryan Polgar talks to Frances Haugen, an advocate for accountability and transparency in social media who was thrust into the global spotlight last Fall as a whistleblower for the Facebook Papers. Polgar speaks to Haugen about runaway algorithms, the goals for her new non-profit (Beyond the Screen), and her vision for a better tech future.
Stay in touch with the work of Frances Haugen and Beyond the Screen at FrancesHaugen.com
Quotes
“I have always said any solution that is dependent on me is a solution that is doomed... that the real problem…the anchor problem that led to all these downstream consequences was not enough different kinds of people were sitting at the table, right?” (7:14)
“Our goal, like what I view as success, is if we could have a million people in the world who could have a conversation about the tradeoffs in social media — the design of these systems, the significance of different choices at a level of competency that was similar to mine — that would be success. Because I don't believe any solution that involves a couple hundred people scattered around the world can ever be authentically democratic. And so we're gonna keep working to bring more and more people to the table to be effective commentators, to be effective of inventors.” (7:44)
“I have this dream that one day we will live in a world where we have designed social media to scale for linguistic diversity, that we believe in linguistic equity — and that's my personal dream.” (13:19)
Keep up with Frances Haugen
About All Tech is Human
All Tech Is Human is committed to connecting and expanding the Responsible Tech ecosystem so we can tackle thorny tech & society issues and co-create a tech future aligned with the public interest. We do this through a variety of activities focused around three key areas: multi-stakeholder convening & community-building, multidisciplinary education, and diversifying the pipeline with more backgrounds and lived experiences. Our organization has a large community Slack group, regular summits & mixers, a mentorship program, Responsible Tech Talent Pool, university ambassadors program, open working groups that develop reports, office hours, a job board, and our just-released Responsible Tech Guide. Check out all of our projects and events HERE, and read about our mission and accomplishments HERE.