By Nicole Zhu
The point of much of modern technology is to improve society: making human lives more convenient, connected, and accessible. But since its advent, Big Tech—now powering the fastest-growing sector in the economy—has led to its own uniquely modern set of issues: fake news, screen addiction, an affordable housing crisis, skyrocketing homelessness, and ever-increasing income inequality amidst continual debate about who deserves a slice of the $5 billion tech pie.
Facebook, widely seen as the primary contributor to fake news, announced on Friday the launch of Facebook News, a dedicated tab of the Facebook mobile app for curated news content from dozens of pre-approved publishers, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Buzzfeed. While the majority of articles will be chosen by computer algorithms, top content in Facebook News will be hand-picked by a team of journalists and experts—a human reprieve from the algorithm-powered newsfeed.
For many, Facebook News is Facebook’s answer to the rapid flow of misinformation that landed the company in hot water during the 2016 election cycle, and just one of the company’s latest initiatives to develop solutions to self-generated problems: Last week, Facebook pledged $1 billion in grants, loans, and land towards California’s housing crisis—joining Google and Seattle-based Microsoft in dedicating millions of dollars for affordable housing. Experts have attributed much of the current housing crisis in California and Seattle to skyrocketing real estate prices caused by the exponential growth of some of the biggest names in tech—displacing thousands of lower- and middle-income households and causing previously unseen levels of homelessness.
Technology companies are changing the very fabric of cities, and some are choosing to reject them altogether: After Amazon chose New York City as one of its two locations for its second headquarters, grassroots activists and housing advocates, citing worries about gentrification and affordable housing, rallied public opinion against Amazon until the company decided to withdraw from New York altogether.
Now, Google has also released a new host of tools, “Digital Wellbeing Experiments,” designed to “help people find a better balance with technology.” “Unlock Clock” forces users to confront their own tech dependency by displaying the number of times a user unlocks their phone, while “Desert Island” encourages users to “find focus” by limiting apps to only the most essential ones. “Paper Phone” is the most dramatic—replacing the cell phone altogether for a printable paper phone that includes all of the information the user would need for the day.
“Technology should improve life, not distract from it,” a video released by Google said. But as technology companies increasingly try to address the problems that they themselves create, the question is now: is it enough?