Facebook: We don’t always 'get things right the first time' – CNET
Facebook: We don’t always ‘get things right the first time’
The social network’s head of design talks about people misusing its products. He also fields questions about Snapchat Stories and Alexa.
Facebook’s head of design on Monday talked about trying to prevent misuse of its products.
GettyFacebook has been in hot water lately for people misusing its products. Some have spread false news on the social network’s news feed. Facebook’s ad platform let marketers target anti-Semites. People have used Facebook Live, it’s video streaming service, to broadcast violence.
On Monday, Luke Woods, Facebook’s head of design, acknowledged some of the company’s missteps.
“We’re not always going to get things right the first time,” Woods said during the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco. “There’s always more work to be done to make things work better.”
Facebook has been in the spotlight as it tries to grapple with its scale and influence. Earlier this month, Facebook disclosed it sold $100,000 worth of ads to inauthentic accounts likely linked to Russia during the 2016 election. On Friday, the company said it’s working with federal investigators as Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team look into alleged Russian meddling into the election.
During the interview, Woods also addressed a few other things related to Facebook’s products and design.
Facebook has been widely criticized for copying Stories, a popular sharing format pioneered by its rival Snapchat that lets people post a string of videos and pictures that disappear after 24 hours. Now, Facebook has stories on all four of its major apps — Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and the Facebook app itself.
Woods said the team looked to the company’s users to build what they wanted to use, even if it meant looking elsewhere.
“There are many things that have been invented at Facebook, but I don’t think we’re so prideful to think everything will be invented here,” he said.
Woods was also asked about the future of the the site and if it would be available on a platform like Alexa, the popular voice assistant from Amazon. He didn’t give an answer but instead smiled and said “no comment.”
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