Blink Book Review: “Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism” by Sarah Wynn-Williams


For anyone who hates social media – and Facebook in particular – you’ll get a real satisfaction from reading this book and all the awfulness surrounding the people and international corporate shenanigans that went on in the company’s early years.

Sarah Wynn-Williams is a former Facebook employee who wrote this tell-all after she was fired from the company in 2016 after 16 years. Sarah was a key member of the international policy team that worked with other countries where Facebook operated or wanted to operate. She had a front-row seat (literally on private jets and inner circle conference rooms) to Mark Zuckerburg and his elite leadership circle.

Sarah’s idealism about Facebook’s potential to create good change by connecting people and interests with others prompted her laser focused attempts to get hired in 2010. A former UN diplomat who hails from  New Zealand, Sarah believed her diplomatic skills could be applied for good at Facebook.

The book chronicles her path from idealistic early days to her disillusioned dismissal after she accused the company of turning a blind eye to chronic sexual harassment charges. I’m always a little leery of tell-all books by disgruntled former employees, and this one contains dozens of examples of the rampant disregard for the law, for human dignity of employees, for fiscal responsibility to shareholders and for keeping children safe online.

I feel certain there’s truth as the center of Sarah’s accusations, but I’ve just got to wonder how and why she kept such detailed notes about her experiences as they happened. In fact, the book release in March 2025 was thwarted by Facebook’s legal challenges to the veracity of her charges. And there are lots of online posts from lots of sources questioning her recollection of events.

I think most people have a love/hate relationship with Facebook and social media. While we may count on it to stay connected with people and informed about events and happenings, it can be a cesspool of negativity and misinformation.

All that said, I found this book easy to listen to (she has a lovely New Zealand accent) and I was fascinated by the corporate intrigue – to the point it reads more like a novel than a memoir sometimes.

Ironically, as I was finishing up the epilogue to the book, I was also working to arrange transport for a stray puppy we’re adopting from our niece in Mississippi. Thanks to Facebook and the connections in David’s hometown, we were able to get the puppy transported 400+ miles to her new home.

Sometimes it does take a Facebook village – warts and all!

Comments

Post a Comment

I love hearing from readers. Let me know what you think! Please sign your name if you're not already signed into Blogger so I can see who is posting (otherwise it shows up as anonymous).

Most popular posts

A cure for FOMO (or also entitled 48 hours in the company of hooting, cackling and snorting friends*)

Image
At my age, there's not much that can gin up a full blown case of FOMO anymore. But when I recently realized I was the only one of my "DC supper club" girls who didn't happen to be planning to be in the same place over a pretty spring week-end, FOMO kicked in big time.  This supper club started as a crew of Mississippians by birth, college or marriage (that would be me). We formed a supper club in the late 1980s while living in DC as young marrieds. By the mid-90s, we had scattered to new places to start families and grow careers.  But in spite of the distance over the years, we all grew our own unique individual friendships and, at the same time, created a really special group connection that's spanned four decades. Between us, the years have brought 15 children ranging from 24 to 40, 10 weddings, six grandchildren, numerous job changes, group travel, health challenges, football weekends, family upheavals, aging parents, and a years-long text thread t...
Read more

Iceland - some observations and ramblings

Image
 Our June Iceland adventure didn’t disappoint. ... and yes, I definitely look like a tourist coming off an overnight flight ... It delighted. It surprised. It rained. It exploded (geysers did anyway). It charmed. It never saw a sunset. It far exceeded expectations. We explored Iceland with four friends - Neil and Deb McLean and Jim and Frankie McLean -   on a Viking Cruise that left out of Reykjavik and circumnavigated the small island nation of 400,000 inhabitants. We made stops in six diverse ports where we saw gushing geysers, still volcanoes, exquisite natural beauty, magnificent waterfalls, engaging local guides, changing weather and delightful stories. This post includes a few rambling thoughts and fun facts from what I learned and enjoyed between the lines of the history, geography, food, scenery, weather, culture and geological wonders. 1. It’s true what they say… if you don’t like the weather wait 10 minutes. Most days were low 50s with mist/light rain. We did hav...
Read more

Blink Book Review: The Devil at his Elbow by Valerie Bauerlein

Image
Like many people, I decided to do no more reading about, listening to or watching anything about the Murdaugh case once the trial ended in March 2022. I had no interest in what podcasters, movies, tv series, books, blogs or news hounds had to say once the sentencing was over. That was until I saw that Valerie Bauerlein had written a book about the trial. I’d crossed work paths with Valerie back in her early career when she worked at The State newspaper in Columbia. I continued to follow her writing through her Wall Street Journal work. I knew this book would not be the sensational, rumor-ridden, speculative narrative that so many writers, podcasters, movie producers and news people had resorted to post-trial. I wasn’t disappointed. Valerie’s direct news writing style intersecting with the narrative skill of an empathetic storyteller makes this book engaging, interesting, easy to follow, and a pleasure to read. One of my favorite sentences of the book comes on page 23 with the descr...
Read more