Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Another question comes from a young woman who probably has a different idea from Joel about what’s best for America: “I’m worried about what’s going to happen to immigration. What do we do about people who don’t have immigration status?” Elliot praises the question and makes a few bland statements. I’m lost in thought about how many men there seem to be in the DC office projected on the wall and whether they would also describe themselves as “good guys” and how they’re still struggling to contain their shocked delight at the outcome of the election when I tune in to hear, “Sarah will have some thoughts on this, as she’s had difficult immigration challenges.” There’s a moment of silence and everyone turns to me. I don’t respond because I assume he must mean some other Sarah who would be qualified to address the question in some way. Then I realize he means me. He’s throwing the ball to me so he doesn’t have to talk any more about Trump’s immigration plans. “I don’t think the issue is New Zealand immigration,” I say. “But I do know—” Joel jumps in, alert to the fact I’m going off script, and assures everyone that Facebook will look into this. From the crush of people in the back corner of the room in headquarters, someone asks, “Is it our fault? 2016’s ‘the Facebook election.’” It’s a relief to hear someone give voice to what I had been thinking. In the lead-up to the election, this was the constant message inside the company. We called it “the Facebook election” internally,...