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Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Hacker Approved

An insider's account of Facebook's executives and political dealings, praised as revealing and entertaining, though many critics say the author downplays her own complicity.

Summarized from 160 comments.

An insider's account of Facebook's executives and political dealings, praised as revealing and entertaining, though many critics say the author downplays her own complicity.

recommend
106
criticize
24
months recommended
12 of 13

Why people love it

  • Inside look at executive behavior · 9

    I think it's great that Wynn-Williams wrote it and exposed some details at the personal level of how nuts these folks are.

    Apr 2026 · comment

    It's a fantastic read to get inside the psychology of the folks that are making huge decisions about how society works.

    Apr 2026 · comment

    My favorite story from "Careless People," was when his team let him cheat and ultimately win at Settlers of Catan.

    Apr 2026 · comment
  • Exposes Facebook's political and societal harms · 9

    according to the book, social media companies figured out they have real leverage with politicians since they can influence elections

    Mar 2026 · comment

    The book has plenty of prurient private-jet-boardgame stuff, but also deals directly with facebook's adoption in Myanmar

    Jun 2026 · comment

    Provides a lot more context on how Facebook evolved their Public Pulicy team into a political manipulation team.

    Jun 2026 · comment
  • Essential reading for tech workers · 5

    I can highly recommend the book "Carless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams if you want to know just how bad it really is/was.

    Aug 2026 · comment

    Everyone in this industry should be required to read Careless People by Sara Wynn-Williams

    Apr 2026 · comment

    an important topic to read about if you want to be a member of a free, democratic society

    Aug 2026 · comment
  • Entertaining, like absurdist black comedy · 3

    Everything else in the book reads like absurdist black comedy to me and not how I would expect people to behave normally.

    Jul 2026 · comment

    Her book is exceptional. You won't get these insights anywhere else and it's surprisingly entertaining.

    Jul 2026 · comment

    If you loved Catch-22 you will love Careless people! I warmly recommend a read.

    Jul 2026 · comment

What people warn about

  • Author complicit, absolves herself · 9

    pretended not to see how awful all her colleagues were until her priorities shifted

    Aug 2026 · comment

    I think the author may actually be self-deluding herself as I can’t imagine her or her editors think anyone buys this argument.

    Apr 2026 · comment

    the author leaves out how she profited millions and then only complained after she was fired

    Mar 2026 · comment
  • Anecdotes lack corroborating evidence · 2

    contains a number of implausible anecdotes which people repeat as gospel truth even though they have not AFAIK been corroborated

    Aug 2026 · comment

    Many of the juicy stories from the book have no supporting evidence other than the claims of the author.

    Apr 2026 · comment
  • Hard to finish · 3

    I didn't finish the book. But it was shocking to me what the author was admitting to.

    Oct 2026 · comment

    I got very far into this book, but didn't finish it, in large part because the author clearly needed to work through her problems a little more before publishing it.

    Apr 2026 · comment

    I read half of it. I couldn't get past her weird character attacks at his autism traits

    Aug 2026 · comment

What hackers pick instead

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 160 comments. Each links to the original.

  1. according to the book, social media companies figured out they have real leverage with politicians since they can influence elections

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Meta and YouTube Found Negligent in Landmark Social Media Addiction Case”

  2. I can highly recommend the book "Carless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams if you want to know just how bad it really is/was.

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Zuckerberg encouraged growth over child safety, ex-Meta executive testifies”

  3. I think it's great that Wynn-Williams wrote it and exposed some details at the personal level of how nuts these folks are.

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  4. Everything else in the book reads like absurdist black comedy to me and not how I would expect people to behave normally.

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Meta trying to destroy whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams, US senator says”

  5. The book has plenty of prurient private-jet-boardgame stuff, but also deals directly with facebook's adoption in Myanmar

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “'Careless People' author claims Meta surveilled her for 12mos to enforce silence”

  6. It's a fantastic read to get inside the psychology of the folks that are making huge decisions about how society works.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Palantir Employees Are Starting to Wonder If They're the Bad Guys”

  7. My favorite story from "Careless People," was when his team let him cheat and ultimately win at Settlers of Catan.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Meta to cut 10% of jobs, or 8k employees”

  8. Provides a lot more context on how Facebook evolved their Public Pulicy team into a political manipulation team.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “'Careless People' author claims Meta surveilled her for 12mos to enforce silence”

  9. Read the book "careless people" there it is clearly explained how Facebook is responsible for Rohingya genocide.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Denmark's struggle to break up with Silicon Valley”

  10. Knowing something is happening and reading detailed descriptions of them actually occurring is different

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  11. Her book is exceptional. You won't get these insights anywhere else and it's surprisingly entertaining.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Meta trying to destroy whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams, US senator says”

  12. having first hand accounts of how these people love money and power more than they do values and people

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  13. Careless People (the book) is a great study on how Facebook ran out of growth in western territories

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Meta Blocks President Lula's Facebook Page, Campaign Ads 2 Weeks from Election”

  14. Peoples lives, governments, politics have been altered so facebook can grow and build its influence.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “What Meta got right with Muse”

  15. Zuck refuses to meet with WORLD LEADERS in the morning because he's tired from the night before.

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Mark Zuckerberg attacks 'closed' AI rivals as Meta returns to open models”

  16. Having listened to the book on Audible, I'm both shocked at the behavior of the executive team

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  17. The title is very apt, the executives, they simply didn't care. That was a fascinating glimpse

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  18. It was pretty eye opening and I don't think this kind of thing applies to all big tech really.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Muse exposes users' personal and business secrets when they share conversations”

  19. In the book "careless people" it is highlighted that Facebook embedded spyware in their app

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “TikTok unlawfully tracks shopping habits and use of dating apps?”

  20. Everyone in this industry should be required to read Careless People by Sara Wynn-Williams

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Palantir Employees Are Starting to Wonder If They're the Bad Guys”

  21. the book about Facebook, where it is documented that Facebook illegally installed spyware

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Denmark's struggle to break up with Silicon Valley”

  22. an important topic to read about if you want to be a member of a free, democratic society

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Meta Files Patent for Facial Recognition, Automatic Recording of People”

  23. the final 10-15 chapters detail exactly why Facebook/Meta should be treated as a threat

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Meta employees say Lula’s accounts restricted in Brazil election: Report”

  24. I didn't finish the book. But it was shocking to me what the author was admitting to.

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “The No Kings Takedown Is Why You Shouldn't Rent Your Megaphone from Zuck”

  25. read Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams and see if you still consider them okish

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Mark Zuckerberg attacks 'closed' AI rivals as Meta returns to open models”

  26. Everybody in tech should read Careless People, not just to learn details about Meta.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Meta Blocks President Lula's Facebook Page, Campaign Ads 2 Weeks from Election”

  27. pretended not to see how awful all her colleagues were until her priorities shifted

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “OpenAI's Only Ethicist Reportedly Left Last Month”

  28. If you loved Catch-22 you will love Careless people! I warmly recommend a read.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Meta trying to destroy whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams, US senator says”

  29. I got very far into this book, but didn't finish it, in large part because the author clearly needed to work through her problems a little more before publishing it.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Palantir Employees Are Starting to Wonder If They're the Bad Guys”

  30. contains a number of implausible anecdotes which people repeat as gospel truth even though they have not AFAIK been corroborated

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “Mark Zuckerberg attacks 'closed' AI rivals as Meta returns to open models”

  31. I think the author may actually be self-deluding herself as I can’t imagine her or her editors think anyone buys this argument.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  32. Many of the juicy stories from the book have no supporting evidence other than the claims of the author.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  33. the author leaves out how she profited millions and then only complained after she was fired

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Meta and YouTube Found Negligent in Landmark Social Media Addiction Case”

  34. Quite an amazing feat by the author of the book to absolve herself from any responsibility

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Zuckerberg's Increasingly Bizarre War on Whistleblowers”

  35. I read half of it. I couldn't get past her weird character attacks at his autism traits

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “Mark Zuckerberg attacks 'closed' AI rivals as Meta returns to open models”

  36. the author tries to set herself apart from the culture she was deeply embedded within

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  37. honestly the author is just as crazy as the rest of the executive team she skewers

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  38. I think the author was complicit and only complained once FB stopped paying her.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  39. that's not the story, she way too many opportunities to do that, yet didn't

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

  40. the author is just as crazy as the rest of the executive team she skewers

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Author of "Careless People" banned from saying anything negative about Meta”

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