Brain Spradley, Mark Negus, Cooper Anderson

English

Ms. Bice

December 3, 2021 C.E.

Satire Project Explainer

For our satire, we are targeting Facebook and their practices that prioritize profits over a

healthy user experience. Facebook has been criticized and called out for allowing hate speech,

misinformation, and body shaming to thrive on their platforms (both Facebook and Instagram).

A whistleblower has also said that the Facebook algorithm prioritizes posts that make users

angry, because angry people stay on their website longer. Facebook has denied pretty much all of

these accusations, saying that whatever negative content gets promoted on their platform is due

to “human nature” rather than anything they have control over. We are aiming to satirize

Facebook in order to advocate for healthier business practices from the company.

Our satire piece is designed to have a mocking tone towards Facebook. We achieve this

by using specific words in order to make fun of Facebook. Throughout the article, we list out all

of the issues that Facebook has been accused of having, and then have Zuckerberg’s response be

informal, rude, and generally unbecoming of a billion-dollar tech CEO. We also use words such

as “announced,” “released,” and “reported” to give the piece a more formal tone, adding to the

“credibility” of the information we are presenting. This creates a situation in the reader’s mind

where they can imagine an undesirable world where the things in our article actually do happen,

in hopes of pushing them to advocate for change.

 The main satirization is that Facebook has all these issues which are deep seated and

substantially bad, and their response is basically just saying “No” to allegations and changing

their name/platform. The issue is not an interface or platform capability issue, but by changing

the name, logo, and lightly modifying the platform, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook act like all

the problems will get swept under the rug. Blatant phrases like: “..wanted to capture a spirit of

hostility”, “to not to”, and “solved all problems” are overtly absurd and effective satire because

they are rooted in the truth of Facebook’s apathy.

In our article we use several elements of satire to build our critique of Facebook. A few

times throughout the article, we play into the well-known joke that Mark Zuckerberg is secretly a

robot, as a way to poke fun at a powerful public figure. Our article is parodying Facebook’s

response to the situation that arose after the whistleblower testified in front of Congress. After

damning internal documents pretty much confirmed that Facebook was guilty of prioritizing

profits over their users’ mental health, the company denied all of the accusations and said that

they were always working to create the best possible experience for their users. Soon thereafter,

Zuckerberg announced that Facebook’s name would be changing to Meta, likely in an attempt to

escape the allegations. Our satirical article is parodying this whole debacle, and hyperbolizing it

to the extreme. The title of the article says that Facebook’s new website will be “...a ‘safe space’

for hate speech, misinformation, and body shaming.” In a fake interview, Zuckerberg says, “we

really wanted to capture and cultivate a spirit of hostility and conflict. It does make way more

money after all!” Obviously, Facebook didn’t actually say or do any of these things, but these

egregious statements reflect the message that is being sent by their inaction, and unwillingness to

take responsibility for their mistakes.

 We use sarcasm in our article to make it seem like the reporter has bought Zuckerberg’s

story, when the reality is the opposite. When referring to Meta, the article says, “This innovative

completely new platform will be a new and wonderful land for the peoples of the internet to

gather,” even though it is previously stated in the article that Meta is being set up as a realm

where hate speech is expected and encouraged. Finally, the irony in our article comes from the

fact that Facebook has revealed Meta as something new and innovative, that will solve all of the

problems with Facebook, but in reality, Meta is essentially the exact same thing. By sticking a

new name and logo on the same product, Facebook is expecting people to forget about all their

wrongdoings, and ignore the continued violations.

Sources:

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/09/27/how-tech-platforms-fuel-u-s-political-polar
ization-and-what-government-can-do-about-it/

https://www.extremetech.com/internet/327855-whistleblower-facebook-is-designed-to-make-you
-angry

https://www.reuters.com/technology/facebook-whistleblower-reveals-identity-ahead-senate-heari
ng-2021-10-03/

https://amherstwire.com/26484/lifestyle/instagram-and-its-affect-on-body-image/

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/01/983155583/facebook-disputes-claims-it-fuels-political-polarizati
on-and-extremism