As we have talked about in class, with advances in technology there comes a certain level of trust we need to have in that technology. But to what extent is that applicable? Will we trust technology with our lives(driverless cars) with our elders(robotic babies) or in the case I’m going to discuss below with our money. Yesterday, Mark Zuckerburg, the chief executive officer of Facebook commented about Facebook’s new idea that “billions of people will use a cryptocurrency created by Facebook to send money to friends and family around the world”. Basically Facebook, the company that lost the trust of so many people over the past year, is attempting to create a cryptocurrency exchange program within the site. I don’t know how I feel about that. Could or should the company that was manipulating our personal information be trusted with our money? Personally I think no, but that really is up for you to decide. I do think Zuckerburg said it almost spot on when he said “I know some people wonder whether we can be trusted to build payment services that protect consumers”. As we read the essays of Sherry Turkle and Wendell Berry it reminded me of what information and what elements of my life I have allowed technology to overtake. I do most of my banking online, talk with my friends and family, and I have hundreds of pictures on my phone. So as we consider why we are Franklins I think this goes to show why. The community needs to have someone not only with the technical skills to develop this payment element of Facebook, but needs someone who can communicate with the target audience with the attempt to win them back and earn their trust.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/technology/zuckerberg-libra-facebook-cryptocurrency.html