Even if you have a particularly strong moral code you may reasonably take the job as there is a higher degree of probability that you may affect change from the inside vs. the outside... and if that isn‘t possible you may try to go the snowden route...
It might be a little counter intuitive but in terms of jobs it is always good to exercise some counterfactual thinking: What would happen if I didn‘t take the job? Another dev without a strong moral code would likely simply do what they are told without thinking about consequences and long-term impact. Having loud voices within FB itself (hopefully in important positions) might have a big impact! Imagine Zuckerberg getting the low-down for all of his probably well-intentioned but horribly excetued ideas BEFORE they are rolled out...
I don't see anything bad with working on social network. That being said, that chain of thought is wrong. If you take that job, you share responsibility for what you do and you are no better then that other dude. You don't get points for someone else theoretically being worst - that is just arrogance.
I don’t think it is wrong... it is optimistic in the sense that I consider the possibility of affecting positive change within FB as likely or at least non-zero. You don’t just have to be the waterboy, you could be on the coaching team and really influence where things are going. Obviously a lot of conditionals and hurdels there though... the incentives won’t be neatly aligned for you.
That's very optimistic, though not entirely impossible. Have you ever tried to enact large-scale change in a massive organization from the bottom rung? Also are you gonna rock the boat when your options haven't vested yet?
It might be a little counter intuitive but in terms of jobs it is always good to exercise some counterfactual thinking: What would happen if I didn‘t take the job? Another dev without a strong moral code would likely simply do what they are told without thinking about consequences and long-term impact. Having loud voices within FB itself (hopefully in important positions) might have a big impact! Imagine Zuckerberg getting the low-down for all of his probably well-intentioned but horribly excetued ideas BEFORE they are rolled out...