A More Buddhist Facebook?
Buddhism for businesses? If it benefits people, why not!
I must say that this is really good news. Especially in this era where Facebook and other social media platforms are widely prevalent and used by many. When communication with the masses is as simple as pressing the ‘Enter’ button, many have unfortunately let out their discontent and frustrations online without thinking about the consequences of their wrong speech. Even though social media platforms are virtual, the people behind these profiles are real. Thus the harsh words written online are just as bad as if they were uttered face to face. Not taking these interactions seriously can have devastating results; people’s lives have been ruined by social media and some have even taken their own lives because of the cyber bullying they suffered.
So, Facebook incorporating the principles of Buddhism or more specifically Compassion into their business is excellent news. It is a good opportunity to teach the younger generation, who spend most of their time on the internet, how to be responsible for their words. Words can inspire people but can also create division. Therefore it’s very important to ensure that what we express, especially what we write in the public domain, is beneficial to others and does not cause harm, whether intentional or otherwise.
Tsem Rinpoche
Facebook is Injecting Buddhism Into Its Core Business So It Can Be More Compassionate
Megan Rose Dickey | June 25, 2013, 9:51 AM
Facebook is experimenting with ways to make the site a little more compassionate.
It’s no secret that Facebook can serve as a platform for bullying. In fact, cyber bullying occurs on Facebook more than any other site, according to a study last year by Internet security company McAfee. It turns out that 92% of the teenagers surveyed have witnessed bullying on Facebook.
But in Facebook’s earlier days, the tools for reporting malicious behavior were subpar.
So back in 2010, Facebook Engineering Director Arturo Bejar decided to do something about it, Noah Shachtman of Wired reports. After attending a talk about kindness at the Wisdom 2.0 conference, Bejar felt inspired to implement compassion into the core of Facebook’s business.
Bejar set up “compassion research days” and brought in academics from Berkeley, Yale, and Stanford to teach them the Buddhist-inspired concept of compassion.
They suggested Facebook make its reporting tools more personal, conversational, and emotional. So instead of tagging something as “Embarrassing,” users could say “It’s embarrassing.”
The changes were small at first, but they ultimately increased usage by 30%. Later changes included more personalized messages and even culture-specific pleas.
The basis of Buddhist compassion is that we’re all interconnected, and as Shactman notes, there’s no other place where that is more obvious than on Facebook.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-injects-buddhism-into-business-2013-6?IR=T&r=US&IR=T
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Wonderful news now FB is spired to implement compassion into the core of Facebook’s business.As these modern era more people are using FB as a means of interating or social media,thats where cyber bullying occur. Facebook has uses technology to resonate human conversations more compassion value.With compassion in FB,they will be more mindful with their written words.Words can be inspiring yet can cause problems.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this wonderful news .
Great news that Facebook incorporate compassion in doing their business. Especially when facebook is the most used social media and can reach out to so many people. This is important to make sure everyone is mindful with their words written. A word really bring a lot of negative impact if used wrongly.
May more business and leaders incorporate compassion value in everything they do and make this world be better living place.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article. At this degenerate age, youngsters nowadays are getting more bold, rude & not mindful on the things they do and what they say. I would like to say a big thank you to Facebook for implementing a compassion in their businesses. Keep up the good work.
With folded palms,
Vivian
Facebook is a social media platform as such, things or occurrences that happen in real life sometimes gets translated onto social media. So some safeguards are good to protect people so their experience on social media is not a nightmare or nightmarish.
Cyber bullying is defined as tormenting, threatening, harassing, or embarrassing another person using the internet or other technologies, like cellphones and/or social media sites.” It is important that people report cyber bullying, it isn’t any less serious than real life bullying.
This makes me happy. Being a teenager i have witnessed cyber bullying first hand and it is not fun to watch. Putting compassion into Facebook would surely help with the problem.
By implementing these compassion research days, Facebook and its users would be kinder and more compassionate with its posts. This would result in a decrease in cyber bullying. Now, this whole compassion program may not have an effect instantly, but if the program is maintained throughout a long period of time I am sure that Facebook will develop a more compassionate website.
I hope that more social media websites other than Facebook implement similar programs. It would be good to lessen the effects of cyber bullying as there are other social media sites that also have cyber bullying.
This is a very good news from Facebook! People have been abusing social media platforms for their own selfish gains or most of the time to put criticise and put down others.
Cyber bullying has been a growing phenomenon, it is very bad because through these peoples’ irresponsible and malicious motivations, the victims have decided to take away their own lives on certain occasion. We should always be responsible for our own speech and actions, because words can heal people but they can also kill people.
We should make good use of these social media platforms and instead use it to benefit and influence others.
I’m so happy that Facebook is curbing cyber bullying and promoting more sensible communication in this cyber community. There is so much abusive slandering on Facebook because people get away with it hiding behind fictitious accounts. Being mean and abusive have become a sick form of entertainment at the expense of the victims.
Compassion is compassion whether it’s taught by the Buddha or Jesus Christ. Each sage has his or her method of teaching compassion. Whichever method attracts us and makes us consistent is THE method for us. It’s a personal choice.
I do hope that Facebook implements more Buddhist methods because these methods have proven to bring harmony and peace for centuries.