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Careless People: A story of where I used to work

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Careless People: A story of where I used to work

By: Sarah Wynn-Williams
Narrated by: Sarah Wynn-Williams
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About this listen

Shocking and darkly funny, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to the decisions that are shaping our world and the people who make them. Welcome to Facebook.

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a young diplomat from New Zealand, pitched for her dream job. She saw Facebook's potential and knew it could change the world for the better. But, when she got there and rose to its top ranks, things turned out a little different.

From wild schemes cooked up on private jets to risking prison abroad, Careless People exposes both the personal and political fallout when boundless power and a rotten culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative, Wynn-Williams rubs shoulders with Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and world leaders, revealing what really goes on among the global elite - and the consequences this has for all of us.

Candid and entertaining, this is an intimate memoir set amid powerful forces. As all our lives are upended by technology and those who control it, Careless People will change how you see the world.

©2025 Sarah Wynn-Williams (P)2025 Macmillan Australia Audio Funny Inspiring Thought-Provoking
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I bet hundreds of women could write similar stories about their time at Deathbook. Though some would have seen the signs earlier, held tight to their own humanity, and left, what Sarah had to endure is disgusting, and it needs to be heard. People also need to hear how toxic and pathetic Zuckerberg and his people are, as well as the breadth and depth of their threat to advancing Humanity.

There’s a reason that so many companies achieve such great growth in America: there’s so much greed and attention on appearances, instead of substance. Anyone who appears to have great monetary wealth is listened to and their ideas populate, because most people have the same desire to be like them and experience their level of wealth, attention and control over others.

Yet, Zuck, Musk, Trump, Altman and hundreds of others are not rich because they possess intelligence to make the world a better place; they’re rich because of their ability to manipulate others to minimise their perceived threats to themselves.

If you’re not greedy and frothing at the mouth for status and adoration yourself, you can spot a narcissist from ten miles away. Meanwhile, everybody else doesn’t notice until years later when it’s too late, because they were too busy doing all that frothing over the creator’s wealth and the promise that the shiny new thing will take all their lack away.

Brave and courageous

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Careless People tells the alarming tale of what Facebook started as. what it could have been, and the evil monster that it has become.
All with engaging, human-centred stories told with Sarah Wynn-Willliams' easy, informative and entertaining tone.

All round amazing

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How the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing! And how corrupt with power and money!and the bullying

I think it shows it grew too big too soon! You could see what was going to happen

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A darkly fascinating portrayal of the cold, inhumane and thoroughly self-absorbed behaviour which, according to Wynn-Willaims, became the modus operandi of Facebook's power-hungry leadership.

Wynn-Williams' brave and detailed account of her seven years employed at Facebook is an important read. Her portrayal reveals a company willing to actively polarise communal debate even when violent conflict ensues, to lure in, then exploit, young people at their most vulnerable, to prop up a facade of CSR policies with little intention to implement them, to feign impartiality and then partner with anyone when corporate growth requires or the price is right. As if the lack of empathy or accountability displayed by the company's senior management were not galling enough, their ability to lie and greenwash their public image makes the behaviour sickening.

The book highlights the actual and potential weaponisation of Facebook's political power, and the immensity of the social, communal and psychological harm that this power can inflict. By contrast, the tobacco industry, for all its ills, seems a far lesser concern.

Facebook's indifference and its consistent positioning of short-term profits over people, while shocking in many instaces (such as during the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar) poses questions we must all grapple with.

Amongst others, how did we collectively elevate a tightly held, undemocratic entity to weild so much unchecked global power? And, knowing what we now do, will we continue to use, and elevate, this platform?

For if this depiction of Facebook's corporate culture does not persuade swathes to leave the platform, I'm not sure if anything will.

One thing unfortunately missing from Wynn-Williams, however, is greater introspection regarding her choice to stay with the company - despite witnessing over and over its capacity to inflict, and unwillingness to address, serious harms. Her countenance that 'I thought I could do more good from the inside' wears rather thin as the years, and number of problematic incidents, roll on.

Instead, it would have been fascinating to hear her reflect more on the possibly quite addictive nature of being at the heart of an organisation that wields so much global power, wealth and influence. She clearly enjoyed those moments when they held court with global leaders and she revelled in Facebook's political relevance - even though the company's actions frequently infuriate her. So much of Wynn-Winter's account speaks to the seductive and corrupting quality of unbridled power, so it is a pity she did not explore this at a deeper level.

In any event, if Wynn-Williams had made a stronger ethical stand to her superiors and departed at an earlier stage, we would perhaps not be able to now benefit from the many insights this her book provides.

This is not a feel-good read, but it is a good one.

Darkly fascinating portrayal

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Shocking reveal of power being used in the wrong way or by inaction of policy how it affects the world. I am seriously considering cancelling Facebook after this

Power in the wrong hands

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As a Kiwi citizen and a millennial who’s been on Facebook since 2004, Sarah Wynn-Williams’ Careless People hit home in more ways than one. Her personal account, combined with a critical look at Facebook’s dark side, resonated with me on many levels. It’s rare to find a book that so deeply connects with both personal experience and broader social issues, but this one does just that.

As someone immersed in the world of politics, this book gave me a lot to think about in terms of the intersection of tech and power. I’ll be deleting my Facebook account thanks to Sarah’s insight, and I’m now seriously questioning my relationship with Instagram and WhatsApp as well.

Highly recommend this book—it’s life-changing.

A must-listen!

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Sarah takes a couple of chapters to get into a flow, but eventually gets it going. I think it’s important to take people’s stories with a grain of salt, but as someone who has been very anti-Facebook for quite some time, her story made a LOT of things make sense. I’m glad she’s shared her story and I always appreciate an author reading their own work. I hope she stays safe and I want Zuckerberg to know that him trying to silence her about this book is what made me hear about it in the first place, and I downloaded it immediately. Streisand effect in full force here.

A bit slow at first but good story overall

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Well i certainly know a lot more about Myanmar politics than i ever thought i would haha

Honestly the book starts off slow but soon hits its stride and keeps on walking with big boots on! I’m just so pleased it exists, there is a tower of books on peoples time at the whitehouse during various administrations but less on these large organisations that have a chokehold on our lives.

Theres a public interest piece to be considered here and I’m glad Sarah told it even in the face of law suits and adversity - what a time to have been at Facebook! Learning about toxic bosses, and the under the veneer of Sheryl and Mark. Which is honestly as you expect but its good to know for sure. The boy king and nepotism at its finest.

All of this story is very believable, sure its prob skimming over some of the things she likely was complicit in or naive about but I wouldn’t write the book off for that.

Recommend any facebook user, technologist or working woman in a large organisation “read “ this.

Rip ‘em a new one Sarah. The Zuck is cooked!

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I’ve long believed Facebook was a problematic company, but the depth of its corruption revealed in this book was far beyond what I could have imagined. Sarah, thank you for your incredible courage and persistence in bringing this story to light🙏I can only begin to imagine the challenges you faced in getting this story published.

From the very first chapter, I was completely hooked and read the entire book in a single day. Having spent my career in tech, many of the characters and situations felt disturbingly familiar. Thank you for making those troubling behaviours visible to the world.

Wow gripping 👏

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A compelling story of people corrupted by power, money and insatiable greed for more. As bad as you might imagine the FB situation to be, it turns out it’s much worse.

Lethal Carelessness

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