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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Careless People summary
Sarah Wynn-Williams
A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
18 mins
Brief summary
Careless People delves into the vibrant and chaotic world of the Jazz Age, uncovering the cultural backdrop that inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. It intricately explores themes of wealth, excess, and moral ambiguity.
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Careless People
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Promise
Sarah Wynn-Williams was an early, if naive, believer in Facebook’s ability to change the world for the better – and she wanted in.
As a former policy expert at the United Nations, she had the knowledge to spot, as early as 2010, that Facebook would increasingly need to rely on international policy expertise to negotiate its global expansion.
She then spent months tracking down personal connections in Facebook’s global policy team to pitch a position as a Facebook Diplomat. It wasn’t easy, despite its core mission to connect people, Facebook’s own executives were notoriously difficult to identify, let alone reach.
When she finally reached Marne Levine of the policy team in early 2011, she learned that Facebook had never really considered hiring someone specifically to research and negotiate policy with governments around the world. Wynn-Williams’s well-researched and rehearsed script about the benefits of working together with governments to help Facebook expand made no impression – until she mentioned that a failure to do so might impede Facebook’s growth into new markets.
Just a week after this seemingly disastrous interview, Marne randomly called back – Wynn-Williams’s prediction that Facebook could facilitate huge global-scale protests had become reality during the Arab Spring. In the call, Marne even floated the idea that Mark Zuckerberg should take credit for the popular uprisings. Wynn-Williams, with years of policy experience at the UN, knew it would be a disaster for Facebook in China if he did.
If Mark Zuckerberg took credit for a people’s revolution in the Middle East, she explained, it would impact Facebook returning to China. Marne reacted with silence. She then dismissed the concern, saying they were only thinking about the Western media right then, not China. Quickly, Marne hung up. Months then passed with no contact.
But after watching the events of the New Zealand earthquake play out in real time over Facebook months later, Wynn-Williams summoned up the courage to pitch Marne one last time. She cold-called her to relate how Facebook had helped her get news on her sister during the Christchurch earthquake. Finally, Marne understood her value and extended an offer.
On July 5, 2011, Sarah Wynn-Williams started her role on the Facebook policy team in Washington DC.
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What is Careless People about?
Careless People (2025) is a high-ranking, insider memoir about the tumultuous and problematic rise and global spread of Facebook. It details how corporate policies, practices, and growth-at-any-cost values have become a threat to democracy worldwide.
Who should read Careless People?
- Historians seeking an insider look at the major events shaping recent decades
- Critical thinkers and social organizers wanting the inside scoop on the growing political divides
- Anyone concerned about the fracturing of democracies and communities through misinformation, foreign interference, and targeted content
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