"You have no privacy at all": Employees spill all about life inside Facebook

Facebook should, in theory, be a great company to work for - it turns over billions, the food is free, and genius entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg likes to get involved on the shop floor.

Despite having been voted the Number One workplace on employment site Glassdoor, according to Business Insider, there still seem to be flies in the ointment.  

An open thread on discussion site Quora offers an amusing insight into what it’s REALLY like to work for the world’s biggest social network.  

Perhaps unsurprisingly, privacy seems to be a bit of a problem. “You have none, at all,” complains one worker - in a rant that goes on to cover several other unexpected problems…   


                              [The "car-melting" skyscraper]

You have to use your own Facebook account 

Facebook workers aren’t allowed to have a “work” account - they have to be the same person off-duty as on. This doesn’t always go down well, says one anonymous employee “Perhaps unsurprisingly, FB employees are (implicitly) encouraged to be themselves at work. At most companies, you put up a wall between a work personality and a personal one, which ends up with a professional workspace. This wall does not exist at FB (e.g. we use the same account for work that we do for the "outside world") which can lead to some uncomfortable situations.”   

People come up to you at parties and complain about Facebook 

Elaine C Smith said, “My husband worked at Facebook for a couple of years as a data scientist, and I believe one of the worst things for him about working there was being a recipient of any complaints anyone had about the site, often as soon as they learned that he worked there.  The complaints were the greatest in number following a redesign, although other regular grievances involved Facebook and privacy concerns or general difficulty with how to use the site.” 

Even INSIDE Facebook, you have no privacy

Facebook has come under fire for the way it uses data from its users - such as its recent decision to allow “tagging” of profile photos. But those who sign up for the company, don’t fare much better. “The worst thing is having no privacy whatsoever at work, at any time,” says one anonymous employee. “Knowing that you're part of a large company trying to act like a young one. This is kind of like an Adam Sandler movie where he's old but wants to act like a teenager. Awkward.Zuck and Sheryl imposing a "holier than thou" attitude on everyone and everything around them. Come on guys, we're running a serious business here.

The food is too good 

Noah Jorgenson, a two-year-veteran of the company complains that the company’s legendary free food has a downside. “What’s wrong with good food?” Jorgenson asks. “Well, here’s what’s wrong:  there’s too much of it.  Three meals a day.  Free.  Cooked by award-winning chefs.  And too many choices:  salads, entrees, desserts, vegetarian food, soups, whole grains, usually a second dessert, organic stuff, barbeque, ice cream, fresh-squeezed orange juice.  For someone like me with zero gastronomic self-control, this supposed “benefit” or “perk” is a complete disaster.  Why doesn’t the FDA step in?” 

The management have some very odd ideas 

“When I didn't perform (duh), I was told I lacked intuition as a professionalism,” said one employee. “They put me on a performance improvement plan and gave me 10 days to "improve". Those 10 days were insane -- I was working 12-14 hour days, on my phone constantly and being hyper aware of my performance. On the 10th day, and no meeting scheduled with my manager to assess my performance, I waited...and waited...and waited… Finally 2 weeks later, I took initiative and put time on their calendars. They said, "oh, sorry" I had been doing great! To have the audacity to put me on a performance plan, but not follow up at their "deadline", was one of the most disrespectful acts I've ever experienced from managers. At that point, I quit on the spot.”