Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

Rating: 4 (3 votes)

Tags: Female author

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Description:

#1 New York Times Bestseller “Careless People is darkly funny and genuinely shocking...Not only does [Sarah Wynn-Williams] have the storytelling chops to unspool a gripping narrative; she also delivers the goods." -Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times “When one of the world’s most powerful media companies tries to snuff out a book — amid other alarming attacks on free speech in America like this — it’s time to pull out all the stops.” –Ron Charles, The Washington Post An explosive memoir charting one woman’s career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them. From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite. Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction when he learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in.” Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade—told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us.

Reviews:

Clinton (1 week ago)	22 May, 2026 Tech giant Facebook morally stunted. How is this a surprise for the author? Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism updates the film The Social Network, chronicling more recent sculduggery, misconduct, and machinations at Facebook (including using targeted lies to hand Trump the election, designing surveillance and censorship tools for China, and targeting advertising to teens when their posts show they are emotionally vulnerable). With bonus material about how Facebook corporate culture crushes (the few) women employees and mothers especially. The author, Sarah Wynn-Williams, writing about her time working at Facebook, comes across as incredibly idealistic about the platform as a “force for good that would change the world.” But she is also incredibly naive, as she slowly realises.
Tracy Harring (3 months ago)	01 Mar, 2026
Ady Simmons-Shawnee (1 month ago)	26 Apr, 2026