Facebook’s 5th Annual Compassion Research Day
This week in SF/Silicon Valley is Wisdom Week, a week filled with lectures around the S.F. Bay Area focused on living well by feeling connected with each other in our hectic daily lives. Several tech industry leaders spoke and hosted the series of conferences, and workshops to inspire and engage in an accessible and inclusive way. I was lucky enough to get my ticket for the free sold out event held at Facebook several weeks in advance. If you missed it, don’t worry, you can see the entire event here.
The 5th Annual Compassion Research Day was a day of sharing and conversation about what Facebook and the experts they work with on a daily basis have learned in the last year about what happens when you apply the science of how people relate to each other to social technology.
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- Facebook usage is greatest outside of the U.S. and Canada.
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- Connecting people to seek help.
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- How to boost your happiness
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- Dining on campus at Facebook HQ.
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- Global crowd interested in the research based stories .
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- The science guy.
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- The look of awe is universal.
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- Language matters, and sometimes more in certain countries.
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- Politeness matters too.
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- Dangerous Speech
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- Sometimes people are unaware that they’re being insulting to their friends.
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- Flower speech not hate
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- Compassion Research Day
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- Options to help a friend during need.
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- Countering hateful speech with “Flower speech” stickers to support all in Myanmar.
I was a bit skeptical about Facebook’s day of compassion event, I thought it was going to be marketing fluff with the emphasis of purchasing more ads, but my attitude disappeared as soon as the lecture dove into the data of their research, here’s the list of the following topics covered:
- Connecting People who Care: Helping Facebook Members in Crisis
- The Dangerous Side of Language
- Language matters: Communicating Compassion on Facebook
- The Science of Awe and Happiness
- Addressing Death on Facebook: Honoring the memories of loved ones and caring for the needs of the bereaved
- Emotions Without Borders: Supporting Teens Around the World
- Youth Panel from Edna Brewer Middle School of Oakland, CA
I sat and engaged with idealistic people from all over the world: educators, psychologist, and even a hardware engineer from a local Silicon Valley company who wanted to glean ideas on how to encourage compassion to his development team at work. There’s something missing in our daily life, what is it? Together, over a delicious international cafeteria style lunch, we sat beside each other, made new friends and exchanged ideas on how to form a better, perhaps more inclusive community.
Facebook’s Hacker street may resemble Disneyland’s Main Street, and the idealism doesn’t stop there. As Facebook evolves into a mature utility product, I felt a lot better knowing the amount of thought that goes into their products. My inner skeptic was suspended for a moment. That quiet moment of universal peace and altruism drove off the parking lot when I hit the Willow/101 Southbound traffic. Maybe we could use a Monorail in Silicon Valley.
I love Facebook. Thank you for teaching me how to boost my happiness, and how we all want to share a common narrative and dialogue of caring, I felt that during the event.