I think many people (not just FB) have made mistakes on lgbT acceptance, and trans acceptance can be one of the harder areas to get right (many people just don't know what accepted behavior is).
I had no idea about dead-naming etc. I think FB should have done better, but I think their apology did seem genuine.
So I think criticism is valid, but they also deserve some credit. It's not like anyone knew how to run a social network in 2012.
More of a "customer service" problem: there were plenty of people telling them it was a bad idea right from the start, but they didn't listen.
> It's not like anyone knew how to run a social network in 2012.
Only if you try hard not to see prior art. "Online communities" of one sort or another have existed as long as the internet, and wrestled with questions of what constitutes abuse.
Really the problem is that Facebook has gone from a mere product to something quite important to society without going through a self-examination period. It's also, oddly, never really tried to have a relationship with its users as a community or communities. Tom being your "friend" on Myspace may have been a gimmick but at least it was pretending that the relationship existed.
I had no idea about dead-naming etc. I think FB should have done better, but I think their apology did seem genuine.
So I think criticism is valid, but they also deserve some credit. It's not like anyone knew how to run a social network in 2012.