Former college roommate Mark Zuckerberg and co-founder of Facebook has published a fascinating proposal this week: break the social network and watch the problems start to disappear.

But would they do it? Move Instagram and WhatsApp away from Facebook, Inc. and say goodbye to Russian trolls, fake news, privacy breaches and an algorithm that shows what Facebook wants you to see?

Much of the online conversation can be summed up in two words: beautiful dream.

"That would not solve the problem," said Boston blogger Josh Bernoff. "Breaking Facebook would allow us to have three users of abusive data (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) instead of one, and I do not know why this is better."

The essence of Hughes' letter of opinion and the subsequent media tour of many television shows is that the government must act on behalf of consumers, as it did with AT & T in 1984.

Nominee candidate candidate Elizabeth Warren endorsed Hughes' opinion, speaking out on the break-up side and using the hashtag #BreakUpBigTech. Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Who wants to apply the hatchet to Facebook, Google and Amazon, said the big tech companies had "sifted the competition, used our private information for profit, damaged to small businesses and curbed innovation. "

Alex Kruglov, founder of pop.in, a young online video game startup, is alongside Warren and Hughes. Deleting Instagram and WhatsApp would create "an environment of heightened competition," he says.

Snapchat invented the idea of ​​the disappearance of photos, and when Facebook accepted the idea and tried to buy the company, but was rebuffed, Facebook responded by copying the idea and using it on Instagram. The Instagram Story feature is now used daily by more than 500 million people, while Snapchat has fewer than 200 million active users per day.

Kruglov said that situations of this type, under the supervision of the government, would open the rules and make them more equitable. What it would not do is get rid of the false news, the trolls, etc., but he believes that government regulation that allows competition would have the natural effect of diluting those voices.

As with the regulation of utilities and automakers, regulation would transfer the power of social networks to users, says Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst at Kaleido Insights.

He does not support the idea of ​​a break, however, as this would only confuse consumers, he said.

We like to connect via Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp because it makes it easier to use the services, just as we like to connect to websites via Facebook Connect. And if that had been removed from Facebook, another company, probably Google, would just jump in and try to connect everyone via his system, he said.

Readers, what do you think? Should Facebook be broken?

Google's Kayitta Johnson presents Nest Hub Max at Google's I / O conference in Mountain View, California on Tuesday, May 7, 2019. (Photo: Jeff Chiu, AP)

In other new techniques this week:

This week, Google hosted a major input / output conference for application developers, announcing new low-cost phones and a new branding of Google Home products. Google has strived to solve the problem of consumer burnout through a new Pixel smartphone priced at $ 399. It's not waterproof and does not offer wireless charging, but it does not cost $ 1,000 either. Our Ed Baig says the Pixel 3A phone is a better deal than the Pixel 3, which starts at $ 799. Google has also confused its rival Alexa, the Google Home range. Remember that Google Home Hub we liked when it came out last year? It's now called Nest Home Hub because, well, Google owns Nest, which makes several home automation products, and wants to reinforce the Nest name. A larger edition, priced at $ 230, the Nest Home Hub Max, will be released this summer. It will also feature a video camera that tracks users at home, similar to Facebook's portal feature.

Bret Kinsella, author of the .ai blog, Voicebot, believes Google could change the name of Google Home speakers to Nest Home later this year.

The Uber online brokerage company went public Friday, but did not have a good day, closing at $ 41.57, down from the opening price of $ 45 a share.

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, announced in 2024 a detailed presentation for astronauts in flight. Blue Origin, the rocket of Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, will launch a manned mission on the Moon in just a few short years. Only three nations managed to land on the moon: the United States, Russia and China.

This week's Talking Tech podcasts:

While we were visiting Spain and Portugal, several talented people replaced Talking Tech, as well as reruns.

Veteran Analyst Tim Bajarin gave us an overview of Apple's upcoming WWDC developer conference.

-Shannon Rae Green and Dusty Terrill, the duo hosting the podcast "I tell my husband, The News," from USA TODAY, weighed in at schools banning Uber Eats.

– From the safe: our discussion #TalkingTech with singer Ariana Grande.

-Melissa Kirsch, from the podcast "The Upgrade by Lifehacker", made us think about how to get out of the grid.

– From the safe: one of our favorites of all time, Talking Tech with comedian Lewis Black.

This is a summary of the Talking Tech newsletter. Subscribe to the address http://technewsletter.usatoday.com, follow me (@jeffersongraham) on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and listen to the daily Talking Tech podcast wherever you listen to audio online.

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