I think this comment says more about you than anything.
If you look into Meta's tech stack they have challenges no company on the planet has and clearly a lot of talent. Having just played with CacheLib it's an impressive project and yet to see an equivalent anywhere else. And I imagine much of what they do is like this when you're operating at their extremes.
They've definitely been responsible for pushing web technologies forward -- but all in the name of increased engagement. Let's not pretend there is an altruistic angle to this.
I’m not a fan of Facebook. I don’t even have an account. But it would be unfair to say they haven’t come up with some truly innovative approaches to large scale infrastructure.
Also, to their credit they are huge supporters of open source. For example the Open Compute Project is still alive and well in large data halls. They are also still supporting the Telecom Infra Project which is responsible for OpenRAN as well as their Open DWDM hardware.
Does all of this work in their favor to support their own business? Absolutely. But that can also be said for every tech company in some form or fashion. But, they still open source it which is way more than a lot of other shops can say.
i think the poster meant 'business model' rather than innovation.
Having an immoral business model doesn't imply they are not innovative - facebook does plenty of technical innovation indeed.
Yet, relative to the age of humanity or even modern society, they are still a new modality to humanity's interaction. One that facilitates also a lot of good that's happening in the world.
There is still a ton they could do right if they chose to, to make that environment for communication a healthier one. Could they find willingness to reroot their design choices in a wider tradition of social psychology, for instance?
Your first paragraph points out the damage FB has done to society.
Your second paragraph appears to give them a pass because social media is "new" and has also done some good.
Your third paragraph tacitly gives FB credit for the things they could do right if they chose to.
Perhaps you're not cynical enough?
Say ello to KPIs.
Imagine what the engineer capable of writing CacheLib would have done instead, had they not worked for Facebook.