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Mark Zuckerberg, In It To Change the World?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the that's-not-what-i-heard dept.

schmidt349 submitted a story about Zuckerberg that might fly in the face of what you've heard of the guy in the past. "Award-winning New York Times journalist David Kirkpatrick's new book The Facebook Effect presents readers with a complex view of Facebook's founder and CEO. Primed by hours of conversation and research deep into the history of the social network, Kirkpatrick reaches the conclusion that money isn't a primary motivation for Zuckerberg, 'a coder more than a CEO, a philosopher more than a businessman, a 26-year-old who has consistently avoided selling out because he sees Facebook as his way to change the world.' Kirkpatrick deftly handles the controversy surrounding Facebook's sometimes cavalier attitude toward user privacy, and the result is a much more balanced and less sensationalist account of Facebook's past, present, and future."

25 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. Well Obviously. by Adambomb · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is true of course. He wants to change the world from one in which he has less money into one in which he has more money.

    --
    Ice Cream has no bones.
    1. Re:Well Obviously. by asukasoryu · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm with you. I hate Facebook. I hate talking to my family, I've disowned most of the friends I've ever had, and I certainly don't want to talk to anyone from high school, my childhood, or friends of people I've had minimal contact with. If I want to interact with someone, I do it without posting details about my life on the interwebs. How can you put something on the internet and complain about privacy? Independent is the way to be.

      --
      There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    2. Re:Well Obviously. by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      the actual application is trivial save for the scaling to millions of users...

      Exactly.

      Now, You can spout that your independant framework is the best way to go, and even if you manage to master the untrivial task of scaling to millions of users, when you get offered large sums of money for your product, lets see you not sell out.

      I may not like what Zuckerberg is doing, but I can't honestly say I wouldn't do the same were I in his position. I think a small bit of the hate directed towards him is generated by the jealousy that his product is on top.

    3. Re:Well Obviously. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Welcome to Slashdot, you'll fit right in.

    4. Re:Well Obviously. by eln · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Getting the code to work right is not the tough part. Hell, making the code scalable to millions of users isn't even the tough part. Getting enough people to use your social network so that you reach the critical mass Facebook has is the tough part.

    5. Re:Well Obviously. by GIL_Dude · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People who say "post something on the internet and then complain about privacy" are missing a key point: Access Controls. Facebook has them. Just like many web sites do. The problem is that Facebook has a habit of either removing or neutering certain controls and making available information that they shouldn't.

      This is similar to having a HR web site at work where people can access their own records to update emergency contact, children, addresses, etc. This site probably has lots of info on you (national ID number, etc.). Now imagine the admin of the site made a change that neutered or removed the access control list so that everyone in the company could see each other's information. Well, you posted it on the intranet so it's your fault? Not really - it is the fault of that admin. In Facebook's case it is the fault of them changing their model and changing items that had an access control list to public.

  2. Brave new world indeed by girlintraining · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...who has consistently avoided selling out because he sees Facebook as his way to change the world

    Yeah, if you overlook Facebook Ads, the massive support framework for extracting personal data and giving it to third parties under the guise of 'gaming', the Beacon program, and extending the API so any website can add things to your profile through IFRAMES if you don't delete your cookies/logout. No, Mr. Zuckerberg has a very clear vision of how he intends to change the world: He recognizes the incredible value of having personal information on the majority of people connected to the internet, and he wants to capitalize on that.

    He intends to sell the information to the highest bidder, while keeping the market where these exchanges take place to himself. That's his brave new world.

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    1. Re:Brave new world indeed by Solandri · · Score: 4, Insightful

      At its heart, all Facebook is is a way for users to verify that another user is who they claim to be. If a dozen of my friends create websites and want me (but not the general public) to have access, I don't have to create a dozen logins and passwords. I only need to make one which gives me access to all their sites. Facebook just locks you into their web site to use this "feature".

      Open Source Software could've done the same thing with public/private keys. In fact I'm still hopeful it will. My dozen friends could make websites anywhere, and by using public/private keys they could verify that it's really me visiting their site. But PGP keys never took off because the interface was clumsy and the immediate benefit (secure email) wasn't a big enough carrot. Facebook took off because it let people share photos and messages, which apparently was a big enough carrot.

      I can't for the life of me understand why people would want to have a company run by a person of dubious character as Zuckerberg in control of such a crucial interface like a universal login for the Internet.

  3. not motivated by money? by z-j-y · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Dr. Evil isn't motivated by money either, and he wants to change the world too.

  4. Change HIS world. by mollog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As parent points out, he's out to change HIS world. He might have more credibility if he hadn't stole the code, and wasn't compromising user's data, but, hey, he's got the stage so why not try a little spin on the truth.

    --
    Best regards.
  5. What a conveniently timed puff piece by spun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just when everyone is thinking "Zuckerberg, what an ass!" we get a book purporting that Zuckerberg is in fact a genius coder and philosopher. And here I thought his philosophy boiled down to "fucking idiots tell me things about themselves that I can sell." When are we going to stop this sycophantic worship of sociopaths who happen to get rich by screwing over others?

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:What a conveniently timed puff piece by spun · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, the traits that allowed us to become the dominant life form are cooperation, reciprocity, a sense of fairness, and intelligence. The only thing we have going for us as predators is our stamina.

      The traits you describe are sociopathic. Sociopathy does not mean you don't know right from wrong. It means you have a diminished sense of empathy and remorse, and you look at people as objects. Sociopaths know right from wrong, which is why they try to hide what they are. They just don't care.

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    2. Re:What a conveniently timed puff piece by drewhk · · Score: 4, Interesting

      .. and poor people reproduce more than wealthy. So what?

      Also, I see that many of us underestimate cooperation. If pure selfishness would be the true way, then there would be no multicellular species -- like us. The fact that we have an imprinted idea of "justice" and we are disturbed by acts of sociopathy shows how deeply imprinted is social behavior.

  6. I may have believed this when he first started out by Pojut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    but if their advertising practices are any indication, they are in it for the money. I'm pretty happy with many of the security changes they made a couple of weeks ago after the furor over privacy reached the boiling point, but to claim they have benevolent intentions is ignorance at best.

    --
    Living With a Nerd
  7. I'm the CEO bitch by xx_chris · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorry, but this just stinks of a payola article.

  8. see Craigslist by lapsed · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For an example of what happens when people forgo money.

    1. Re:see Craigslist by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

      They can't afford decent website designers?

    2. Re:see Craigslist by Hijacked+Public · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'd argue that they better understand how to focus on content than most anyone else.

      They lack decent search but I can't think of much else that would make Craigslist better rather than just whizzier.

      --
      "Sacrifice for the good of The State" - The State
    3. Re:see Craigslist by Bysshe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Add wikipedia and wikileaks to that list. Cock Suckerburg isn't in this to save the world, make it better or anything of the kind. He's in it to conquer society and screw anyone who gets in his way.

      Real philanthropy is done by those who don't want the fame, money, or power.

      --
      Read what I mean, not what I wrote.
  9. Things Motivating a 26 year old programmer by sycodon · · Score: 4, Funny

    1. Creating cool programs
    2. Get girls
    3. Make money
    4. Get more girls

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  10. His brand of truth by HermMunster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I just don't trust the guy. Sleaze-ball comes to mind.

    I can't get into his method of profit--selling our private info to others.

    I'm careful about my private information. I'm sure others aren't so well versed on what to disclose to Facebook. I like the site, seriously, as it has let met get in touch with so many friends and family

    --
    You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
  11. The 'authorized' biography by Trufagus · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think we can expect to see much, much more of this, as Facebook tries to change their CEO's image.

    Apparently there is an unflattering movie coming out in the Fall and I assume they want to get ahead of that.

    1. Re:The 'authorized' biography by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I propose that like Tony "I want my life back" Hayward, we give Mark a catchy phrase in his name.

      Mark "Dumb fucks trust me" Zuckerberg sounds kinda nice.

  12. Is there such a thing as a Philosopher-thief? by BobMcD · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It was my understanding that Zuckerberg was a thief at his very core. Always an opportunist looking to earn off of things he doesn't have any right to possess. This included the photos that started Harvard's Facebook, much of the original code and concept, and continues to this day with examples like the email accounts used to connect to Facebook and their password information. I think this understanding of him is probably accurate.

    That being said, wouldn't being a thief preclude the label of 'philosopher'? Isn't the harm caused by theft and the social implications of a world where theft is permissible one of the earliest, simplest hurdles that a 'thinker' must cross to become noteworthy? I'm not up on the stuff, but I'm not aware of any ethos that includes 'rutheless slimeball' as a virtuous-knower of wise things.

  13. What are you smoking? by assertation · · Score: 5, Insightful

    that money isn't a primary motivation for Zuckerberg, 'a coder more than a CEO, a philosopher more than a businessman, a 26-year-old who has consistently avoided selling out because he sees Facebook as his way to change the world.'

    What was the author smoking when he wrote this?

    Not out for the money? "avoided selling out"? What about the phrase "monetizing information" that so often comes up in Facebook's conversations?

    What the interview with the 19 year old Zuckerberg who called his users "stupid" for making their information available to him? Yes, he was 19, but I have seen articles on the internet claiming he has said similar things like that in what he thought were confidential conversations.

    What about Facebook making defaults public, when it is obvious private would be preferred and doing so without notice?

    Is that lack of respect for other people consistent with a "philosopher" who wants to change the world for the better?