Mark Zuckerberg Hits the Road To Meet Regular Folks -- With a Few Conditions (foxbusiness.com)

Mark Zuckerberg is trying to understand America, so he's embarked on a journey to meet people like hockey moms and steelworkers who don't typically cross his path. But there are rules to abide by if you are an ordinary person about to meet an extraordinary entrepreneur. From a report: Rule One: You probably won't know Mr. Zuckerberg is coming. Rule Two: If you do know he's coming, keep it to yourself. Rule Three: Be careful what you reveal about the meeting. While the Facebook CEO has built a social network that inspired people around the world to share the most intimate details about their personal lives, his team goes to extraordinary lengths to keep his movements under wraps and control how he is perceived. Midway through a "personal challenge" to travel to 30 states he'd never visited, the 33-year old aims "to talk to more people about how they're living, working and thinking about the future," he wrote in January on his Facebook page. Among those people was Kyle McKasson, manager of the Wilton Candy Kitchen, a century-old shop on the town square in Wilton, Iowa. He was at work one Monday afternoon in June when two men and a woman dressed in jeans and button-down shirts entered the store, which is a regular stop on Iowa's presidential campaign circuit.

Comments

What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

"Meet regular folks". Yeah, you're the moron living in an ivory tower dude. Just fuck off and leave us alone.

Re:What a pompous ass

[LifesABeach]

Will Zuck's name tag be "H. E. Raschid?" Apologies to Allan Cole and Chris Bunch

Re:What a pompous ass

[ranton]

"Meet regular folks". Yeah, you're the moron living in an ivory tower dude. Just fuck off and leave us alone.

There is a real problem in this country where people stay within their own "bubble", whether that is a liberal elite bubble or rural American bubble or whatever. Making a concerted effort to reach outside of those bubbles is a good thing and not something which should be criticized. You may criticize the method used to reach out if you feel it is ineffective, but deriding the entire idea of reaching out to people in different socioeconomic and cultural circumstances is hopelessly ignorant of this issue in our society.

Re:What a pompous ass

[phantomfive]

He's planning on running for office. If Trump can do it, why can't he?
Sadly, I can't disagree with that argument.

Re:What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

You make a good point. That said, I wouldn't let Zuckerberg into my house. My house, my rules, right? There are many famous or rich people I'd probably enjoy having over for a beer and a talk. Zuck isn't one of them. But he has rules. I have rules too. I sure wouldn't let PR flacks or handlers in with some famous or rich person. For example it might be cool to share a beer and a talk with the likes of Neil deGrasse Tyson, Wil Weaton, Kari Byron, Adam Savage, Patrick Stewart, the whole cast of The Big Bang Theory, etc. But they would be considerate enough to keep their handlers and PR people at home. Looks like Zuck brings at least two everywhere.

Re:What a pompous ass

[interkin3tic]

Interesting catch 22. If he stays in his "liberal elite bubble" he's a pompous ass. If he tries to venture outside the bay area, he's a pompous ass.

Don't get me wrong, he probably is a pompous ass, but not because of geography, travel, or meeting people. Even the screamingly obvious moves to run for some type of office doesn't make him a pompous ass.

Alright, MAYBE being a rich dude in the bay area does make one a pompous ass, so maybe geography a bit.

At any rate, it's hard to deny that a billionaire is not "regular folks" unless you've got some weird GOP cult thing going on.

Re:What a pompous ass

[MightyMartian]

I'm sure he loses sleep over the thought of you turning him away...

Re:What a pompous ass

[MightyMartian]

If Trump can do it, it proves that there are absolutely no barriers to the Presidency. The office is being so heavily devalued now that I can't imagine why Zuckerberg would even want it. Being Mayor of New York City has more prestige these days.

Re:What a pompous ass

[phantomfive]

He actually likes Trump.

Re:What a pompous ass

[sycodon]

Why the fuck would anyone want to spend the time and effort to meet Zuk?

I don't see what's in it for anyone.

Re:What a pompous ass

[omnichad]

Interesting catch 22. If he stays in his "liberal elite bubble" he's a pompous ass. If he tries to venture outside the bay area, he's a pompous ass.

Well sure - this road trip won't change that either way. It's also the reason lots of people don't want to meet him.

Re: What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm very excited by the idea of a heavily devalued presidential office. We are a republic of sovereign states after all.

Re:What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

rural American bubble

The rural American bubble? What sort of imaginary nonsense is that? The rest of the planet has — as its mission — the duty to keep any such bubble from ever forming. There is no form of media from printed news to Facebook, foreign or domestic, broadcast or otherwise, that doesn't hesitate to shit on the deplorables of rural America. Nothing. It is simply impossible to come anywhere near any form of published or syndicated media and not immediately know what a irredeemable pile of excrement you are as a bitter, clinging rural American. To the extent that a "rural American bubble" could possibly be theorized to exist it must be as a manifestation of being the only class or strata of people in the nation that can be openly hated without consequence, and only group of people responsible for their own condition.

Re:What a pompous ass

[WrongMonkey]

Good. Prestige should not be what motivates people to pursue public office.

Re:What a pompous ass

[cayenne8]

I'd rather have a few drinks with Keith Richards....while we still have him.

Re: What a pompous ass

[fredrated]

Fool.

Re: What a pompous ass

[fubarrr]

+1

Re:What a pompous ass

[Hognoxious]

I saw a documentary about him once[1]. He's quite funny and a lot sharper than most people would think.

[1] I've forgotten what it was called, and probably so has he.

Re:What a pompous ass

[Serge_Tomiko]

No, but leaving his castle means it is more likely divine justice can be dispensed.

Re:What a pompous ass

[amicusNYCL]

What do you have to lose? If he's coming to you, it only requires an hour or so of your time, nothing else. For one, I'd like to explain to him why I have a Facebook account but have chosen to not store the fact that I'm married in their database, and why I rarely post anything. I'd also like to tell him why I shut off all notifications from the Facebook app on my phone. I'd also like to bring up a few issues where his money could make a world of difference.

Re:What a pompous ass

[MightyMartian]

And self-enrichment should be?

Re:What a pompous ass

[WrongMonkey]

Is that the only alternative?

Re: What a pompous ass

[aussie_a]

I would treat him like i treat all door to door salesman: Get the fuck off my property or I will call the cops.
Shmuckerberg is selling his brand with this out of touch, patronising stunt. I ain't buying.

Re: What a pompous ass

[saloomy]

I'm sorry, but if you think someone who founded a $300B company in 10 years before he was 30 to be "regular folk", sho me someone extraordinary. He learned Chinese and did after all, bring the worlds people together, reconnected old friends, and helped spread information into populations under total Ian regime rule. He isn't regular, he leads an incredibly productive life, and helping him understand the plight of people less successful, and fortunate, than him; if not for his money and how he could spend it philanthropically but also for his ability to solve problems. Jealous much?

Re: What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice try Mark...

Re: What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

No...someone else wrote the code. He's no different than Trump...marketing, salesmanship, etc.

Re:What a pompous ass

[sycodon]

You probably have at least 50 years left or longer.

Re:What a pompous ass

[cayenne8]

You probably have at least 50 years left or longer.

You're right, I probably should have said "...while I'm still around....

You know they say only two things will survive a nuclear holocaust.....

Cockroaches and Keith Richards...

Re: What a pompous ass

[WrongMonkey]

sho me someone extraordinary

Most people have some special talent. Some people are good at math. Some people can run fast. Some people are good cooks. Some people are funny. Some people are sensitive and caring. The fact that Zuckerberg's particular set of talents happen to be financially lucrative does not automatically make him more extraordinary than anyone else with a different set of talents. In fact, our society's obsession with financial success above all else will probably be its downfall.

Re: What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

Ripping off someone else's idea and learning a foreign language makes you a visionary now? Call me when he comes up with something novel.

Being rich doesn't mean you're worth anything; if he'd never have been born we'd still have a MyBook, FaceSpace InterSphere or whatever. If he wants to spend his money helping people then why not lobby for tax reform so that people like him have to pay their fair share in the first place?

Re: What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

He's a smart guy, he got into Harvard so I'll give him that one. But given that he made his billions off a program that wasn't particularly innovative (There were plenty of similar sites before it and any decent web programmer could probably throw together a clone of it in a week or two) and the value of which depends on how many other people use it, he's not any more extraordinary than some guy who happened to be pick the right numbers off a lottery ticket.

Re: What a pompous ass

[Actually, I do RTFA]

helped spread information into populations under total Ian regime rule

Umm... what?

Re:What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting catch 22. If he stays in his "liberal elite bubble" he's a pompous ass. If he tries to venture outside the bay area, he's a pompous ass.

There's no catch 22. Staying in the 'liberal elite bubble' doesn't make him a pompous ass, that's just a pompous ass staying in the 'liberal elite bubble'. Venturing outside the bay area doesn't make him a pompous ass, that's just a pompous ass venturing outside the bay area. This is not a situation where he has no options to take where he won't all of a sudden be seen as a pompous ass, he is already seen as a pompous ass due to his pompous ass past actions. He could pay off everyone's student loan debt and he would still be seen as pompous ass it he would be seen as trying to buy friendship and goodwill no matter how altruistic that one action might be.

Re: What a pompous ass

[phantomfive]

The fact that Zuckerberg's particular set of talents happen to be financially lucrative does not automatically make him more extraordinary than anyone else with a different set of talents.

Which particular talents are you talking about? Effectively stealing ideas from other people?

Re:What a pompous ass

[Goldsmith]

Is he making a concerted effort to reach outside of his bubble? Do you really feel like those words belong to this situation? Does this look like reaching out, really?

If you're bringing your bubble (and your rules) with you to visit where other people are, you're not making a real effort to get outside your bubble. That's exactly why he's being criticized here. The level of PR control over the interaction is the problem.

I love politics, and think more people should be involved. To do that well requires that you have real interactions with people. There are plenty of things he could do that would get him real life experience and serve a political purpose: Buy a farm and try to run it well. Be quirky maybe, and lead a fleet of electric bikes across the country. Hike the Appalachian trail. Join a search and rescue team... or just Rotary or Kiwanis. He's volunteered a bit around the Bay Area at Boy's and Girl's Club, I think, just go visit one of those in each state for a few days.

Roaming the country with a team of handlers is not helpful.

Re: What a pompous ass

[Anonymous Coward]

sho me someone extraordinary

The fact that Zuckerberg's particular set of talents happen to be financially lucrative does not automatically make him more extraordinary than anyone else

I would even suggest it doesn't make him extraordinary at all. He happened to have those talents at the right time, that's all. He codes. Whether well or poorly I can't tell, I never saw any of his stuff. But had he been born 5 years later, he'd come up with nothing. Either someone else would have made Facebook happen (since it wasn't his idea, anyway) or something else would have taken its place while he was still in high-school.

Compare that to writing "Of Mice and Men", or even "Harry Potter" and you see a big difference. Or to being a Usain Bolt. Or to winning a Fields Medal.

Re:What a pompous ass

[St.Creed]

It seems to be :)

Re: What a pompous ass

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

The fact that Zuckerberg's particular set of talents happen to be financially lucrative does not automatically make him more extraordinary than anyone else with a different set of talents.

I fully agree with you, but what I keep reading and hearing is that there is a general perception by others that because he's been really good at running Facebook (even if you hate Facebook, I don't see how you can't admit that it's been successful) that means that he is a genius at everything. Everything. This has definitely gotten into his own head. Honestly, the more I read about him, the more I dislike him. He's what the Seinfeld TV show called "a hipster doofus". He definitely is like most of his generation in thinking that everybody older than him is an idiot. From my perspective it could be that the only thing he's really good at is running Facebook, but himself and others seem to think he is the living embodiment of The Most Interesting Man In The World.

Re:What a pompous ass

[discovercomics]

The telling quote "He said, 'If there are any news reporters that call you, just make sure you tell them I'm not running for president.'" Which is obvious doublespeak for what he is doing. Someone needs to get the AI chatbot lawyer to run

Re: What a pompous ass

[DNS-and-BIND]

Only Americans are so impressed by bilingual people. In the rest of the world it's not even worth remarking about.

Did you hear about Zuck humiliating himself in the dinner with Xi Jinping? He made the huge mistake of using his shaky Chinese to ask Daddy Xi to name his kid. Like, what the fuck? Who does that? He's not in Xi's family, that's totally inappropriate to ask. Xi made an excuse and dodged the question like any Chinese would do. Total embarrassment for Zuck and was widely remarked upon in Chinese media.

Re:What a pompous ass

[wyHunter]

If he genuinely wants to understand, great. However, my guess is that his goal is to try and understand enough about the unwashed masses to try and get all we rural cretins to live an urban left wing life like his. No, thanks.

Re:What a pompous ass

[citylivin]

" To the extent that a "rural American bubble" could possibly be theorized to exist it must be as a manifestation of being the only class or strata of people in the nation that can be openly hated without consequence, and only group of people responsible for their own condition."

What the heck are you talking about? The idea of a bubble is that people correspond with only their "like thinking" community members. Of course this can and does occur in rural areas. I am not american, but i fully appreciate the rural areas of my country when i am visiting there. Many people take their holidays in the country and can relate and respect "country folk" without being condescending. Perhaps i am more open minded than other city slickers, but being in the country always makes me feel more connected to the province and appreciative of rural peoples needs and how they overlap with my own.

Plenty of publications such as the new yorker, are constantly mining rural america for content. So i dont think you know what you are talking about. Are you trying to denigrate country folk in your post just for the sake of being mean?

Not all rural folk are conservatives, i think that is what you are trying to say? But honestly your post is like a stream of consciousness i cannot parse well. There are natives, back to the land hippies, farmers, and artists as well as plenty of people who the insane cost of city life have driven to the country. These people rely more on their communities and their individual will and resources than most city people who are more likely to be rampantly consumerist and materialistic. I suspect city folk do this to make up for their lack of contact with the natural world and a need to have that void filled, but that's just a guess. Less exposure to brain washing marketing techniques maybe? Regardless, you do a dis service to paint entire areas of your country as some sort of monoculture. It just isn't so.

Re: What a pompous ass

[amicusNYCL]

Right, the request of a total lack of communication to the media from the people he's talking to really suggests a sales pitch. Unless you think he's on a mission to go around the country trying to sell Facebook usage to individual people, which seems a little bit inefficient.

Re: What a pompous ass

[cthulhu11]

He might start with how he runs Facebook.

1) Stop forcing cramming everyone into one huge crowded neurodiversity-hostile room

2) Stop forcing employees to live in the silly valley

Re: What a pompous ass

[strikethree]

Ummm. I do not see Mark Zuckerberg as someone terribly special. He was in the right place at the right time and was able to capitalize on it. There is nothing terribly unique about any of it.

If you want people who can blow your mind, think more along the lines of E=MC^2, or people who can hack current groupthink like Thomas Jefferson.

Mark is no more amazing than Bill Gates. They would be more interesting if they had grown up in normal families with minimal resources. As it is, they are just normal people from abnormal circumstances who were very lucky to be in the right place at the right time with the right resources.

In other words, you can not really say with a straight face that Mark or Bill were poor businessmen, but by the same token, you also can not say that they were awesome or superior. Running a business competently is not THAT terribly unique.

Re:What a pompous ass

[strikethree]

I'd rather have a few drinks with Keith Richards....while we still have him.

Eh? What could kill Keith Richards other than Chuck Norris? The guy has bathed in chemicals that would kill a real human and is still as healthy as a horse.

I do agree. Keith Richards seems like a great guy to have a few drinks with. I just have doubts about him ever dying.

Re: What a pompous ass

[aussie_a]

He's definitely selling himself and he is definitely going to get media coverage for this. See the news article as one example of how he's already getting coverage. He just doesn't want the content of the specific individual meetings broadcasted by the people he meets with, because he can't control that message. He is most definitely selling himself here.

Be careful what you reveal about the meeting

[turkeydance]

or what?

Re:Be careful what you reveal about the meeting

[DontBeAMoran]

Or he'll make unwanted connections to your Facebook account that will make the CIA flag you as a potential terrorist?

Re:Be careful what you reveal about the meeting

[turkeydance]

that's just it. some "regular" people don't have social media accounts. maybe he would fake one?

Re:Be careful what you reveal about the meeting

[Anonymous Coward]

"Wait, are you saying there are people who do not post every little detail of their lives on the internet for everyone to see?"

"That is correct, Mr. Zuckerberg."

"Are there not groups of people who have shunned technology, is it just those people?"

"You mean the Amish, they do not use it but there are normal people who have the internet but do not post to Facebook or other sites."

"My god, I have to meet these people and show them the one, true, righteous path. To the Zuckermobile!"

"You mean your G6?"

"Yes"

Re:Be careful what you reveal about the meeting

[jandrese]

Meanwhile on Facebook: Turkeydance is now friends with NAMBLA, the KKK, The Communist Party, and ISIS.

Re:Be careful what you reveal about the meeting

[turkeydance]

everyone already knows i quit pitching last year. no KKK for me.

Re:Be careful what you reveal about the meeting

[HelpTheNewOverlord]

He will cancel the meeting?

Re:Be careful what you reveal about the meeting

[Dragonslicer]

Meanwhile on Facebook: Turkeydance is now friends with NAMBLA...

What's wrong with the North American Marlon Brando Look-Alikes?

Re:Be careful what you reveal about the meeting

[Mab_Mass]

Meanwhile on Facebook: Turkeydance is now friends with NAMBLA...

What's wrong with the North American Marlon Brando Look-Alikes?

Nothing, until they call upon you for a favor...

Already failed

[ElGuapo2872]

What a condescending shit. As far as I am concerned his image is of a narcissistic schmuck that rolled the dice and got lucky but who is convinced of his own superiority.

Re:Already failed

[Digital Avatar]

"Why aren't I fifty points ahead, you might be asking..." - tomorrow's headlines today!

Re:Already failed

[__aaclcg7560]

Seems like "narcissistic" is the Slashdot code word for anyone who has the ambition to change their part of the world.

Re:Already failed

[__aaclcg7560]

You would know, since you're an obese narcissist who can't see past the shadow of your own fat dick. But wait, do you smell an all-you-can-eat buffet over there? Waddle your enormous cock in the direction of food, as quickly as you can!

I remember when Slashdot didn't have so many 14-year-old wankers posting toilet bowl humor.

Re:Already failed

[epyT-R]

That depends what is meant by change.

Everything about these visits sounds skeevy

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously. I don't care what you're worth. Why should I agree to your bizarre demands?

As Mr. Zuckerberg was leaving, he made one request, Mr. Moore said.

"He said, 'If there are any news reporters that call you, just make sure you tell them I'm not running for president.'

Oh, gosh, Mr Zuckerberg, sir! I'll be sure to tell them that! Wink wink!

What a douchenozzle.

Re:Everything about these visits sounds skeevy

[I'm New Around Here]

You winked with your left eye again. He totally saw you do it.

Entering politics?

[kaka.mala.vachva]

A lot of things Mark Zuckerberg says and does make he think he wants to enter politics. Most others will delegate and work on compiled reports - this attempt to reach out to the masses seems very politician like.

Re:Entering politics?

[interkin3tic]

Judging from recent history, he's going to walk right into office. He's got all the qualifications:

-Billionaire

So it shouldn't surprise anyone.

What absolute garbage

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't wait to see him get destroyed in the nomination process. If you think people going after Trump for being friendly with Russia is boring, wait until they start challenging Zuckerberg's Chinese ties.

Re:What absolute garbage

[Tailhook]

wait until they start challenging Zuckerberg's Chinese ties.

Who is this "they" you have in mind? Zuckerberg has always demonstrated proper mainstream group-think; he is not at risk of being questioned for anything. "They" will automatically attribute whatever "ties" you're thinking of to benign and entirely lawful purposes. Whatever involvement he has with China will be unquestioningly regarded as an asset.

Rule 4:

[John Jorsett]

Make no eye contact. Rule 5: Under no circumstances touch Mr. Zuckerberg. Rule 6: Do not speak unless Mr. Zuckerberg speaks to you first. Rule 7: When dismissed, leave as quickly as possible.

Re:Rule 4:

[omnichad]

Rule 7: When dismissed, leave as quickly as possible.

How does he have eminent domain?

Don't talk about the Mark Zuckerberg meeting

[B1700]

The first rule of a Mark Zuckerberg meeting is you don't talk about the Mark Zuckerberg meeting. Wait, maybe that's the second or third rule?

Re:Don't talk about the Mark Zuckerberg meeting

[Digital Avatar]

1. The first rule of Zuck Club is you do not talk about Zuck Club.
2. The second rule of Zuck Club is YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT ZUCK CLUB.
3. Third rule of Zuck Club: Someone yells 'fascist!', 'racist!', or 'bigot!', that argument is over.
4. Fourth rule: Only two sides to an argument.
5. Fifth rule: One argument at a time, fellas.
6. Sixth rule: No hate speech, no hatred.
7. Seventh rule: Arguments will go on until the fascist admits defeat.
8. And the eighth and final rule: If this is your first night at Zuck Club, you have to argue.

Mischief. Mayhem. Rigging the narrative. ZUCK CLUB.

Coming to an election near you, 2018. Rated PC-13(88).

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[Captain Splendid]

Because he's rich and famous as fuck. Which also answers the question of "Why is Donald Trump president?"

not interested

[Anonymous Coward]

"Mark Zuckerberg will be here in five minutes."

*yawn* you are now trespassing.

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[HornWumpus]

Wouldn't have been sufficient, unless he was running against the most openly corrupt and incompetent candidate in 100+ years.

what a douche

[old and new again]

he really thinks he is like a god or something?get over yourself, bill gates is way more brillant, riche and generous than you'll ever be and he doesn't do shit like that

Re:what a douche

[TeknoHog]

he really thinks he is like a god or something?get over yourself, bill gates is way more brillant, riche and generous than you'll ever be and he doesn't do shit like that

I agree, though I also think BG is an ass-clown (if thou pardonst mon French).

Billioniares

[Anonymous Coward]

Sanders gave me hope that a regular guy could possible make it - well, as regular as possible (I would not want the ignorant uninformed regular person representing me at all.). A guy who knows what the rest of us are going through and what our concerns are.

And we saw what happened to him.

A political "outsider" has to be immensely wealthy. And I do not believe that he would ever put his interests (or his billionaire "buddies' " interests) ahead of ours.

Tax relief for the middle class? Sure, but we billionaire will get a bigger one. Make up the revenue shortfall? We'll just borrow. There's still plenty of demand for US Treasury Bonds!

Healthcare? Well, we're seeing exactly what's happening on that front right now. The little guy will get shafted yet again.

And if Joe public pays a little too much attention, here comes the distraction issues!

Abortion, gun control, gay marriage, identity politics. Of all the problems in my state, my legislature spent weeks on a bill to decide who can use what bathroom. WTF! When did this become such a goddamn pressing issue?!

Of course, bring any of those issues up and folks get overly-emotional and in the meantime, they get shafted. Consumer protections get gutted, healthcare reform goes out the window, while we get crumbs, the very wealthy get the biggest benefits ....

No thanks, Zuckerberg. Unless you sell out your fellow billionaires - starting NOW - you're just another big shot looking for more power.

Re:Billioniares

[HornWumpus]

Bernouts are funny.

You realize that the only reason Bernie was #2 was the electable Ds stepped aside as it was the bitch's turn. Bernie isn't even a D.

Re:Billioniares

[Known Nutter]

Another shining example of the level of discourse in the US. That type of shit doesn't help.

Re:Billioniares

[HornWumpus]

You can't dispute the facts, so you attack the tone.

Maybe he forgot...

[hcs_$reboot]

...he used to be an "ordinary" person as well.

Re:Maybe he forgot...

[WrongMonkey]

He still is an ordinary person. He has no physical aspects, intellectual accomplishments or special ability that distinguishes him from the bulk of humanity.

Re:Maybe he forgot...

[thegarbz]

Since Zuckerberg stopped being ordinary there has been major international shifts in politics, a major housing crisis, a major economic crisis, and one of the most powerful people in the world is ... well actually he would have gone from George W Bush to Trump so that won't have been too steep of a change.

Point is if all he does is "remember" then he won't have a clue about what makes current ordinary people tick. Times change and it's important to refresh your view lest you get stuck with strange outdated prejudices.

Re:Maybe he forgot...

[Dragonslicer]

...he used to be an "ordinary" person as well.

He was? Didn't his parents buy him a spot at Harvard?

Sounds like this guy is running for president

[MobyDisk]

Sounds like this guy is running for president. He's made a lot of public political comments, and now this. Hmmm....

Re:Sounds like this guy is running for president

[Anonymous Coward]

That's going to be interesting ... and scary. What with him controlling the biggest social network on the planet. I'm guessing Facebook's current move to curate what's news and what's fake will be a great help.

I wonder if the powers that (currently) be will still be so happy to call for more censorship on Facebook when he's going to use it to his advantage.

Re:Sounds like this guy is running for president

[squiggleslash]

Democratic primary in 2020: Cuomo vs Dwayne Johnson vs Zuckerberg.

I'm just going to go ahead and slit my wrists now.

Re:Sounds like this guy is running for president

[Enigma2175]

I prefer Dwayne Elizondo "Mountain Dew" Herbert Camacho

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[Anonymous Coward]

Donald Trump is president because we grew tired of smug, condescending elitists like you telling us that we were stupid, racist, and xenophobic.

You demanded that we vote for your chosen one. It was her turn, after all.

We picked the person that you hated the most. You had shit on us for so long... You were comfortable. You thought that you already won. You thought we didn't matter, and that our sun had set.

Fuck you. That's why Trump is president. He is a living, breathing Fuck You.

That's what I tell people when they can't understand what happened: there simply were enough people fed up that they'd rather "see the world burn" than elect another career politician. They decided "fuck it, let's go with the wildcard for once."

A regular presidential campaign stop?

[tchdab1]

Together with previous rumors of Z running for President, I think we can see what is going on here and where this is going. He's doing research on ordinary folk in preparation for, well, we'll see.

Re:A regular presidential campaign stop?

[jandrese]

This is exactly the kind of thing you see from people gearing up for a Presidential run. I wouldn't think he has a chance, but I thought the same thing about Trump.

Too many...

[Arkh89]

Too may resources, not enough problems...

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[Anonymous Coward]

Shit on you for so long? The democrats had a slim majority in congress for a short time at the beginning of Obama's term and since then absolutely jack and shit got done because republicans stuck their fingers in their ears and refused to sign off on anything the President or democrats supported. Now the republicans have full control over everything and President Dumphuck can't even get manage to get these retarded children to agree on a replacement for the piece of legislation they collectively spent half a decade hating.

Seems to me, if you were called stupid it's because you fucking are. But hey, you won, and that's the same as being right in the end, isn't it? I hope you enjoy being denied healthcare coverage due to a preexisting condition.

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[MightyMartian]

So you punish the elites, you elected a big-mouthed halfwit whose only real redeeming quality is that for all of that, he's still a braniac compared to his Chauncy Gardner-esque eldest son.

Yes, boy oh boy, the elites have sure been taught a lesson! My goodness, how very fucking smart you are! Congratulations on sticking it to the man...

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[HornWumpus]

Show me one example of 'competent Hillary'. Nominating her was like trying to make Brady's wife the next quarterback, just a stupid idea. (credit to Bill Burr.)

The Ds own Obamacare and are in pure obstruction mode. Letting it fail under it's own weight isn't a bad option for the Rs.

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[Captain Splendid]

When you're grasping at straws, you don't really care how fragile they are...

Mark Zuckerberg needs an attitude adjustment

[iggymanz]

Obey those "rules"? Ha, the regular steelworker would have no problem ripping off Mark Zuckerberg's head and shitting down his neck were Mark or his minions to try to tell said worker what to do

Re:Mark Zuckerberg needs an attitude adjustment

[iggymanz]

uh huh, my dad didn't work for Carnegie though he was a steelworker, but he definitely can rip the head off of 999 of 1000 slashdotters, anon manlet.

Re:Mark Zuckerberg needs an attitude adjustment

[iggymanz]

a gay steelworker could beat the crap out of 999/1000 slashdotters. the only difference from a straight steelworker might be how much they enjoy it.

Re:His "team" does what?

[BlackPignouf]

What does "Jew" got to do with anything?

goddammitsomuch

[rsilvergun]

he's getting ready to run for office. That can't be a good thing. For one thing he raised money for Chris Christy of all people. At best he's another economically right / socially center politicians that'll cut taxes on the rich, cut services for the middle class (e.g. school funding, unemployment, medicare/medicaid). At worst he's another wolf in sheep's clothing that'll hand us over to Wallstreet the way the Clinton's did and roll back the progressive agenda Bernie was working on.

Re:goddammitsomuch

[DarkOx]

Mark is about as lefty as they come. He is arguing for UBS from heaves sake.

Now cynically I think this is about enriching himself. Force the middle calls tax payer to hand even more money to poor so they can misuse it, and spend it on Mark's crappy website.

Re:goddammitsomuch

[Tailhook]

Mark is about as lefty as they come.

UBS, climate fear mongering, open borders, SJW grandstanding... He's threatened to fire anyone that dared replace "black" with "all" on Facebook's graffiti wall.

Pure establishment group-think.

Re:goddammitsomuch

[Hognoxious]

He is arguing for UBS from heaves sake.

The Swiss bank? Is that where he stashes all his dough?

Re:of course he's looking at politics

[HornWumpus]

I don't think even the Democrats are dumb enough to hand her the nomination again. She can't win honest primaries.

But we can dream...Hillary 2020...Trump for 8.

Politics is a rough choice

[Okian Warrior]

A lot of things Mark Zuckerberg says and does make he think he wants to enter politics. Most others will delegate and work on compiled reports - this attempt to reach out to the masses seems very politician like.

I agree that this seems very politician-like.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, in the frame of who will be running for president in 2000.

Politics is a rough choice, and it takes a very seasoned celebrity to just shrug off the criticism. Add to that the dirty tricks (operation veritas), the completely made-up stories (pizzagate), and the public's general interest in anything that's shocking, unusual, or worthy of memes.

Anyone who bases their self-image in any way on the opinion of others would be completely devastated in a political run. Ross Perot wasn't able to do that, and I'm continuously surprised that Donald Trump could.

Zuckerberg in particular seems too young to have a solid and strong ego, and he doesn't have the experience of politics or celebrity status to fall back on.

While it's a laudable goal, I just don't see Mark Zuckerberg as a viable presidential candidate in the next two or three elections.

I also wonder how much hands-on leadership he has at Facebook. I don't see him as having a vision, and getting people on-board with that vision. Also, I don't see him taking a lot of risks with the company direction.

Contrast with Jeff Bezos, who is taking Amazon in new directions, with some measure of risk, or Elon Musk, who is drawing together a vertically integrated ecosystem of companies. Those two would probably make better political candidates, if they decided to do that.

Politics is a rough choice, and I don't see Mark Zuckerberg fitting in to that lifestyle.

Re:Politics is a rough choice

[DarkOx]

please cite one example of a 'dirty trick' by Project Veritas.

You mean the misrepresented themselves just enough to get the left to run at the mouth?

Re:Politics is a rough choice

[WrongMonkey]

The contrast with Bezos or Musk goes deeper than that. Both those guys are actually doing something with their wealth. They have visions to pursue without grovelling to the average American voter. Running for office would actually be a step down for either of them. Zuckerberg doesn't have that. He doesn't have another billion dollar idea. He doesn't have a personally mission to change the world. So he falls back on the usual pastimes of the idle rich: charity and politics.

Politics isn't for rich people, its for bored rich people.

Re:Politics is a rough choice

[Actually, I do RTFA]

the completely made-up stories (pizzagate),

And how do those spread? Over facebook.

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[MightyMartian]

Or apparently how doing so often produces the exact opposite of what you wanted. Trump didn't drain the swamp, he channeled an overflowing septic tank into the swamp. If he's done anything, he's made it clear that maybe the elites that were there before weren't that bad, compared to the kind of bottom dwellers he brought along.

I'd like to compare the Trumps to a Mafia family, but it would be some sort of Mafia family where everyone is either a Sonny or a Fredo; either idiots or people like impulse control, or both.

What's really amusing is to watch how the "elites" that Trump is supposed to have driven into the weeds are quietly fucking him over at every opportunity. The Republican-dominated Congress has made it awfully clear, though Trump is too fucking stupid to see it, that it has no intention of assisting him with the more absurd aspects of his election platform. Repealing the ACA seems doomed at this point, so the great irony that's likely to occur is that the health care bill that ends up on Trump's desk will be one to shore up Obamacare.

Welcome to the most impotent presidency since the 19th century.

Re:His "team" does what?

[Tailhook]

Do you actually know any Jews? Not in the "saw one on teevee" sense, but an actual Jewish person that might speak with you about something other than getting their printer fixed? Or is the whole authoritarian Jew thing completely abstract for you?

A Gentle Creature

[tylersoze]

I don't know I've liked what I've seen so far.

http://www.somethingawful.com/...

Re:A Gentle Creature

[phantomfive]

The eyes in that post.......

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[Hognoxious]

The UK can beat that. A former banker who went to a private school where the fees are more than most people earn told us to jump and we said "how high?".

Re:And that's how ...

[Hognoxious]

So you know what conclusion to draw from that...

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[anegg]

I have to agree - I think the "Fuck You" theory is the best explanation for Trump as president. Maybe we will get some better candidates (from both sides) next time.

why?

[jm007]

some kid gets lucky with an app and becomes rich; sure, maybe he's a good programmer, dunno, but by far the majority of his financial success is from luck; good for him, no grudge on my end and maybe I could learn something from how it all happened

so why does he get special air time for anything outside of that? our society has a strange way of giving folks who've done something of note in one area a free pass in other areas for which they have no credentials

for example, asking an actor who they recommend for president..... really? someone who is good at pretending to be somebody else is now someone we should listen to about such weighty issues? sure, they *might* be a pundit of sorts but that credibility has to be earned outside of them being famous for acting

similar to how we pedestalize sports and entertainment figures and report on their every mouth fart on topics far outside playing with a ball or singing and dancing

if he had not become rich/famous at 20-ish and was just another programmer at some XYZ corp.... would he be listened to as intently by an eager reporter? has he enough life experience to run his mouth intelligently on anything? so since he DID get rich/successful while very young, and lived in a rich-guy bubble since then wherein his posse constantly cups his balls, do you think he's lived the kind of life to qualify as someone to be taken seriously outside of any of that?

he's still a child, stunted by not having to live his critical 20's dealing with regular-guy shit like the rest of us; if he's got something important to say to me, it'll have to be done while NOT riding on the coat tails of his super-lucky app success

What about his neighbors?

[Wain13001]

Maybe he should try to meet with the Hawaiians that he's attempting to sue into being forced to auction their family land because he feels it's too close to his estate. He could probably learn something interesting from them.

Are you sure?

[gosand]

Firstly, he is all about owning people's information. I would have no reason to believe he is doing this out of the goodness of anything - because he could do that without a press release.

I don't necessarily disagree with your view in premise, but I don't understand this part:

There is a real problem in this country where people stay within their own "bubble" ... hopelessly ignorant of this issue in our society.

What exactly is the "problem" or "issue"? That people stay within their own areas of interest, or simply have subsets of our society that they are a part of, because of choice or otherwise? Why is reaching outside of your own bubble, or in this case into other people's bubbles, inherently a good thing?

Cover the whiteboards

[paiute]

And if you are working on a great idea when he shows up, carefully turn all your papers over and change the subject.

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[HornWumpus]

In related news: Brady's wife is the most qualified new NFL quarterback, expect her to be drafted in the first round.

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[I'm New Around Here]

Oh my gerd! The Libturds have culturally appropriated the term "Snowflake" from us!

What will be do now?

Maybe we still call the liberal scum "snowflake", but without the last consonant sound at the end.

Fuck off, you damn liberal snowfla.

Maybe we can even use it amongst ourselves. "What's up, my snowfla?"

Re:Rural America IS America

[ranton]

Rural America IS America. The rest is a bubble filled with pretentious elitists. Who, by the way, hate the occupants of said bubble with a passion.

I'm not sure if you are trying to make a joke, but if not this is a worst case example of the ignorance which comes from this bubble mentality.

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[I'm New Around Here]

Shit on you for so long? The democrats had a slim majority in congress for a short time at the beginning of Obama's term and since then absolutely jack and shit got done because republicans stuck their fingers in their ears and refused to sign off on anything the President or democrats supported.

Right. Nothing the president wanted ever made it through, besides Obamacare. And the spending increases. And the raising of the debt ceiling. And all of his appointments that sailed through the Senate. And packing the Supreme Court with ultra left wing socialists who don't believe in the Constitution. Gun running, toppling stable allies, burning the Middle East to the ground, importing terrorists, and on and on.

No, he didn't get anything done, because of those damn Republicans that caved on every main issue they faced.

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[HornWumpus]

WTF? Your defending the useless bitch, but don't want me to respond about her incompetence? Fuck off, she needs to go home and give Bill a blowjob.

hit hard enough

[stooo]

>>"Mark Zuckerberg Hits the Road"
Apparently he didn't hit hard enough.
Climb up bridge and try again.

Facebook not Productive

[Roger W Moore]

He learned Chinese and did after all, bring the worlds people together ... he leads an incredibly productive life...

Chinese is literally the least remarkable language to learn given that over 2 billion people have already done this. As for bringing people together, I think Facebook has done the exact opposite. It lets people post crap about their life online so they can avoid actually having any meaningful conversations with others.

Numerous studies have shown that Facebook use leads to a decline in mental health. In many ways, it is the McDonalds of the internet: wildly popular but bad for society's health. I'd hardly define creating something like that "productive" despite it being extremely financially rewarding.

Re:Rural America IS America

[ranton]

Based on some of the comments I see coming out of people living in those four cities it seems pretty clear to me that some of them are completely out of touch with reality everywhere else.

I completely agree with you there. But the problem is equally bad for those are completely out of touch with the reality inside those cities and many others in the country. People out of touch with society's advancements in the past half century, both technological and social. No one group or even small handful of groups own the blame for this. Nearly all of us are part of the problem.

Certainly anyone thinking the "pretentious elitists" are the primary cause of the problem are also a major part of the problem.

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[fustakrakich]

Trump is president for lack of credible opposition.

So in other words

[Holi]

Way to insult the people you want to meet.

Re: Fuck Suckerberg.

[MightyMartian]

The US is growing bluer regardless, and if SCOTUS kills gerrymandering, your victory dance may be shortlived.

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[Captain Splendid]

Yeah, cuz Yanks don't have a penchant for selecting 'rock stars" as their leaders: Trump, W, Clinton, Reagan, JFK, Eisenhower.

Thanks for showing up right on schedule, btw. Not creepy at all. No sir.

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[fustakrakich]

You're just paranoid. It's all in your head. And your post doesn't make sense. But nice deflection anyway.

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[Captain Splendid]

And your post doesn't make sense.

Interesting. I'd think Americans making democracy a popularity contest as much as possible would be right in your wheelhouse. But you do get twitchy when I slight the Fatherland, so it's a toughie, huh?

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[fustakrakich]

Sorry, you're just babbling nonsense. Where do I get all 'twitchy'? And why do you single out the Americans?

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[Captain Splendid]

Where do I get all 'twitchy'?

Well, generally speaking, that's like 50% of your shtick: The passive-aggressive cheerfulness, the short, choppy sentences, etc. I told you a long time ago your writing skills are your biggest impediment and suggested video would be a better fit, but apparently you think you're ugly or something.

And why do you single out the Americans?

Well, we were talking about rich and famous Americans until you popped in with your off topic axe grinding, if that helps.

But generally speaking, we're all still living in the American Empire. There's really no getting away from that until the Chinese take over.

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[fustakrakich]

Which also answers the question of "Why is Donald Trump president?"

your off topic axe grinding...

My off topic axe grinding (and shtick)... fascinating... But hey, it's your internet.. You define the words

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[Captain Splendid]

fascinating... But hey, it's your internet.. You define the words

Yup, there's that passive-aggressive bullshit again. Glad we settled the issue of you being twitchy though.

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[fustakrakich]

Yeah yeah, and you complete the circle with your usual projection again. Some other time...

Re:Fuck Suckerberg.

[Captain Splendid]

your usual projection again

Which is?

Some other time...

Nah, you'll be back.