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Facebook Hired a Full-Time Pollster To Monitor Zuckerberg's Approval Ratings (theverge.com)

According to The Verge, Facebook hired a full-time pollster to track Mark Zuckerberg's approval ratings last year as the young CEO was making his 50-state tour across the country. The pollster, Tavis McGinn, reportedly "decided to leave the company after only six months after coming to believe that Facebook had a negative effect on the world." From the report: It was April, and Facebook was caught up in the fallout of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. After initially discounting the possibility that fake news had contributed to Donald Trump's victory, Facebook acknowledged that Russia-linked groups had spent more than $100,000 on political advertising. Zuckerberg undertook a nationwide listening tour modeled after a modern political campaign. McGinn would fill another role common to political campaigns: leading an ongoing poll operation dedicated to tracking minute changes in Zuckerberg's public perception. "It was a very unusual role," McGinn says. "It was my job to do surveys and focus groups globally to understand why people like Mark Zuckerberg, whether they think they can trust him, and whether they've even heard of him. That's especially important outside of the United States."

McGinn tracked a wide range of questions related to Zuckerberg's public perception. "Not just him in the abstract, but do people like Mark's speeches? Do they like his interviews with the press? Do people like his posts on Facebook? It's a bit like a political campaign, in the sense that you're constantly measuring how every piece of communication lands. If Mark's doing a barbecue in his backyard and he hops on Facebook Live, how do people respond to that?" Facebook worked to develop an understanding of Zuckerberg's perception that went beyond simple "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" metrics, McGinn says. "If Mark gives a speech and he's talking about immigration and universal health care and access to equal education, it's looking at all the different topics that Mark mentions and seeing what resonates with different audiences in the United States," he says. "It's very advanced research."

109 comments

  1. OMG!!! by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Facebook Hired a Full-Time Pollster To Monitor Zuckerberg's Approval Ratings

    Jesus, people, who the fuck cares?

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      All those Hawaiian people he kicked off their own island probably care.

    2. Re:OMG!!! by willoughby · · Score: 1

      I agree. Zuckerberg might be OCD about his "public perception" but I'm sure not. Why is this here?

    3. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's running for president and thinks we haven't figured that out yet.

    4. Re: OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No.

    5. Re:OMG!!! by FeelGood314 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      All those Hawaiian people he kicked off their own island probably care.

      Talk about fake news. He never kicked anyone off. His property surrounded a bunch of other properties. Mark owed these people access rights across his property. With one exception, no one had been using these properties or paying taxes on them. It appears that most of the owners never even knew they owned the properties. Mark didn't force anyone to sell. He offered people money for something they didn't know they even owned. We are talking about plots of land that haven't been used in 2 or 3 generations. I'd be grateful if someone gave me $200 for 1/25 of a plot of land that my grand parents abandoned, before I was born, in a place I'll never visit. The worst he did was force the tax office and land registry office to clean up their act.

    6. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apparently BeauHD... and more likely nobody else. This solidly falls into the possibility of a commercial featuring Captain Obvious.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtCumKK9HuU

    7. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That'd be hilarious. He's got the money, intel, and proper lack of morality to crush the DNC and seize the primary... and thus guarantee a second term for Trump.

      Shithead's even less likable than Hillary, for fuck's sake.

    8. Re:OMG!!! by Mal-2 · · Score: 1

      You should care. I have a sneaking suspicion Zuck is going to try his hand at politics at some point. Knowing how to electioneer is a valuable skill that normally cannot be gained without trying (and generally failing) on the real stage.

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
    9. Re:OMG!!! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Zuckerberg might be OCD about his "public perception"

      His net worth is $73B. If having a better public image adds even 0.001% to that, then paying a pollster $100k/yr to track his popularity is a no-brainer.

      This isn't OCD, it is just good business sense.

    10. Re:OMG!!! by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      I agree. Zuckerberg might be OCD about his "public perception" but I'm sure not. Why is this here?

      GREETINGS FELLOW HUMAN! I too enjoy walking on my human legs. When doing so, I normally lead this sub-optimally intelligent canine to greater things. It's similar to how I shall lead my fellow humans after I become president!

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    11. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're fawning way too hard, Zuckerberg has shown zero skill of the sort you're describing. He didn't even know how to handle his own news feed.

    12. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah. Zukerberg wanted to build a huge wall around his property. People went to court against him.
      Funny, that he does not like a proposal for a different kind of a wall ...

    13. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Zuckerberg might be OCD about his "public perception"

      His net worth is $73B. If having a better public image adds even 0.001% to that, then paying a pollster $100k/yr to track his popularity is a no-brainer.

      This isn't OCD, it is just good business sense.

      That's great. Now back to the question, why is this here?

    14. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Zuckerberg might be OCD about his "public perception"

      His net worth is $73B. If having a better public image adds even 0.001% to that, then paying a pollster $100k/yr to track his popularity is a no-brainer.

      This isn't OCD, it is just good business sense.

      That's great. Now back to the question, why is this here?

      Oh, for fucks sake.

      "Zuckerberg undertook a nationwide listening tour modeled after a modern political campaign...

      Grow up and open your eyes already. I really can't believe I have to put 2 and 2 together for you. Especially after we just watched a reality TV/real estate mogul capture the US Presidency...And no, we don't need Mr. "Dumb Fucks" Zuckerberg sitting in that position either.

    15. Re:OMG!!! by geekmux · · Score: 1

      You should care. I have a sneaking suspicion Zuck is going to try his hand at politics at some point. Knowing how to electioneer is a valuable skill that normally cannot be gained without trying (and generally failing) on the real stage.

      Uh, he's already proven that he doesn't have to travel beyond his Facebook ad engine to manipulate his "dumb fuck" audience into voting him into office...You don't even have to be wealthy when you've got a couple billion customers at your disposal.

    16. Re:OMG!!! by geekmux · · Score: 1

      You're fawning way too hard, Zuckerberg has shown zero skill of the sort you're describing. He didn't even know how to handle his own news feed.

      How ironic that his news feed was likely a considerable tool that affected the outcome of a Presidency. And you act like he really needs skills beyond manipulating that again.

    17. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't talk bad about my friend Mark! Leave Mark-ney alone, Markney is Teh BEST! I am not a paid employee of reputationdefender.com and I am most certainly not some account specialist working for the publicist that Markney did NOT hire. Markney doesn't NEED a pollster because everyone loves Mark. I have your facebook data right here that says you love mark too you just don't know it yet

    18. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're an idiot. He handled it all extremely poorly overall.

    19. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're an idiot. He handled it all extremely poorly overall.

      You assume that a poorly handled manipulation of newsfeeds influencing millions was not by design.

      Smoke and Mirrors is a business tactic now more than ever.

    20. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd want fair market value, or a good bit over that. If you're in Hawaii, and it doesn't matter what part of Hawaii, that $200 price tag is missing at least one zero on the end.

      OTOH, people need to be really careful treading into these waters. Some friends of my grandparents had bought some land in Minnesota with the intent of building a cottage there. Life or whatever happened and the land was forgotten. When their children discovered that they owned the land and starting taking the steps that their parents originally intended to do, they had something like a $55,000 bill dropped on them for unpaid back taxes. Things got a bit ugly and even with all of their connections and friends, they were on the hook for a big fucking bill.

      Anyway, Mark Zuckerberg is the worst of humanity and it's difficult to not want to wish cancer and AIDS on him. And if that dumb fuck wants to actually run for President, I hope somebody points out to him that Donald Trump only ran as a joke and for publicity and then wound up winning despite his best efforts to not do so. Even Oprah is smart enough to realize that it's not a job any sane non politician would ever want.

    21. Re: OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. Surprise you have land! Surprise you owe taxes on it! Surprise we sold your land to cover those taxes we just told you about.

    22. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But he is a better businessman than Trump, which for some reason appears to be important for running a country although it is really very different from running a company.

      N.B. If Trump had simply invested his inheritance, rather than play businessman, he would be richer than he is now.

    23. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Zuck does, apparently. Still hoping for more "likes."

  2. In case they needed some more poll data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Mark Zuckerberg is a sociopathic, evil person, and his life's work is a stain upon humanity.

  3. Marixism by labnet · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Because the Zuk has access to a billion eyeballs, is an SJW, and has political aspirations.

    I've been listening a bit lately to Jordan Peterson, a Canadian psychology professor.
    He thinks SJW's and their identity politics are really similar to the marxist ideology that caused so much suffering in Russia.
    Thus I think we need to be playing close attention to people like the Zuk.

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    46137
    1. Re:Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a dementia patient, Donald.

    2. Re: Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fucking moron.

    3. Re: Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      'really similar'? No, it's not a similar ideology. It's the exact same ideology.

    4. Re:Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Uh

      So that's how it works? You finally found a real world example of someone you can call an SJW out loud and it's a flailing corporate bully trying to improve his personal image as if that'll save his company's business? You find an academic who supports you and he's a joke ideologue who can't do basic math but considers himself a measured thinker?

      You need help, mate... and you need to stop telling yourself what you feel is cynicism.

    5. Re:Marixism by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Don't worry. I'm sure the trolls will be out any time telling you that you're a neo-nazi, white nationalist, for daring to post the name of one of the foremost clinical psychologists in the world. (Because he's also a neo-nazi, white nationalist ... for reasons)

      p.s. Clean your room.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    6. Re: Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...and the fact we can't identify the SJWs who are influential means they have a super secret conspiracy just like those satanists in the 80s and the communists in the 50s.

      We should have an inquiry to make sure they don't infiltrate our precious water supply with even more fluoride.

    7. Re:Marixism by RazorSharp · · Score: 1

      Despite my liberal leanings, I highly distrust someone like Zuckerberg, especially when they're trying so hard to manufacture a reputation with particular demographics and using advanced statistical research to do so. It's like the left-wing version of Trump. When a politician's primary concern is their ego, they cannot be trusted to do the right thing when a difficult decision must be made (unfortunately, that means most politicians cannot be trusted).

      As for your whole "SJW" stuff—come on. Using a dysphemism and then connecting it with a historic catastrophe (using a weird appeal to authority with your Canadian psych prof) and then linking that to Marxism is the type of unsound logic that should be beneath you. I understand such comments from trolling ACs, but to see such nonsense come from such a low UID makes me sad.

      While there are legitimate criticisms that can be levied against identity politics, your post doesn't raise them. Furthermore, pointing the finger at "Marxist ideology" to explain away Russian suffering from the October Revolution to the late twentieth century is academically lazy. Russia wasn't exactly a paradise under the Tsars. Simple explanations usually fail to account for the nuances of history.

      --
      "From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
    8. Re:Marixism by swillden · · Score: 1

      He thinks SJW's and their identity politics are really similar to the marxist ideology that caused so much suffering in Russia.

      What does he think about Trumpians and their identity politics?

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    9. Re:Marixism by labnet · · Score: 1

      I think you really should listen to some of Petersons material. He is one the best minds thinking about this subject.

      The strategy of the hard left is to stratify people into classes of 'victims'. For example, transgender people are victims, so Canada has legislated that in certain circumstances you must use some new made up pronouns such as Ze. If you don't there could be a fine. If you don't pay the fine, I assume you could go to jail.
      His argument is that just as Stalin made people subservient to the state (instead of the state serving the people), the hard left is working hard (via humanities courses in university, from which new politicians are created) to make the state have much more power over the individual, by for example commanding your speech with these new made up pronouns. He afraid they are doing this purely for power.

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      46137
    10. Re:Marixism by labnet · · Score: 1

      Haha. Clean your room!
      I was just telling my 3 boys about that little peterson nugget last night.

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      46137
    11. Re:Marixism by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      SJWism is just Marxism with "race" instead of "class" as its founding tenet.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    12. Re:Marixism by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      This is literally Whataboutism.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    13. Re: Marixism by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 2

      WTF? Of course we can identify them. They put their names right on the garbage they publish in their SJW "academic" journals and their youtube channels.

      Anita Sarkesian, Brianna Wu, Melissa Click, Ward Churchill, Sundar Pichai, the President of Evergreen State, all of them. They aren't hiding. You're just not listening.

    14. Re:Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SJW and their identity politics

      I can smell the hypocrisy from here, there is only one group of people that say SJW.

    15. Re:Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      is this what lead poisoning looks like?

    16. Re: Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget the creators of humoristic content! Why do they insist on having a brain to be able to detect sarcasm? They're probably in with the WSJs you just mentioned

    17. Re: Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No we just recognize that some things are more important than freedom.

    18. Re:Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Zuk will have to change sex to something more neutral from female, and change race to n1gger.

      Penelope Zukern1gger for the president.

    19. Re: Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does it feel to be copulating with a moron?

    20. Re:Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well yes and no, it's more like they've expanded the single notion of (economic) "class oppression" into every aspect of society.

    21. Re: Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol. Peterson is an idiot.

    22. Re:Marixism by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      is this what lead poisoning looks like?

      Ask progressives. They're the ones screeching that Jordan Peterson is a alt-right white nationalist neo-nazi who supports a white ethnostate and is a racist. That's generally in the order of the screeching in many cases too.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    23. Re:Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Furthermore, pointing the finger at "Marxist ideology" to explain away Russian suffering from the October Revolution to the late twentieth century is academically lazy. Russia wasn't exactly a paradise under the Tsars.

      It's pretty well established that various policies introduced by the Russian government, as well as some weird tendencies to mistrust non-Russian science, led to famines, purges and new, industrial-scale forms of oppression not found under the Tsars.

    24. Re:Marixism by swillden · · Score: 2

      It's an honest question. I'm curious what someone who analyzes and thinks about identity politics on one side thinks about how the other side applies the same concept. I have my own opinion, obviously, which is that both sides focus far too much on tribal identities and not enough on substantive issues, but I'm curious about the opinions of others.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    25. Re:Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They literally call themselves "cultural marxists".

    26. Re:Marixism by drsquare · · Score: 1

      Exactly the same.

    27. Re:Marixism by swillden · · Score: 1

      Exactly the same.

      He thinks Trumpism and right-wing identity politics are really similar to Marxism?

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    28. Re: Marixism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Marxism is great. If you actually read Capitalism and are still afraid of the "ideology", then you are part of the problem, you are willingly automating destruction and you should be very, very afraid

  4. Dear Mark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We might like you if you weren't a blood sucking robot sent from outer space. We can tell you have no emotion by looking into those cold dead eyes. Your AI constantly scans human faces to update your expressions but it has a long way to go.

  5. Zeroes across the board. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go fuck yourself Mark.

  6. finally by walterhpdx · · Score: 1

    "decided to leave the company after only six months after coming to believe that Facebook had a negative effect on the world."

    Thank god even FB people are coming to their senses.

    1. Re:finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't lump the pollster with those FB guys; he quit before he could be branded as such

  7. The POS wants to become POtuS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fecesbook: the turd which won't go away easily.

  8. Zuckerberg for president! by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 5, Funny

    Zuckerberg for president! He would be so much better than the thin skinned narcissist we have now ... oh, wait.

    1. Re:Zuckerberg for president! by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      Zuckerberg would be a better thin-skinned-narcissist.

    2. Re:Zuckerberg for president! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's exactly why he has a pollster. Apparently someone has convinced him that if Trump can do it, he can too.

      Sad thing is, they might even be right.

    3. Re:Zuckerberg for president! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, younger, anyway.

    4. Re: Zuckerberg for president! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. Who makes a better national scapegoat than somebody we all love to hate for a few years.

      The US federal government is the sick man of the Americas. Trump is destroying the only remaining benefits that we used to get from this union: global security, human rights, consumer protections, and social services. The Republitards and Demi-rats have been oh so loyal to their corporate masters, but they will be discarded when they're no longer of use.

      Y'all should have read Marx instead of shaming "Marxists"

  9. Le Grande Illusion by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

    In other narcissist news, I am planning a massive military parade in my own honor. OK, it's not exactly massive. It's just me and the dog, but we will be wearing our dress uniforms and I will be carrying a boom box blasting the Königgrätzer Marsch. It commences as soon as I finish this highball.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  10. Does McGinn know what a loaded question is? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because the average person does not. I wouldn't trust anything that obvious brown-noser says about what people think. "So why do like Facebook?" What makes you think any of us do? Because we walked out of our house to see what the hell Mark is doing here? Maybe we're just concerned that he has some fucked up biometrics collecting plan in my front yard.

  11. Probably a good idea by quantaman · · Score: 2

    I don't know if he's planning on a run for President, but the pollster (and all the other campaigning stuff) would still be a good idea from a business sense.

    Of the big three (Apple, Google, Facebook) Facebook is both the most vulnerable and the most closely identified with its CEO. Facebook's biggest asset is the "everyone is on it" network effect, but it's a lot easier to find someone online than it was 5 years ago, and it's a lot easier for someone to find a new social network than it is to build a new Google or iPhone.

    If Zuckerberg becomes genuinely unpopular the company could be in major trouble very quickly.

    --
    I stole this Sig
    1. Re:Probably a good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      a new social network

      Righto. So easy, even Google can't do it.

    2. Re:Probably a good idea by quantaman · · Score: 4, Informative

      a new social network

      Righto. So easy, even Google can't do it.

      It's easy to build a social network, Google+, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.

      The hard part is becoming the default "I want to get hold of this random person, on which service do I look for them".

      Facebook became that default by feeling less sketchy than MySpace. But if Facebook starts feeling sketchy another service is going to become the new default and Facebook will become the modern equivalent of Hotmail.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    3. Re:Probably a good idea by RazorSharp · · Score: 2

      The hard part is to create a social network that can become the default without Facebook just buying it. I know a lot of people who have stopped using Facebook and switch to. . .Instagram. They don't even realize it's the same company.

      I'm pretty sure that the next big thing will be less sketchy for a hot minute before Facebook, Google, or Microsoft buys it. I think the only way for social networking to work without the side effect of evil would be as some decentralized, peer-to-peer type of open source app. Of course, then only OSS nerds would use it and it would never become the default.

      --
      "From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
    4. Re:Probably a good idea by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      I don't know, I think he's going to run against Trump in 2020. America's first Jewish president, it's about time.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    5. Re: Probably a good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about someone creating a new social network and ... shocker .. does not sell out?

    6. Re:Probably a good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Zuckerberg becomes genuinely unpopular the company could be in major trouble very quickly.

      What do you becomes? Zuckerberg is already a waste of humanity as it is if you ask anyone except people who don't know him except by mainstream news stories

    7. Re:Probably a good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Isn't that what OSS folks have now? IRC -- the anti-social network

    8. Re: Probably a good idea by RazorSharp · · Score: 1

      How about someone creating a new social network and ... shocker .. does not sell out?

      I gotta admit, if I created a company and some big player offered me a billion dollars for it, I don't think I could turn it down. You'd have to extremely passionate and confident about your company to turn down life-changing money. Not to mention that a non-evil social network would be extremely difficult to make profitable.

      --
      "From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
    9. Re: Probably a good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MOD PARENT UP!

    10. Re:Probably a good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was my thought. I was thinking, do most companies not hire a pollster for their CEO/company?

      It seems that knowing what people thought about the CEO/company would be good to know to avoid too much controversy.

  12. Re: Hillary is going to PRISON!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes

  13. In related news, the Zika virus is going on tour by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Zika virus is going around a 50-state tour to get people's feedback and perceptions of everything that Zika stands for...namely, the baby-head shrinking feature.

  14. Zuck running for prez = COMEDY GOLD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's face it: Zuck is creepy. He smiles all the time. No one smiles as much as he does; it's clearly fake. This a guy who became one of the richest people on Earth harvesting data on your cat posts and eating habits.

    Public perception is already turning against Facebook. America is going to devour Zuck if he runs, and Trump --- who is a veritable wordsmith (Little Marco, Low Energy Jeb, Crooked Hillary) --- is going to outmaneuver him with ease. Not only would Zuck lose; he'd tank Facebook stock in the process.

    1. Re:Zuck running for prez = COMEDY GOLD by geekmux · · Score: 1

      Let's face it: Zuck is creepy. He smiles all the time. No one smiles as much as he does; it's clearly fake. This a guy who became one of the richest people on Earth harvesting data on your cat posts and eating habits.

      And if people actually gave a shit about that nearly as much as you wish they would, Facebook would have gone the way of MySpace by now. People don't give a shit about privacy, so let's stop pretending they do.

      And Obama proved that fake smiles is an asset.

    2. Re:Zuck running for prez = COMEDY GOLD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Facebook is going the way of MySpace, people don't want to be batteries for Zuckerberg's matrix.

      https://www.recode.net/2018/1/31/16957122/facebook-daily-active-user-decline-us-canda-q4-earnings-2018

    3. Re: Zuck running for prez = COMEDY GOLD by dj245 · · Score: 1

      People donâ(TM)t care about privacy because most internet privacy policies are dozens of pages long and hidden behind a very boring link. It is arguably something that needs more regulation. Banks are required to send a 1-page form explaining how and who they are sharing your data with. That form was carefully designed by the Consumers Financial Protection Bureau to be easily understandable. There was an NPR show a while back that got a bunch of (3rd? 5th?) graders and they were able to understand the form. There isnâ(TM)t any reason why the same or similar form could not be applied to all businesses that collect personal data.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
  15. Trump will die in prison either way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Donald Trump is going to love being assraped in prison.

    1. Re: Trump will die in prison either way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What, are you arresting me? You're fired.

  16. Facebook was great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Until they improved it.

  17. BeauHD and msmash by Grieviant · · Score: 2

    Look at the last 15 articles on the front page. These guys are pimping every article coming out of the verge, guardian, vice, recode and nbc. Only a couple of them have an actual submitter, and in each case it's "an anonymous reader". There are of course 10+ websites to choose from covering every one of these topics.

    Enough with the leftist tech site circlejerk.

    1. Re:BeauHD and msmash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone should write an article about how manipulative The Verge is. They're worse than Brietbart, Fox News, ShareBlue, any semi-known political site. They're like American Enterprise Institute.

    2. Re:BeauHD and msmash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should see the shadow bans going on too -- I have screenshots.

      Last few weeks someone @slashdot has been on a rampage not seen since the great SlashdotBeta purge..

    3. Re:BeauHD and msmash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yesterday, I saw some intelligent discussion and moderation based on the quality of the comment rather than the dogma pushed by it. Then today, I check in and see so much tyrannical propaganda and AmiMojo at full force with his company granted infinite voting power.

      I suppose someone got back from vacation. So sad, this was almost a useful forum again.

  18. He's getting ready to run for office by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    and he has staggering political power and wealth. So yeah, we should care. He's in a position to exert enormous influence on your life and mine. And very likely not for the better.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  19. Those eyes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not sure what's up with Zuckerberg's eyes, but he's got a 1000 yard stare and the fish glint going on.

  20. The natural progression of a billionaire by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think Mark's behavior is the natural outcome of someone who has attained such a level of wealth that one has exhausted all possible things a person could buy to attain them happiness. If you can look at his situation then from that perspective it is natural to ask, what then is next for such a person to do? They have bought (or can buy) any material possession they desire but what they can't buy (at least to an appreciable extent) is for someone to 'love' them. Once you've reached the point where your money or influence has hit a brick wall you're going to look for ways to surpass that wall, hence the polster cited in this article who was hired to track Zuck like he was a politician.

    Yeah, I'm arm chair psychologizin' for sure (that's not a word) but I think common sense can tell you this is what is going on (and history I believe definitely concurs with this point of view as Zuck is one of only a long line of folks in the annals of human history who have it that level where practically infinite wealth reaches it's limits insofar as getting your fellow human to 'like'(tm) you. A parallel example although running on a slightly different track is that of Elon Musk. He's a billionaire who again, having run out of things to 'buy', is steadily seeking to find ways to use his wealth and position to immortalize himself in other ways such as getting his brand and influence onto other worlds, etc (he's sending his own Tesla car into outer space, for example).

    TLDR: You don't have to be a billionaire or even close to understand their motivations. Despite what they would have you believe, they are only human, and are still governed by the same crap that the rest of us peons or governed by (the pursuit of money, idolatry, etc). They just have the money and power to pursue it as their life pursuit.

  21. So lemme get this straight by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 1, Funny

    A guy who made his billions tracking what people like and don't like had to hire a polster to tell him if people like him. But not just like him, more specifically whether they like his facebook posts.

    Just plain wow. And also: who the hell actually uses facebook?

    1. Re:So lemme get this straight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      More importantly -- who the hell actually uses facebook for news?

  22. Why is this even neeeded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The guy runs a company so why does it matter what people think of him? So he run's a social site that as time goes by is looking more like it does more harm then good for society. Go figure he would hire a pollster to judge how popular he is? What a nut.

  23. I'm also wondering the same thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do people like Mark Zuckerberg?

  24. Politician in training by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... talking about immigration and universal health care and access to equal education ...

    Not that I want Facebook to be a political platform but how much money does he spend enabling education on Facebook? Education involves children which Facebook can't touch, at least, until parents join his just-launched 'Facebook for kids' service.

    Getting universal healthcare means fighting the Republicans, the Democrats and the Republicans again, to remove the layers of nepotism and install a single-payer system. Getting education means equal funding (for curricula resources, not administrators) and punishing half-arsed teachers.

    It great that he wants to remove poor infrastructure but that means eliminating existing regulatory capture, which needs the voice of the sheeple and won't happen: US politics is too divisive for a unified choice.

  25. Re: OMG!!! You ARE Fake News!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    YOU are Fake News.

    Fuckerberg went to court to kick them out because he bought out most of the land and want to kick out the remaining patches of land who refuse to sell.

    He back tracked only after the public out cry.

    Yes heres the source you dip shit liar:
    https://www.google.com.sg/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2017/1/27/14416610/mark-zuckerberg-hawaii-island-land-protest-lawsuit-priscilla-chan

  26. This may be the sound of the opening floodgates by jenningsthecat · · Score: 1

    If Zuckerberg wants that much information in that much detail, then I assume he's at least contemplating running for office. Given his fortune, his profile, and the phenomenon of having Trump as president, then I also assume that the Zuck has his eye on the Presidency.

    We've had celebrities in politics before - Reagan, Franken, Schwarzenegger, et al - but Trump really broke the mold by aiming for, and landing, the highest office in the land without having held any lower office. Recently there were rumors that Oprah might make a grab for that particular brass ring. She said she had no plans to do so, but the idea of having Presidents with no prior political experience seems to be in the air now. Even though Zuckerberg isn't quite a celebrity in the usual sense, he has a pretty high profile. So I'm left wondering if he might try to make a beeline for the Oval Office.

    I'm of two minds about this. On one hand, I think it's exciting that the political same-old-same-old, the glad-handing and back-scratching and favour trading and partisanship and all that goes along with them, might be challenged and forced to change at least a little bit for the better. On the other hand, the only people who can afford to even attempt a short circuiting of the normal political process are, like Zuckerberg, so rich and successful, and so out of touch with everyday reality, that they might be worse than the back-biting politicians who clawed their way up the ranks.

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
  27. Read between the lines... It's all in his name! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The beady eyes, the non-stop hand-wringing, the grimacing face...

  28. Zuck = SUck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SUck it you idiot.
    #SAYNOTOFB

    you big nose bird head.

  29. Chink Agents by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The House of Elders in China is most pleased with their Amerijew acquisition. Only cost them one dumb whore. He'll be President soon. One world Communism coming.. pucker up Amerikuks, you're gonna get fucked oldschool!

  30. Re: This may be the sound of the opening floodgate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nigga please! Barak was Oprah & Cosby's creation. They started his run to the Oval with 50 million each. Oprah just came out recently to remind Demos of that and shit on your orange turd of a Russian stooge. She's too important (wealthy) for smalltime shit like being President.

  31. Re: muh leftists! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You have two extreme rightwing parties ruining your cuntry and here you are crying about leftists. Enjoy living in Africa. But I'm sure you'll be rich enough to rise above.. oh yes, you have all the marks of the true elite of your nation.

  32. Re: Hillary is going to PRISON!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who's Hillary