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Zuckerberg Gets a Crash Course in Charm. Will Congress Care? (bgr.com)
An anonymous reader writes: It goes without saying that no tech CEO ever wants to make the trek down to Washington D.C. and appear before congress. And Zuckerberg -- at a surface level -- seems particularly ill-suited for the task. Though clearly an incredible mind, remember that Zuckerberg is a tech-minded programmer and far from a savvy and political operator. That being the case, many people are curious as to how the Facebook founder, who it's worth noting is just 33 years old, will fare when confronted with hard hitting questions from politicians.
In an effort to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that Zuckerberg's appearance goes off without a hitch, The New York Times is reporting that Facebook recently hired a team of experts and coaches tasked with ensuring that Zuckerberg has the tools to deftly navigate the potentially deep waters of Congress. Of particular interest is that Zuckerberg has been learning how to be charming and exhibit humility in the face of heavy-handed and probing questions. The report says, "It [ Facebook] has also hired a team of experts, including a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, to put Mr. Zuckerberg, 33, a cerebral coder who is uncomfortable speaking in public, through a crash course in humility and charm. The plan is that when he sits down before the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees on Tuesday, Mr. Zuckerberg will have concrete changes to talk about, and no questions he can't handle."
In an effort to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that Zuckerberg's appearance goes off without a hitch, The New York Times is reporting that Facebook recently hired a team of experts and coaches tasked with ensuring that Zuckerberg has the tools to deftly navigate the potentially deep waters of Congress. Of particular interest is that Zuckerberg has been learning how to be charming and exhibit humility in the face of heavy-handed and probing questions. The report says, "It [ Facebook] has also hired a team of experts, including a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, to put Mr. Zuckerberg, 33, a cerebral coder who is uncomfortable speaking in public, through a crash course in humility and charm. The plan is that when he sits down before the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees on Tuesday, Mr. Zuckerberg will have concrete changes to talk about, and no questions he can't handle."
2018: Mark Zuckerberg makes first address to Congress.
2020: Mark Zuckerberg is installed as next president.
Well, he's already putting politicians in his pocket to get there...
Of the 55 members on the Energy and Commerce Committee this year, all but nine have received Facebook contributions in the past decade.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/05/facebook-big-contributor-to-committees-in-congress-questioning-zuckerberg.html
If "Charm" is being used as a euphemism for donations, they'll care all right.
Well, he has already donated to 80% of the people "interogating" him. Then again if they actually wanted to know something they wouldn't invite a clueless CEO but someone with expertise, these hearings are always mostly show.
Remains to be see how "hard hitting" the questioning is when the members of congress received substantial donations from Facebook and associates.
I think you have got mixed up there with Bill Gates deposition in 1998 when Microsoft was on trial. He came over as either having the memory powers of a goldfish, or otherwise as not having a clue what was going on in his own company. His deposition was described by one of the newspapers as "a comic masterpiece of evasion and obfuscation". At one point, like a schoolboy trying to sound clever, he demanded from the examining lawyer a definition of the word "definition".
Zucherberg cannot do much worse than Gates did. Will we get to see his performance?
There were MANY social media sites BEFORE and AFTER facebook.
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Mark has/had an arrogant attitude towards his users:
Mr. Zuckerberg will have concrete changes to talk about, and no questions he can't handle.
Ah, Mr.... Zuckerberg. Is it not the case that Facebook's business model is founded on the premise that social interaction is a crack-like activity that can be used to lure users into providing personal information that you can relentlessly monetize?