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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."
Question Facebook should be asking itself:
If the US government puts Facebook out of business, that will be bad for Facebook employees and investors. How many US congressional districts do Facebook employees live in? What percentage of Facebook employees are citizens eligible to vote in the US?
2021: After watching The Circle , president Zuckerberg makes having a Facebook account mandatory for everyone in the country.
#DeleteFacebook
If "Charm" is being used as a euphemism for donations, they'll care all right.
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
you cant polish a turd
Incorrect, sir. You can polish a turd. Evidence: Mythbusters Polishing a Turd
noting is just 33 years old, will fare when confronted with hard hitting questions from politicians.
So buaby is gonna be asked 'tough' questions by those mean adults.....?
"Deep waters?" "Hard hitting questions?" They are giving the US congress a lot of credit. I agree preparation is a good idea. But, perhaps he should be more prepared for a barrage of vacuous, ideological grandstanding than rigorous insight.
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.
If "Charm" is being used as a euphemism for donations, they'll care all right.
I picture his appearance,
MZ walks in to testify, two huge bodyguards lugging multiple cases behind them.
As he is sworn in, MZ opens the cases and throws millions of dollars into the air, as congress critters scurry on their hands and knees, scooping up money and tucking it into their clothes, and interns pockets.
MZ does a mike drop and walk out, testimony ended.
Have a little more kool-aid then.
he's already been prepping for this kind of thing. He'll do fine.
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Congress critter: "Were you aware that user data was accessible by third parties and open to abuse?"
Zuckerberg: "I do not recall."
Congress critter: "How much of Facebook's income is derived from providing user data to third parties?"
Zuckerberg: "I do not recall."
Congress critter: "Does Facebook store or monetize deleted data, data from users that have deleted their accounts, or data collected on people who do not have Facebook accounts?"
Zuckerberg: "I do not recall."
Congress critter: "Was Facebook aware that foreign, state-sponsored actors were utilizing Facebook's data?"
Zuckerberg: "I do not recall."
Congress critter: "What steps are Facebook taking to ensure this doesn't happen again?"
Zuckerberg: "Here's $50,000 to each Committee member's reelection campaign."
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Zuckerberg has probably more data about most members of congress and their particular habits (that the general public might not necessarily be aware of) than congress has about him. Remember that you don't have to be on Facebook to be tracked by Facebook. All the websites that very helpfully add "Like" buttons to their articles and pages leave a solid trail, too.
Maybe the questions will not be "hitting too hard", lest some politician's browsing habits might find their way to the press. My guess is that there will be some questions that can be handled, some concessions, and after a little while all will be forgotten.
Just read this and it's essentially case closed, is it not?
Everyone is painting Zuckerberg as the incredible mind that he is, and rightfully so he is. I will say then that when you're that incredible, then you're not naive, either, and you're going to make sure you're uber prepared and 20 steps ahead. You don't become Zuckerberg of the world by being naive and clueless, ladies and gentlemen.
It's all meaningless when you've paid the same people who are questioning you. This is just dog-and-pony public show to make sure we, as a democratic for-the-people country, are doing all the right steps through vision to make it look like they give a shit. Facebook isn't going away and neither is Zuckerberg and the empire of surveillance he created, nor is his entire fucking body of think-tanks he has on puppet strings to keep carrying it out. Notice how prepared Facebook is at all times at any backlash? "Oh we are pissed about this", and less than 24 hours later there's an already baked up, engineered and software developed solution to 'deal with it how 'you think' it's being dealt with. 20 steps ahead. That's all you need to know.
This changes nothing.
What do you call a person who learns to interact socially but doesn't feel the emotions and empathy that drive normal people to be sociable? The ones who have to study social interaction like they study coding, sometimes with people to teach them, rather than intuiting it...
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Remains to be see how "hard hitting" the questioning is when the members of congress received substantial donations from Facebook and associates.
> Though clearly an incredible mind Really? isn't this confusing success with brilliance. There are many programmers who have pioneered areas of compsci and created impressive technical work with deep insights all while on the job that deserve to be called brilliant... if zuck has done anything like that it's not publicly visible, all I can see is another lucky businessman, the fact that he can code seems more circumstantial to the success of his idea than the other way around. I fail to see the brilliance of intellect of a lucky one trick pony.
When one is called to appear in front of congress. The Congress isn't interested in the Truth, they will just try to trick you into saying something criminal.
Their constituents are pissed about this. So I think both sides will be hard on him. The Democrats don't like the idea that Facebook slandered Clinton. The republicans like the fact they can distract the Russian meddling investigation to Facebook and away from the folks in the White House (Granted they are separate investigations) to a Liberal California man.
Politically both sides have interest in seeing Zuckerberg suffer. So it isn't much about any particular facts. Cambridge Analyitica paid Facebook a lot of money, Facebook didn't bother to dig into what they were doing with the data. Facebook put trust into an algorithm, that other people figured out and manipulated to their benefit.
Are we expected to get anything new? No, but congress can parade Zuckerberg around as the ultimate bad guy and make them look like they were standing up for their constituents.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Doesn't matter if it's legal either. History + money will cover up the fact that your ancestors sold bootleg liquor or ran numbers, sold drugs, dealt in human trafficking. Ask the Bushes, the Kennedy's, etc etc etc
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
Members of the House and Senate committees that will question Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about user privacy protection next week are also some of the biggest recipients of campaign contributions from Facebook employees directly and the political action committee funded by employees. The congressional panel that got the most Facebook contributions is the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which announced Wednesday morning it would question Zuckerberg on April 11.
What do you call a person who learns to interact socially but doesn't feel the emotions and empathy that drive normal people to be sociable? The ones who have to study social interaction like they study coding, sometimes with people to teach them, rather than intuiting it...
The sociopaths I've known have been glib and charming. They didn't have a particular problem engaging in convincing social interactions, and I'm pretty sure nobody taught them how to do it. Zuckerberg isn't necessarily a sociopath / psychopath. He may have Asperger's Syndrome, or a mild form of some other Autism Spectrum Disorder that prevents him from gauging and expressing emotions and empathy.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
This is an opportunity for Congress to pretend to be mean to Zuck to show their voters that the bribe money means nothing. It will also ensure FB keeps the bribe money coming in.
Note: My phone keeps autocorrecting Zuck to Fuck.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
And yet I know people from Alabama who know how to use a fucking semicolon.
This guy is aggressive, has no morals and is somewhat business-savvy. For an "incredible mind", you need a bit more. Next you will claim that the current president is an "intellectual giant"...
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
I think "nothing" vastly overstates his value to society. "Massively negative" is probably more accurate.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
There were MANY social media sites BEFORE and AFTER facebook.
Social Media Timeline
Mark has/had an arrogant attitude towards his users:
I tried reading this several times, and still wasn't able to figure out what your point was.
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?
Incredible mind? Hardly, if Zuck's mind was incredible he'd be running something like Space X; it for certain did not take and incredible mind to code the underlying mechanisms of Facebook, though it did take incredible luck and timing for it to catch on like it has where so many others failed.
If Zuck had an incredible mind he would have baked abuse prevention into the system from the get-go, his underlying idea of Facebook from the beginning is that nothing should be private; yeah really incredible thinking there...
Did you ever wake up in the morning, with a Zombie Woof behind your eyes? -- FZ