Mark Zuckerberg Hits the Road To Meet Regular Folks -- With a Few Conditions (foxbusiness.com) 254
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.
What a pompous ass (Score:5, Insightful)
"Meet regular folks". Yeah, you're the moron living in an ivory tower dude. Just fuck off and leave us alone.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: What a pompous ass (Score:3, Insightful)
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
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
No...someone else wrote the code. He's no different than Trump...marketing, salesmanship, etc.
Re: What a pompous ass (Score:5, Insightful)
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: (Score:3, Informative)
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: (Score:2)
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
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
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: (Score:2)
Umm... what?
Facebook not Productive (Score:2, Troll)
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 [theguardian.com] 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 hardl
Re: (Score:3)
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 fr
Re:What a pompous ass (Score:5, Insightful)
"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: (Score:3, Interesting)
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
Re: What a pompous ass (Score:2)
+1
Are you sure? (Score:2)
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
Re: (Score:2)
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 th
Re: (Score:3)
I'm sure he loses sleep over the thought of you turning him away...
Re: (Score:2)
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 (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
You probably have at least 50 years left or longer.
Re: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
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 (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
Fool.
Re: (Score:2)
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:What a pompous ass (Score:4, Insightful)
Sadly, I can't disagree with that argument.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
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: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
And self-enrichment should be?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It seems to be :)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
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 billionair
Re: (Score:2)
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.
hit hard enough (Score:3)
>>"Mark Zuckerberg Hits the Road"
Apparently he didn't hit hard enough.
Climb up bridge and try again.
Be careful what you reveal about the meeting (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Be careful what you reveal about the meeting (Score:4, Funny)
Or he'll make unwanted connections to your Facebook account that will make the CIA flag you as a potential terrorist?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Meanwhile on Facebook: Turkeydance is now friends with NAMBLA...
What's wrong with the North American Marlon Brando Look-Alikes?
Re: (Score:2)
Entering politics? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
-Billionaire
So it shouldn't surprise anyone.
Politics is a rough choice (Score:3)
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
Re: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
Politics isn't for rich people, i
Rule 4: (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Rule 7: When dismissed, leave as quickly as possible.
How does he have eminent domain?
Maybe he forgot... (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
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
Re: (Score:2)
...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 (Score:3)
Sounds like this guy is running for president. He's made a lot of public political comments, and now this. Hmmm....
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I prefer Dwayne Elizondo "Mountain Dew" Herbert Camacho [facebook.com]
A regular presidential campaign stop? (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
Too many... (Score:3)
Too may resources, not enough problems...
Mark Zuckerberg needs an attitude adjustment (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
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.
goddammitsomuch (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
The Swiss bank? Is that where he stashes all his dough?
A Gentle Creature (Score:4, Funny)
I don't know I've liked what I've seen so far.
http://www.somethingawful.com/... [somethingawful.com]
Re: (Score:2)
why? (Score:3, Interesting)
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? (Score:2)
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.
Cover the whiteboards (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Wouldn't have been sufficient, unless he was running against the most openly corrupt and incompetent candidate in 100+ years.
Re: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
In related news: Brady's wife is the most qualified new NFL quarterback, expect her to be drafted in the first round.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
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."
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
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
Re: (Score:2)
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
Re: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
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,
Re: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
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:Don't talk about the Mark Zuckerberg meeting (Score:5, Insightful)
Mischief. Mayhem. Rigging the narrative. ZUCK CLUB.
Coming to an election near you, 2018. Rated PC-13(88).
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
That depends what is meant by change.
Re: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
What does "Jew" got to do with anything?
Re: (Score:2)
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?
Re: (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
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).
Re: (Score:2)
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: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
So you know what conclusion to draw from that...
Re: (Score:2)
You winked with your left eye again. He totally saw you do it.