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Mark Zuckerberg's 2018 Personal Challenge Is To Do His Job As CEO (fastcompany.com) 112

Posted by msmash from the minding-his-own-business dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Fun fact about Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: Every year he gives himself a "personal challenge," which is not to be confused with the "New Year's resolutions" us plebs do every year. Over the years, he says, thanks to these challenges, he's taken up running as well as learned foreign languages and read books. But this year, as more revelations come to light about the rampant misuse of Facebook's platform -- including the spread of fake news and other forms of disinformation -- Zuckerberg's challenge is to focus on his business. "The world feels anxious and divided, and Facebook has a lot of work to do -- whether it's protecting our community from abuse and hate, defending against interference by nation states, or making sure that time spent on Facebook is time well spent," he writes. "My personal challenge for 2018 is to focus on fixing these important issues." In essence, Zuckerberg is vowing to help fix the problems that plague Facebook, which is his job, something he admits: "This may not seem like a personal challenge on its face," Zuckerberg writes, "but I think I'll learn more by focusing intensely on these issues than I would by doing something completely separate."
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Mark Zuckerberg's 2018 Personal Challenge Is To Do His Job As CEO More

Mark Zuckerberg's 2018 Personal Challenge Is To Do His Job As CEO

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  • My personal challenge (Score:5, Funny)

    by jawtheshark ( 198669 ) * <slashdot.jawtheshark@com> on Thursday January 04, 2018 @01:05PM (#55863471) Homepage Journal
    My personal challenge is to stop posting on Facebook. :-D

    • Re: My personal challenge (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04, 2018 @01:08PM (#55863491)

      How about upping the ante a bit... Close the account! The hoops themselves are challenging.

      • Closing my Facebook account would be very challenging indeed. That won't happen unless I manage to migrate all users away from Messenger. The most likely candidates would be Skype or Hangouts, both of which are not open and proprietary. XMPP has been killed and is only used by nerds. Such a shame. I've told people to send me SMS instead, but somehow that doesn't stick. (For all intents and purposes, SMS are included in all plans. The main issue would be international SMS being hit 'n miss)

        The lock in

        • The lock in of Messenger is real. Most people don't even like Messenger, but they use it any way. A bit like Microsoft Windows, really ;-)

          Exactly. Move from one ISP to another and no one else would notice. Stop using FB and you lose contact with everyone who uses it who you don't share another network with.

        • For all intents and purposes, SMS are included in all plans.

          It's still 10 cents a text for pay as you go plans, if you know any poor people.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jblues ( 1703158 )

          You could try Telegram. It is made by the people behind vkontakte - the Russian Facebook knock-off, which might not sound any more encouraging, however it isopen source not necessary to sign up with one to use the other. There are numerous official and third-party clients for various platforms, along with two open-source adapters to plug bridge to Facebook Messenger - not everyone would need to migrate at once.

          • Interesting. I'll look deeper into it. I'd really like something 100% standardized and available to everyone. This might indeed be an intermediate step. Best would be that something like the IEEE or the GSM consortium, define a Internet based "Text" system that is open and interoperable. I know, wishful thinking.
          • Telegram still requires a centralised server, which is proprietary. I'm keeping an eye on both GNU Ring and Tox. Of the two, Tox is a lot more polished, but is still not yet able to support multiple client devices with the same account (it's nontrivial to do in a system with end-to-end security), but that's not an issue for people who use these things exclusively on their mobile phones.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by jblues ( 1703158 )
              Telegram does have p2p mode, where chats are initiated using a diffie-helman key exchange. However yes, the central server is still required to manage the contact list, session addresses, etc. It is considered to be quite secure, in the second (not the first) tier above above Skype, WeChat, Messenger, WhatsApp and others others. Interesting about Tox, thanks for the info!

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        How about upping the ante a bit... Close the account! The hoops themselves are challenging.

        Did that over a year ago ... best fucking choice I ever made.

        If Zuckerfuck is only now realizing what his job is as CEO, it explains an awful lot.

      • Re: My personal challenge (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Godwin O'Hitler ( 205945 ) on Thursday January 04, 2018 @04:15PM (#55864897) Journal

        Is it still impossible to actually delete an account? When I tried to do that umpteen years ago all they did was hibernate the account. Opeinrg it in the first place was one of the worst moves I ever made.

    • My challenge is to, once again, not create a Facebook page. Three days down and good so far! And proudly Facebook free, since the beginning...
    • Since when is that a challenge?
  • Doing your job as a HUMAN being. Its much more difficult.... and Rewarding. But alas, you are too busy trying to restrict access to the 700 Acres in HI you own, to those poor people who were there for GENERATIONS before you and your money. Everything that comes out of your elitist maw is a LIE. Get Fuked Zuck.... -Steve
  • ... to prepare to run for president in 2020. He's already been visiting states that are important for that run.

    • ... to prepare to run for president in 2020.

      Not without changing the constitution. He won'd be old enough to run until 2028.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by BKX ( 5066 )

        Uh, no. Zuck was born in 1984. You only need to be 35 to be elected POTUS. That means he can run in 2020.

        • One needs to be 35 at the time they take office, not when they are elected. Thus, a situation could exist where a person wins the November general election at the age of 34, but whose birthday falls after that date but before January 20th of the following year.

          They would still be eligible since on the day they take the oath of office, they would be 35 years old and would fulfill the Constitutional requirement.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by sheph ( 955019 )
            But the real question is why we'd want him as president after he's already done "so much" for society?

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          1984?
          Explains so much.

      • ... to prepare to run for president in 2020.

        Not without changing the constitution. He won'd be old enough to run until 2028.

        You probably should have done some math before posting that. In order for that to be true, he would have to have been born no earlier than 1990 (anything earlier would make him eligible in 2024). That would have made him no older than 14 when he was a student at Harvard and started working on Facebook (maybe less than 14; I just remember offhand that I had a Facebook account by early 2005).

  • He's such a wunderkind (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04, 2018 @01:08PM (#55863495)
    I want to stop hate speech by only allowing one side in the debate.
    I want to make it look like I'm stopping Russian usage of my site to influence elections while simulltaneously bending over for China.
    I want people to use my site to continue my power and wealth.
    I feel these things are important in my personal self-growth in the universe.
    My god can anybody else be so full of himself?!

  • Facebook will save humanity! (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    right after they ruin it

  • Do us a solid. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cyn1c77 ( 928549 ) on Thursday January 04, 2018 @01:18PM (#55863587)

    Close Facebook down.

    You've made enough money Mark, now make the world a better place.

    • Re:Do us a solid. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by old_skul ( 566766 ) on Thursday January 04, 2018 @02:18PM (#55864039) Journal

      Can you imagine the social chaos that would happen if Facebook were to go unavailable for more than an hour or two?

      • " The authorities have advised that Facebook withdrawal syndrome has no known cure. FWS sufferers can only be stopped by destroying their brainstem. They're rather like zombies in that regard

        [Ominous growling is heard from off camera, followed by screams, gunfire and the sound of iPhone shutters as the broadcast cuts out to be replaced with static] "

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by antdude ( 79039 )

        Or a few minutes. ;)

      • I'd love to see FB shut down for just 24 hours, and see what would happen.

        On the whole, I'm sure it would be a net positive.

        • Especially since it would likely also take down Twitter and Instagram, as people flooded those sites to bitch about Facebook being down. Then the various messenger apps would go down next, and finally we'd see the cell network shudder as millions of text messages got sent wailing about the inability to communicate with the world.

  • "The world feels anxious and divided" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04, 2018 @01:22PM (#55863623)

    This is a direct result of facebook machine learning algorithms that seek out vulnerable people, force them into an echochamber, hide their legitimate social contacts, so they will be more likely to click on fucking ads.

    The only way this shitheel could benefit humanity would be to neck himself on livestream.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by pnutjam ( 523990 )
      wait, skynet didn't need to kill us...!?

    • How does hiding social contacts cause people to click more ads?

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        how does isolating someone from their social support system make them more vulnerable to suggestion?

  • Why is he such a werido? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04, 2018 @01:23PM (#55863629)

    He always seemed so weird but the other day I was able to put my finger on it: All of his communication is given in the tone of a TED talk with the substance of clickbait filtered through a focus group of machine learning algorithms.

  • Which is it? Do his job as a CEO and screw over as many people as it takes to marginaly improve profits or focus of fixing important issues? You can't have both.

    • screw over as many people as it takes

      Zuckerberg is personally trying to screw over the people of Hawaii to make his mammoth estate even bigger, by stealing public land.... so I think being a dick just comes naturally to him.

    • I'm wondering what he was planning on doing before he made this resolution. NOT running the company? Dicking off, playing Splatoon, sitting in his high-chair while flubbing his lips? Which?

  • Has no FATHOM what his job is !! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Your job as CEO is to increase the market cap, market share, and profitability of your company... THAT is ALL !!!!
    "News" is like "Religion" .. everyone has their spin on things, and the other guy's is "fake" in their minds.
    Lastly - facebook is FOUNDED on social dopamine feedback addiction. You gonna become a conscientious crack dealer ?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by zifn4b ( 1040588 )

      Your job as CEO is to increase the market cap, market share, and profitability of your company

      Correct, because that's what the CEO's bonuses are correlated with. Although I'm not sure why Mr. Zuckerberg would need more money at this point. Bragging rights? Can't take it with you.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      No, his job as CEO is to carry out the intent of the voting shareholders, whether it has anything to do with market cap, market share, profitability, etc. or not.
      And, due to the way the voting and non-voting shares are set up, that pretty much means doing whatever he himself orders himself to do.

    • "News" is like "Religion" .. everyone has their spin on things, and the other guy's is "fake" in their minds.

      Putrid post-truth nonsense. We live in an objective reality built around facts, and news which lies about the facts is fake.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        "Truth" is a presumptive fact conveyed with a good faith intent and accepted with an emotional significance.
        Example: "Diversity is our strength" is a nearly universal corporate value today.
        Fact: All scientific evidence contradicts the preceding statement.
        Fact. Race-based policies now permeate all federal agencies in the name of an emotional "truth".

        • Example: "Diversity is our strength" is a nearly universal corporate value today.
          Fact: All scientific evidence contradicts the preceding statement.

          And that was an example of a lie. A clear and easily verifiable falsehood presented as a fact:

          https://www.scientificamerican... [scientificamerican.com]

  • Facebook Time Well Spent? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by zifn4b ( 1040588 ) on Thursday January 04, 2018 @01:42PM (#55863793)

    The world feels anxious and divided, and Facebook has a lot of work to do -- whether it's protecting our community from abuse and hate, defending against interference by nation states, or making sure that time spent on Facebook is time well spent

    I have an idea for you Mr. Zuckerberg, how about making a commitment to being honest? Facebook is the ultimate time waster. You've exceeded everyone's expectations in that regard. Nothing left to do there.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by sinij ( 911942 )
      I think not whipping low-IQ people into a frenzy over invented outrages would go a long way toward "time well spent" goal.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by thomst ( 1640045 )

      zifn4b proclaimed:

      Facebook is the ultimate time waster. You've exceeded everyone's expectations in that regard. Nothing left to do there.

      FTFY:

      Social media is the ultimate time waster.

      It's not just FB. Twitter (!), Snapchat, Instagram, or even /. They're all designed to capture their users' attention and keep them on-site, so that the corporations that own them can mine the living shit out of their data streams and sell the bulk data they harvest to advertisers, marketers, and basically anyone who's willing to pay for it.

      The thing is, though, FB can be as useful or as valueless as you care to make it. I spend, on average, probably 20 minutes a day on FB. I'm a memb

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by zifn4b ( 1040588 )

        zifn4b proclaimed:

        Facebook is the ultimate time waster. You've exceeded everyone's expectations in that regard. Nothing left to do there.

        FTFY:

        Social media is the ultimate time waster.

        Indeed. But if there were a Gartner Magic Quadrant for such a thing I think you'd find Facebook is the market leader closely trailed by some of the others you mentioned lol. The point of my post was in the context of the article which was specifically about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg and the phoney baloney spin that came out of his mouth.

  • In the modern parlance, "hate" simply means one group criticizing another. Trying to ban it is a dog-chasing-its-tail type scenario that just exacerbates the enmity. Focus on not being a creepy, intrusive, greedy, manipulative, and socially irresponsible company instead!

    • In the modern parlance, "hate" simply means one group criticizing another.

      Deplorable hatemonger nonsense. "Hate" (short for hate speech, in the informal context used by online platforms) is one group criticizing another based on their immutable characteristics.

  • "making sure that time spent on Facebook is time well spent"

    except study after study has shown that it isnt time well spent. The problem that facebook has is that it has painted its self into a corner with too many conflicting goals. To be a nice happy place, while being a bastion for free speech, while being a place of e-commerce for small businesses, while being an advertising platform all while being a social network. With such conflicting goals it will be nearly impossible to succeed, for example he wil

  • Really? We can't be a little more intelligent than that?

  • my 2018 personal challenge (Score:4, Insightful)

    by NikeHerc ( 694644 ) on Thursday January 04, 2018 @02:55PM (#55864345)
    Having never posted on FB or tweeted, my 2018 personal challenge is to continue to avoid both FB and tweets. It won't be difficult.

    • Having never posted on FB or tweeted, my 2018 personal challenge is to continue to avoid both FB and tweets. It won't be difficult.

      Such courage!

  • And do not run a campaign for presidency.

  • With one year without Facebook, my challenge will be, can I make it two? I think so, I don't want it back.
    I found that most time spent on Facebook was a waste of time and did little of value to me.
    There were communication with our local HOA, a closed community "security" group, and my local MTB club/trail maintenance. But besides from that, it did nothing good for me.

    One thing I would say if you HAD to have a facebook account. Don't have the app on you cell phone, just use login from a dedicated browser on

    • If you own a business I can see Facebook being useful for promotion, but I have similar reasons as you for not using the site (much).

      At first I felt like I was contributing something by posting pictures and messages about things like the band I saw last night, but over time as the novelty faded I noticed that I was putting a lot more into it than I was getting back in return. The vast majority of my "friends" are people from my past that I never run into in real life any more and they post things about th

  • That is a solid commitment and if he pulls this off he may well make a difference. Separating the wheat from the chaff is a tough challenge, not only on facebook. If he manages to make facebook less prone to abuse then he may well be doing many users a favour. This will translate into increased confidence in facebook and thus improve his profits. I can't find a problem there.
  • I'm not on facebook, I give zero f**ks!

  • A millennial posting that his New Year's resolution is to finally do his job...

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