by A. Horrigan
April 2, 2018
Ezra Klein asks excellent questions in this probing interview with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg published today on Vox.com, save for two things:
- Klein's obsequious introduction citing "Zuckerberg’s optimism about human nature," as if that is a matter of fact
- Klein does not ask about decentralization of networks and business models using blockchain technology, one of the 21st Century's most ground-breaking inventions, a general-purpose technology that can solve the "Facebook problem" once and for all by making Facebook and its ilk simply go away (See "Blockchain's Simple Economics") .
I can understand the first faux pas: Zuckerberg might not grant future interviews without at least some peasant groveling. But the second is a complete mystery to me.
Nevertheless, the interview is replete with thoughtful questions. Here are a few highlights of Zuckerberg's confidence-man replies.
To paraphrase Klein's question on Zuckerberg's barefaced denial of Russian influence: When you are lying, the problem isn't a lack of transparency. It's that you're lying.
To paraphrase Mark Zuckerberg's response: When you don't know what's going on, the problem isn't lying. It's that you're clueless.
These days, the silver-tongued Zuckerberg has a "playbook" for elections in the U.S. and other countries, and he's imagining "almost like a Supreme Court" to rule on acceptable speech.
Megalomaniacally speaking, Zuckerberg elaborates: "You can imagine some sort of structure, almost like a Supreme Court, that is made up of independent folks who don’t work for Facebook, who ultimately make the final judgment call on what should be acceptable speech in a community that reflects the social norms and values of people all around the world."
After reading that, I was speechless.
Later in the interview, Zuckerberg says, “Okay. Anyone who’s even remotely sketchy, no way are you going to be able to use our tools to monetize.”
In that light, Zuckerberg needs to stop using his tools to monetize--right now. (Refer back to his Supreme Court designs above and to his 2011 BBC interview.)
If I must hear Zuckerberg call his product a "community" once more, please pass the Dramamine. Apple's Tim Cook said it plainly: Facebook sells users to advertisers.
But Mark Zuckerberg, who once called his users "dumb f*cks, begs to differ: "I make all of our decisions based on what’s going to matter to our community and focus much less on the advertising side of the business."
Hmmm, I wonder if the other shareholders are aware of that.
Wait--maybe shareholders don't need any more advertising dollars. Klein asks Zuckerberg about a "perception at Facebook that a lot of the critical coverage from the media comes from journalists angry that Facebook is decimating the advertising market that journalism depends on."
Of course, Klein is being nice here. This is not simply a perception at Facebook--it's a fact that Facebook indeed has decimated the market for journalism.
Some critics use a stronger word for the likes of Facebook and Google, which gobble up more than half of the world's digital advertising dollars: "Internet tapeworm."
References
- Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook’s hardest year, and what comes next, by Ezra Klein, Vox, April 2, 2018
- [Mark Zuckerberg's interview with BBC in 2011, in which he stated he does not sell user's information (
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- Apple's Tim Cook describing Facebook's business model: Facebook sells users to advertisers
- "Internet tapeworm."