Covering the controversies & asking all questions about Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is no stranger to the spotlight of society. Many people may refrain from calling him a "public intellectual" purely based on his various controversies regarding social media and privacy. Whether the public disagrees with his career choices or read some conspiracy theory on a Reddit thread, they cannot deny his incomparable vision for the digital space. In the beginning, Zuckerberg did not have mega investors backing his ideas. He built what is now Facebook in his dorm room at Harvard University where he would later drop out of. The concept he created, connecting other Harvard students with one another, was merely a social additive for he and his friends.
As previously stated, Zuckerberg did not last long at Harvard University. He quickly saw the explosive effect it had on campus and knew it would have great potential elsewhere. Leaving college without a degree, a typically frowned upon action, may have been one of his greatest ideas. It was not until he set off to pursue Facebook full time that he began receiving bigger investments from venture capital funds. People may assume that at this point Zuckerberg knew exactly what his course of action would be. It seems preposterous that venture capitalists invested upwards of $12.7 million dollars to a college dropout without a full map-out of the business, but they did. Although he did not know everything about digitally connecting people, he did know that one day there would be a platform that could connect the entire globe.
The Meta CEO only had a fragment of an idea at the start of Facebook's conception, but he once said "ideas don’t come out fully formed. They only become clear as you work on them. You just have to get started" (Zuckerberg). This mindset is what propelled him through pioneering a new digital space. Prior to Facebook there were other social media sites. Zuckerberg saw a different future for his company though. He knew that it would not happen overnight, which is many entrepreneurs’ downfall. If he believed this to happen, or "If [he] had to understand everything about connecting people before [he] began, [he] never would have started Facebook" (Zuckerberg). While he did not understand everything, what he did contribute to social networking blew up rather quickly. He implemented a sense of privacy into Facebook that previous social sites, such as Myspace and Friendster, lacked. Zuckerberg created a limbo space of privacy whereas "on Myspace, your profile is either public or exclusive to your friends, while on Facebook, it can still be exclusive to your friends, but it can also be open to people who it would actually be useful to network with" (Harrison).
The idea to create a realm in which people could connect for friendship, business opportunities, or romantic relationships shook the digital space. Previously, networking sites were reserved for specific communities or friendships that already existed beyond the users' computer screen. Zuckerberg took the concept of social networking to the next level. He filled the gap in the market that could not only digitally connect people to previous acquaintances, but also to everyone else tapped into Facebook. Although he did not believe he could achieve it himself, “[he] remembers telling [a friend] [he] was excited to connect the Harvard community, but one day someone would connect the whole world" (Zuckerberg). In a mere few months, the Meta CEO made that vision a reality.
Unfortunately, Zuckerberg's idea at the time was far too novel to foresee any future implications that would coincide with Facebook's design. With an invention, comes uncharted territory. Zuckerberg did not know that his platform would ultimately shape many of society's social and interpersonal lives. Connecting the whole world online sounds brilliant in theory, but in doing so Zuckerberg also created a new form of terror. Unlike in person interactions, people on Facebook have the advantage of hiding behind a screen. This makes it remarkably easy for cyberbullies to harass fellow Facebook users. While Zuckerberg did not establish his platform to create a frenzy of online tormentors, this was an outcome of building a social network that links any user to whomever they desire.
This is not to say that his creation lacks any positive effects as well. In generating Facebook’s intricate network, Zuckerberg organized a way for users to make new friends without the social pressure of going out to a bar or eating alone at a restaurant. It has been said that “Facebook acts as a social melting pot of the internet” (Barricella). Due to its revolutionary privacy settings users can connect with other users that have mutual friends with them. Starting a conversation online is much less daunting than approaching a stranger in person. This form of interaction is not limited to friendship either. Many users engage in both networking for their career and romantic relationships. Zuckerberg truly revolutionized the concept of creating online relationships.
Zuckerberg is the type of intellectual to see opportunity and chase it. With Facebook’s unequivocal success, he knew that there was room to build more. He saw the digital space progressing and had the ingenious idea to stay one step ahead of the beat. Several copycat platforms emerged after Facebook’s invention, such as Instagram and WhatsApp. Instead of competing with them indefinitely, he decided to acquire them. These acquisitions were the first building block in creating what is now the leading media company in the world. The company’s name changed from Facebook to Meta in October 2021. Zuckerberg’s idea to create a company that encompasses a variety of social platforms was pertinent to his long-lasting success. It is clear that “acquisitions have been key to growing these businesses and Meta's revenue in general. Meta's strategy has been to buy potential rivals before they can get too big” (Reiff). This strategy transformed what was originally a concept of online networking to a media conglomerate that dominates the digital space.
Meta’s supremacy is frequently related to Zuckerberg’s desire to control everything. While this opinion cannot be deemed true or false, it forces us to look at his overarching vision for Meta. This also brings to question a point from the essay “Are Public Intellectuals A Thing of the Past?”, by Stephen Mack, regarding the modern day public intellectual. The question is posed, “is there any way of conceptualizing something called the public intellectual that is consistent with democratic values?” (Mack). To create a public intellectual that most Americans will respect, Mack advocates for the separation of the intellectual’s “categories and class” and their “function”. In theory, society must begin to separate who Zuckerberg is as an individual from the product he is creating. If society fixates on the class of intellectuals themselves, they place too much power in the qualifications for their role rather than the actions they take in the role itself. As Jean Bethke Elshtain said, “a public intellectual is not a paid publicist, not a spinner, not in the pocket of a narrowly defined purpose. It is, of course the temptation, another one, of the public intellectual to cozy up to that which he or she should be evaluating critically.”
Elshtain’s point of view paints the modern intellectual’s purpose excellently. Zuckerberg’s role in society is not to refrain from ruffling any feathers. In fact, his innovation should continue to push his competitors and disrupt what society once deemed normal. Taking Meta to levels many believed impossible, such as the virtual reality concept Metaverse, is what will propel him as an intellectual. His role requires an individual who can invent and create beyond the constant criticism of society. This is the perpetual cycle of the relationship between public intellectual and citizens in a democracy. The intellectual, such as Zuckerberg, contributes to the conversation, and society responds with their feedback.
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Zuckerberg is absolutely pushing boundaries and getting people talking about so many topics across many sectors. People get angry with certain policies Facebook has, but they forget that Facebook is setting the standard and has basically nothing to go off of at this point. There is no history or policy to reference, no guidelines set by society. The guidelines society ends up with are usually reactions to policies put forward by Facebook. I think innovation on the scale Facebook has been able to achieve is an achievement on the scale of the human race! There have been a lot of bumps and there will be more to come, but Zuck isnt backing down - thank goodness! He is pushing global…
While Mark Zuckerberg is a very well known figure, I had never considered looking at his work from the viewpoint you mentioned in your essay. Separating intellectuals as people from the work they do is likely necessary in order to value the work of most public intellectuals in our history. I really enjoyed this read and thought it was very insightful on Mark and how his work has impacted others.