The headline writer has committed to Theory #1, but Roose outlines 2 different theories:
Theory #1: Zuck is a grasping semi-human:
Theory #1: Zuck is a grasping semi-human:
... Meta — a shape-shifting company that has thrown itself at every major tech trend of the last decade... has a fundamental hollowness at its core. It is not quite sure what it is.... But in the meantime, it will adopt whatever values Mr. Zuckerberg thinks it needs to survive
Theory #2: Zuck's heart has come alive:
I’ve spent a lot of time studying the right-wing conversion narratives of disaffected liberals, and Mr. Zuckerberg’s recent arc fills the bill surprisingly well: A wealthy 40-year-old man with a sullied public reputation starts listening to Joe Rogan and develops an interest in mixed martial arts and other hypermasculine hobbies, grows annoyed by the woke left and angry at the mainstream media, rebrands himself as a bad boy, and adopts the label of a “classical liberal” while quietly supporting most of the tenets of MAGA conservatism....
The boldface headings are mine. I'd like to think that was obvious, but I know some readers don't even realize that indented material is quotation.
Now, let me take your pulse:
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40 comments:
Neither of those options are correct.
Eh, it's a business decision, period. Words are easy, as is subterfuge. Time will tell I suppose.
Alternatively, both may be correct.
My theory rejects Roose's shallow assessment and begins with these hot hard facts. Here are the daily active users for some of the most popular social media platforms:
Facebook: 2.09 billion daily active users, which is a 5% increase from 2023
Instagram: 500 million daily active users
Twitter: 220 million daily active users
LinkedIn: 134.5 million daily active users
Here are some other popular social media platforms:
YouTube: 2.5 billion monthly active users
TikTok: 1.6 billion monthly active users
WeChat: 1.3 billion monthly active users
I'm with Lawnerd. This says way more about the Regime Media crafting a narrative for the second Trump term than it does about Zuckerberg.
Suckerberg was going to transform his business a couple years ago with Oculus Rift VR headsets and cartoon avatars. Suckerberg was a key figure in the 2020 election chaos. Suckerberg has the earmarks of one who will tell those in power anything that they want to hear.
If he wears a hair shirt and stands in the snow for 7 winters...maybe I'll believe the Great Sucker has truly repented.
They're theories for progressives. The correct choice would be uninterested.
Kevin Roose is the perfect NYTimes scribe, an ultra feminine “male” who hates actual men. Wanna bet he pees sitting down?
I have friends who are convinced that Zuck has bent his knee to Trump by deciding that they should no longer censor folks on FB. I don't understand that or why it has anything to do with Trump. They are literally leaving FB for bluesky because FB wont censor you, while bluesky will (go ahead, set up an account and post "there are only two genders" and see how long you last).
Essentially, I disagree with your characterization of Roose's second option as Zuckerberg's apparent change being 'real' or his 'heart has come alive'. Roose is presenting two narratives that attempt to explain Zuckerberg's actions in terms of self-interest. In either case, he's carefully weaving stories that have Zuckerberg disguising his actual beliefs and motives.
Why not simply take Zuckerberg at his word?
Democrats have become the party of censorship, discrimination and endless wars. They are so enamored of censorship that anyone opposed to it must be “MAGA”. (And anyone (like Gabbard) who dissents from the Blob’s foreign policy must be Putin’s Puppet.)
Zuckerberg is a sociopath and high-functioning autistic. Start from there and #2 simply doesn’t work.
Not technically hollow, there's a Lizard Person in that skin suit.
He's a cyborg. AI has determined that MAGA is on the rise, so MAGA it is.
The Zuckbucks scandal tells you where his heart is. When he thinks nobody's looking, he is willing to break the law to support Democrats.
He’s jealous of Musk’s current popularity aka power.
Yes these are the same people who insist Trump is an idiot whose companies have all failed but then turn around embrace theories that he is secretly behind everything.
Weird how those soyboys all jumped on the "free speech = MAGA" bandwagon. They don't realize that Classical Liberalism is now "right wing" by definition, mostly because of their anti-Trump psychosis.
I chose option 2, because I choose to believe that no man while living is beyond redemption.
His autism has definitely become less severe probably due to his diet and exercise in nature program.
He's not getting into ultra masculine activities. They are just activities that the younger generation both male and female have embraced.
This. Guy's a snake. It's gonna take way more than 1 election cycle to even peel back the layers of that stinky onion.
You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
They could both be correct and sequential.
Why is it hollow for a business leader to make adjustements based on current politics?
My take is that at first Zuckerberg was genuinely concerned about false information being spread. I would be and would naively think I could police it. But with hindsight and experience he found that the fact checkers were biased and that free speech, warts and all, is better than the alternative. Moreover, like Bezos and Soon-Shiong he realized that he was alienating half the country from his product - not a good business move. And in the bad taste of being pressured by the government to censor certain political points of view.
Sidenote of interest: In the video, Zukabug wore a rare Swiss watch called Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1, which costs about $900,000 before taxes.
Could it be that "community notes" are both a better business model and a fairer way of dealing with oddball or dissenting opinions? Maybe Zuckerberg learned something from Twitter/X's experience.
Zuckerberg is one of those corporate men who has liberal social views and goes along with wokeness, but his heart isn't in it the way that it is with committed progressives. He appointed people who were passionate about the woke agenda, but he was just going along for the ride with them. Another parallel is to Libertarian Party voters who aren't right-wing libertarians, but social liberals or neo-liberals who don't like either party. I don't expect to see Zuckerberg addressing CPAC anytime soon.
What makes this such a puzzle, though, is how much money and effort he put into electing Biden four years ago. It seems almost Bidenesque now, as though Zuckerberg were the vegetable just going along passively with the consensus of those around him.
Has Zuckerberg gone MAGA?
No hat.
I think it is a mix of both but I chose "He's responding to the call of MAGA, like lots of other men" because I think that makes up the greater share. I think he yearns for strong male companionship and respect. Looking at clips from when he was on Joe Rogan he came off to me as desiring the respect and approval of Joe Rogan, in a similar way a tween or young teenage boy might with regards to their coach. I don't think he has the social deftness to fake something like that even if he had the intent to. He also put out a video where he was on a hydro-foil on a lake somewhere and he was proudly holding a big American Flag when he was doing that, in a manner that doesn't fit in with the America-Bad culture of the Left. I could imagine him being surrounded by people he views as fake virtue-signalers of the left and yearning to be part of the more masculine, quiet strength culture found on the right.
The Call of the Maga -- Jack London. It is a classic.
I think he's going along with the preference cascade of MAGA ideas finally being okay to express. I mean, if you call free speech and lack of censorship as 'MAGA'.......
MAGA or WBFMB - what's best for my business.
Has Zuckerberg gone MAGA?
I just realized today that Krav MAGA is a martial arts the Jews use in Israel.
Probably a coincidence!
The cynical realist who sits on my right shoulder said, "Click Option One. Spare yourself the inevitable disillusionment."
But the better angel who whispers in my other ear said, "Believe in the reality of redemption for your own sake, if not for others."
So I clicked Option Two. I'm fully prepared for the ridicule to come.
Libertarians were common in SV back in the day, and a natural fit for the sort of people attracted to cutting edge technology. Likewise, meritocracy. I first noticed the turn to social justice around 2008, it never seemed a good fit to me, perhaps it was just an aberration. Stuff published for tech workers is still littered with SJ, climate change, and other junk, so it won't die overnight. We will see.
Plus, don't forget, he's married to a walking avatar of primordial wokeness. Every time he farts in bed, he has to donate a couple billion to some pack of Communists, or he'll never get laid again.
@Jupiter: "...or he'll never get laid again."
By his legal wife, if he's in a loyal monogamous relationship.
Consider Epstein Island. Consider Justin Castreau's parentage and his party girl swinger of a mother. Consider Eyes Wide Shut. Consider his Hawaii compound with an underground bunker.
https://www.wired.com/story/mark-zuckerberg-inside-hawaii-compound/
One word: Lawsuits
The many lawfare attorneys in blue regions need fresh revenue streams, and they know the Woke strategy. Tech firms are nearby, and very deep-pocketed targets. See Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition and Operation PUSH -- per developing a reputation discrimination/DEI shakedowns decades ago.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/activision-blizzard-sued-california-gender-discrimination/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pao_v._Kleiner_Perkins
https://nationalcenter.org/ncppr/2002/06/01/shakedown-a-shocking-jesse-jackson-biography-by-kimberley-wilson/
Zuck. Dancing and wheeling, wheeling and dancing. What a show! SELL
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