1. A thread on Facemash — the first social network that Mark Zuckerberg had to apologize for. First viral sensation, too: in a weekend, there were 450 visitors and 22,000 votes over which of two photos of Harvard undergrads (men and women) was “hotter.” thecrimson.com/article/2003/1…
2. Sharpest objections came from two campus women’s groups — Fuerza Latina and Association of Black Harvard Women — who didn’t see the fun in automating the process of judging people based on looks. He pulled the site down quickly and apologized to the two organizations.
3. In his apologies, you can see what has become a template for his extemporizing to get out of a problem. The thing grew too fast (“I apologize for any harm done as a result of my neglect to consider how quickly the site would spread and its consequences thereafter”);
4. I was only doing research (“I’m a programmer and I’m interested in the algorithms and math behind it” ); I’ll do better (“I definitely see how my intentions could be seen in the wrong light.”). We are on the umpteenth performance of this for a Zuckerberg project.
5. What’s going on? Before he was personally profiting from controlling the world’s biggest network, he clearly believed in the idea. He tells the story of eating pizza with a friend -- still at Harvard, Facebook still small -- and wistfully dreaming of connecting the world.
6. “I thought that over time someone would definitely go build this version of this for the world but it wasn't gonna be us, it was gonna be you know, Microsoft or you know someone who build software for hundreds of millions of people.” dc.uwm.edu/zuckerberg_fil…
7. I point out in my book that Zuck was the unusual hacker who appreciated Microsoft's ambitions. He’s talking with @paulg, “I mean, I grew up using Windows 3.1 and then Windows 95, and I just thought that those were, like, the most unbelievable things.” dc.uwm.edu/zuckerberg_fil…
8. Graham says, “In a sense they are.” Zuck continues: “Yeah, they were. They really were awesome. Right?” Crowd laughs. “Well, I don't know if you meant that positively, but I did. And I thought, you know, building this ecosystem was really neat, and that kind of inspired me.”
9. I compare Zuck to a Roman emperor, who believes by conquering the world he is giving a gift. You’re not supposed to like the Romans, but remember that scene in “Life of Brian.” The rebel leader, Reg, is riling up his small crew to fight the Romans.
10. “What have the Romans ever done for us?” After pushback, Reg says in frustration: “All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?”
11. Mark Zuckerberg, born two millennia too late. Finis
