Why Facebook Needs A Change In Leadership and Not In Brand
What's so compelling about Mark Zuckerberg's origin story is how it embodies the American dream. He launched the site from his Harvard dorm room in his sophomore year. The site was so popular in the first couple of days that Harvard had to shut it down because it overwhelmed their network. That year, Zuckerberg dropped out of college to run his website, and his team moved to Silicon Valley. What started as a site for Harvard students spread to campuses across the country. Today, Facebook is the most popular social media site based on the number of users, and Zuckerberg is the 5th wealthiest person in the world.
I'm the same age as Zuckerberg and was also a sophomore in college when he was building Facebook. I was not a prodigy by any stretch of the imagination, but I worked hard and was dedicated to my education. I also did some stupid shit and made poor choices. I spent the remainder of my twenties learning from my mistakes, doing more dumb shit, picking myself up, and learning to be a better person. My professional life has a similar trajectory of struggling, failing, and growing. It's a process that continues to this day, and the average person follows a similar path. You fight your demons and come out a better person for it.
However, Mark Zuckerberg is not the average person. He is a kid who became wealthy and powerful at a time in his life when nobody knows who they are. He became a billionaire by manipulating people, bringing out the worst in them, and selling that data to advertisers. He gained more power and influence than anyone should have in that time of their life. He not only did he have access to personal data but he could acquire it with alarming efficiency. He leads one of the most popular media platforms that influence how we think, vote, and relate to each other.
The average person experiences their share of failures, breakdowns, and defeats in their personal and professional life. You have uncomfortable conversations. You drink less and exercise more. Hell, you even spring for therapy, follow personal development podcasts, and start meditating. You face yourself. You do this because you've observed destructive patterns in your life that you want to change.
But Mark Zuckerberg is not the average person. He operates in the stratosphere. His actions have far greater consequences.
When Zuckerberg fails, he ends up in front of a Congressional committee explaining how Russian hackers used his platform to influence an American election.
When Zuckerberg fails, he has a whistleblower detailing the ethical shortsightedness within his company. When he falls from grace, he falls hard.
We've all had moments in our life when we thought, "I could have handled that better." You feel uneasy about your words and actions, reflect on how you can be better, and change your behavior. You reflect on your experiences so that you can learn and grow from them. This is wisdom. Zuckerberg may be highly-intelligent, but that does not make him wise.
Facebook Whistleblower Francis Haugen's allegations of ethical misconduct within the company came as no surprise. Their algorithms' destructive outcomes are obvious, and Haugen's claims vindicate what everyone has known all along. There is a lack of trust in their leadership that no amount of re-branding can repair. Facebook executives say one thing, but their actions say another. They say that they prioritize meaningful connections and positive engagement, yet their actions indicate that they will keep users engaged on their platform at all costs.
Despite everything they know about Russian hackers, human traffickers, teenage girls and their body image issues, civil unrest, and countries on the brink of genocide, Facebook still claims that their platform makes a positive contribution to the world. I am not convinced that Zuckerberg has gained wisdom and insight from the company's mistakes. Whenever he shares his vision for the company, he sounds like the same idealistic kid who designed this website from his dorm room. Whether he is naïve, in denial, or still believes his vision can be saved, I see no compelling evidence that he has grown from the experience of the last 17 years, and it shows in his leadership of the company.
When Facebook was launched in 2004, few could have foreseen that it would become the data-greedy leviathan that it is today. By the time anyone caught on, it was too late. The platform had spread too far and too wide to reel it back in. Facebook won't be the gleaming utopia of Zuckerberg's dreams unless he reckons with these real-world outcomes. Facebook doesn't have a branding problem. It has a leadership problem. Nothing will change unless Zuckerberg and other executives learn from past mistakes. Until he does, he's apt to bring the same destructive patterns into the metaverse. This guy needs to get his house in order before he starts building a new one.
As for users, you are right not to trust Facebook or their parent company, Meta. You don't need a whistleblower to recognize the destructive effects of their design. You can take ownership of your behavior online and be part of the solution. You can exercise the wisdom that Zuckerberg lacks and approach Meta with a more critical mind.
We have to use what little power we have before it gets lost to the metaverse. Neither Meta leadership nor government regulators can save us. We have to save ourselves.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
