[tritium]

Meh, if Mark Zuckerberg has only that one, same, tired sideways quote dragged out and tossed around every time criticism is leveled against him, then Christ almighty if he isn't squeaky clean. A little too clean, if you really wanted my opinion.

His attitude and all-around conduct is pretty much that of a boy scout, and to be honest, I find it boring. Linus Torvalds curses like a sailor, and he doesn't spare anyone's feelings with his criticism, whether it's an individual or a broad generalization. Would you mistrust Linux based on the principal developer's language, or is it more about the project's overall opacity?

Mark Zuckerberg's general demeanor can be read from many obvious tells across all the things he touches. He's not dating super models, he's not buying people Audis, his flagship website has one theme for everyone, two colors (blue & white), five uninteresting emojis, and all the personality of AOL and Yahoo! combined. Yet this reveals nothing about what goes on across Facebook's backplane.

If you're going to criticize his character, you have to criticize the depth and breadth of whatever the faustian bargain is, according to the Snowden leaks. You can compare Zuckerberg to Snowden in terms of choices made, but you really can't fault Zuckerberg for using harsh language in casual conversation. It comes across as whiny and pathetic, like some petulant child. Actions speak louder than words, as they say.

[sillysaurus3]

The fact that it's posted often doesn't change its power. And that you rush to defend Zuck says quite a lot.

One thing is true: Those at the top rarely mean what they say. They are masters of dissembling, because they understand how dangerous it is to reveal one's true feelings.

This was a rare glimpse into raw, unfiltered Zuck. And what we find is that he's just like the rest of those in power. No wonder they love him so much.

We're the dumb fucks to them. And that should be at least a little worrying.

[koko775]

Raw, unfiltered me fifteen years ago was probably a misogynistic "nice guy" on a regular basis. Raw unfiltered me right now is all for feminism and social justice, and hates the shit out of that guy I was fifteen years ago.

If the worst quote attributed to him shows him calling people dumb for throwing their personal info at someone they have no reason to trust...that's not a very strong indictment of his character. And even though it's reasonably bad, there's no way fourteen years of responsibility won't change people.

The idiot who said "dumb fucks" is an entirely alien person to the person now. And the quote calling people dumb for giving some online rando their personal data doesn't exactly demonstrate a conclusive disregard for the value of that data. If anything, it's an insult to people's intelligence because they should care more.

It doesn't make him a hero, but doesn't make him a villain, either.

[blub]

I don't think there's a stronger way of stating that your users are dumb fucks than running Facebook or Google.

And indeed, with enough algorithm magic, free stuff and lobbying, it turns out that the majority of us are dumb fucks.

[gear54rus]

Yes he's entirely alien person. The one now will hide his sociopathy much better.

And make you disregard the moment when he showed his true self as a thing of the past.

[koko775]

Assuming he's the same person as back then but hides it better, do you think that his true self thinking people are dumb to give an unknown and untrusted online service their information extremely freely is wrong? Or just an asshole at the time?

Point is, as much as it might color his character, so does his observable conduct in all the years since. Reiterating: with context (would appreciate if you don't forget I'm not disregarding it and talk past me) - it really doesn't give much context, though it's an amazingly compelling soundbite.

[blub]

Well, besides that quote there's also the part where he's running and expanding the world's biggest (or second biggest?) corporate surveillance machine which might indicate that he is a person of questionable character.

But other than that, I'm sure he's a great guy to have a beer with... most evil people are quite nice when you get to know them.

[Atheros]

Zuckerberg called his users dumb for the very act of using his website. Did Linus ever call people dumb for the very act of using Linux as it is intended to be used?

You're focusing too much on the swear word and too little on the meaning of the sentence.