Zuckerberg - Let's stop kicking the kids

I've been quietly watching all the bouncing up and down over Facebook and the Beacon incident.  This is, of course, a reminder about just how little anonymity there is once you make that first step of plugging your computer into the Internet.  None of these issues are new.  The credit card companies have, for years, been the center of all that is you.  Purchase information, returns, credit limits, spending habits, etc, etc.   Tivo knows a ton about your TV habits and by watching what you skip, etc, can infer things about your lifestyle and interests.  Google probably knows more about you then any entity out there.

We have bookends when it comes to these issues.  Jeremy Wright, the CEO of b5, deleted his Facebook account because he thinks the whole thing is creepy. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, believes that the Beacon information is an extension of the news feed that people check a zillion times a day. 

The core phreaking out issue was around implementation. Was in opt in or opt out or double secret probation, etc.  That is a solvable problem, oops, tweak the plan, etc.

The larger issue and concern for me is the piling on from Bloggers and questionable Political Action Groups when it comes to pounding on Mark Zukerberg.  I turn fifty in 22 days so I can clearly say  Mark is a kid. He is going to make lots of mistakes and he will continue to learn and grow.  Focusing in on him and how he personally handed it, dissecting his blog posts, etc, is just silly.  Many of the blog posts, especially from the "A" list types, have that twinge of arrogance and smugness which is normally seen when the business of business turns into the blood sport of watching somebody fail.

We need to use care in beating up Zuckerberg and Facebook in general because we want these folks to push the limits of finding new ideas and trying to make sense out of all the data flowing everywhere.  Try it and get some reactions, adjust, find the happy center, rinse and repeat. That's what Facebook should be doing and all the users and give feedback about the business.  If they go off sides, it will get corrected, it always does.  If they do really bad things, people vote with the mouse clicks. Just ask MySpace or AOL's GeoCities. People vote and have no problem moving.

On the privacy world, I've been clear with the companies I have an interest in.  Use care. If you get somebody's email address simply ask permission to have a conversation with them.  A shocking number of people will say yes.  Then be relevant, respect the customer's time and focus on the intention(s) of the customer.  People want to be in control of their own data and information. Respect that and people will listen and, hopefully, respond positively.

Permission marketing is not a fad, it works.

Piling on and proving you can write great prose to dump on a 24 year old kid isn't particularly helpful.

Comments

[Spellcheck]

You might want to consider getting his name right. Zuckerberg....

[Rick Segal]

oops..
Fixed. Blame it on the keyboard! Spellcheck, thank you!

[Aaron Brazell]

I'm sorry, Rick. You're wrong in this case. Zuck is a 24yo CEO of a company valuated at $15B and clearly a public figure. Zuck has mishandled every aspect of this Beacon fiasco and continues to do so to this moment. The pile on ends when Beacon ends. When Beacon is opt-in completely and when Partner companies stop sendingn data conflicting with their privacy policies to Facebook regardless of user knowledge or permission.

[Rick Segal]

Aaron, thanks for coming by. I'm not disagreeing with you and the concerns about the Beacon product. Don't like it either and don't use websites that would even consider it.

That's different from the personal shots at the individual and the more over the top nonsense about where all this is, or was, headed.

Always interested in other viewpoints, thanks for yours!

[peter]

Question. Why is he just a "24 year old kid" when things go wrong and the second coming of Steve Jobs when things go right?

He messed up big time and in large part because he lacked the experience that comes with age and having experience. He deserves all at spanking he is getting, it is the least he can do for the enormous upside he has already received ... and no, I am not jealous.

-p

[Rick Segal]

Hi Peter,
I never called em the second or third coming so I'm not having it both ways.

Thanks for stopping by.

[peter]

Hi Rick -

Of course, you are correct. You have not. I guess I was responding to what now seems to be a mini tsunami of support coming from many that have ...

Thanks for having me by, I enjoy your postings. Would have sent this privately but lack the clue on how to do it :-)

-p

[Paul]

Oh, for a muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,

Facebook for a stage, dunces to act,
And partners to behold the swelling scene!

Then should the thief-like Facebook,
Drink some port at bars; and at their heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should cookies, POST and GET
Crouch for employment.

But pardon, Gentles all,
The flat unraised spirits that have dared
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
So great an object: can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of Mark? or may we cram
Within this worthy blog the very casques
That did affright the air at Valleywag?

[Darren Herman]

We all make mistakes in life. Some have larger consequences than others, but I agree with your take on the situation. Lets move past it...

[Chris]

He is asking a monumental price for his company. Go it. Did something monumentally stupid not expected by a $15 billion company. Got criticized. It's more personal than usual. Perhaps to be expected regarding a social site all about people.

So either he is just to distracted by making these big money deals or they should reveal who is really calling the shots (who is his Dick Cheney).

People bought in emotionally on necessarily a personal level. You talked about Facebook being the new garden wall. Well they ripped that down in the worst possible way.

[Leigh]

Mark's persona created the environment for this. If you create a personal brand for yourself that stands for "the next biggest thing since slide bread in the business world", you are going to get what you get. Just ask Martha Stewart....

(p.s I find it amusing that so many VCs are concerned about this pile on when tech bloggers pile on each other and issues all the time and no body says boo)

[Rick Segal]

Hi Chris,

Your point about the people around this "kid" is a great one. I don't see anybody going out the door... yet.

Thanks for stopping by, TM says hi.

[Rick Segal]

Hi Leigh,
As always, good to hear from you.

It's entirely possible/probable, that I have not seen the personality part out there as I am not focused on it. I don't see Mark in every trade rag, in the press, etc. Heck, Albert Lai shows up more.. :-)

As for the VC community, I can speak only for myself. I want people to push the edge, take feedback and improve, that's the nature of the game so I'm a bit concerned that making mistakes gets turned into personal attacks.

best,

[Leigh]

Couple things:

Firstly, I think being disrespectful (to Mark or anyone else) is or should be totally unacceptable. I also thought Martha got unfairly prosecuted bc of who she was HOWEVER, that being said, objectively speaking this stuff occurs bc of the brands they create.

As for the VCs, all I can say is that I don't see Beacon as innovative. Advertisers often sit around and think about how they can further exploit their audiences (been doing it for a long time) I was once in a meeting where they were talking about a pilot program that attached electrodes to peoples brains to better target advertising. Stuff like that crosses ethical lines IMHO. And if that's we think that's all innovative, I think we need to rethink our definition.

That's all my ranting for today - but happy future birthday. 50 from what I hear, is a bit of a stressful one...

:)

[howard Lindzon]

right on