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TECHNOLOGY Friday 17 February 2017

The Zuckerberg manifesto: How he plans to debug the world

BARBARA ORTUTAY it’s good for some people
AP Technology Writer but it’s doesn’t work for oth-
NEW YORK (AP) — Mark er people. We really have
Zuckerberg’s long-term vi- to bring everyone along.”
sion for Facebook, laid out COMMUNITY SUPPORT
in a sweeping manifesto , The letter is short on specific
sometimes sounds more details and plans Face-
like a utopian social guide book has in the works. And
than a business plan. Are it doesn’t mention anything
we, he asks, “building the about Facebook as a busi-
world we all want?” ness, its billions in advertis-
While most people now use ing revenue or the target-
Facebook to connect with ing it is often criticized for.
friends and family, Zucker- Zuckerberg said Facebook
berg hopes that the social provides regular updates
network can encourage on how its business is do-
more civic engagement, ing and product launches
an informed public and —and this is meant to be
community support in the different.
years to come. Facebook Today, most of Facebook’s
now has nearly 2 billion 1.86 billion members —
members, which makes it about 85 percent — live
larger than any nation in outside of the U.S. and
the world. Canada. The Menlo Park,
His 5,800-word essay posi- California-based compa-
tions Facebook in direct ny has offices everywhere
opposition to a rising tide of from Amsterdam to Jakar- In this Nov. 19, 2016 file photo, Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook, waves at the
isolationism and fear of out- ta to Tel Aviv. (It is banned CEO summit during the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima, Peru.
Associated Press
siders, both in the U.S. and in China, the world’s most
abroad. In a phone inter- populous country, though enting to political activism . on the next quarter’s profit cial intelligence.
view with The Associated some people get around More than 100 million peo- or the next day’s user up- “The long term promise of
Press, Zuckerberg stressed it.) Naturally, Zuckerberg ple are in at least one Face- roar, he tends to consider AI is that in addition to iden-
that he wasn’t motivated takes a global view of book group, though Zuck- Facebook 5, 10 or more tifying risks more quickly
by the U.S. election or any Facebook and sees poten- erberg wants way more. years into the future. It’s as and accurately than would
other particular event. tial that goes beyond bor- He laments the fading of grandiose as it’s been suc- have already happened,
Rather, he said, it’s the ders, cities and nations. traditional social communi- cessful, at least so far. it may also identify risks
growing sentiment in many And that could allow the ties such as churches, labor “For the past decade, that nobody would have
parts of the world that social network to step up unions and local groups. Facebook has focused on flagged at all — including
“connecting the world” — as more traditional cultural “A healthy society needs connecting friends and terrorists planning attacks
the founding idea behind ties fray. People already these communities to sup- families. With that foun- using private channels,
Facebook — is no longer a use Facebook to connect port our personal, emo- dation, our next focus will people bullying someone
good thing. with strangers who have tional and spiritual needs,” be developing the social too afraid to report it them-
“Across the world there are the same rare disease, to Zuckerberg wrote. “In a infrastructure for commu- selves, and other issues
people left behind by glo- post political diatribes, to world where this physical nity — for supporting us, for both local and global,” he
balization, and movements share news links (and some- social infrastructure has keeping us safe, for inform- wrote. “It will take many
for withdrawing from global times fake news links ). been declining, we have ing us, for civic engage- years to develop these sys-
connection,” Zuckerberg, Facebook has also pushed a real opportunity to help ment, and for inclusion tems.”
who founded Facebook its users to register to vote, strengthen these communi- of all,” he wrote. Last fall, Speaking to the AP, Zuck-
in a Harvard dorm room in to donate to causes, ties and the social fabric of Zuckerberg and his wife, erberg said he understands
2004, wrote on Thursday. to mark themselves safe af- our society.” the doctor Priscilla Chan, that we might not “solve all
“In times like these, the ter natural disasters, and LONG VIEW unveiled the Chan Zucker- the issues that we want” in
most important thing we at to “go live .” For many, it’s Zuckerberg has gotten berg Initiative , a long-term the short term.
Facebook can do is devel- become a utility. Some 1.23 Facebook to this position effort aimed at eradicating “One of my favorite quotes
op the social infrastructure billion people use it daily. of global dominance — all disease by the end of is this Bill Gates quote, that
to give people the power Facebook groups, which one that Myspace and this century. Then, as now, ‘people overestimate what
to build a global commu- allow people to come to- Twitter, for instance, never Zuckerberg preferred to they can get done in two
nity that works for all of us.” gether based on shared in- even approached — part- look far down the road to years and underestimate
Zuckerberg, 32, said he still terests, could play a bigger ly thanks to his audacious, the potential of scientific what they can get done in
strongly believes that more role in this respect, Zucker- long-term view of the com- and technological innova- 10 years.’ And that’s an im-
connectedness is the right berg suggests. In groups, pany and its place in the tions that have not been portant mindset that I hope
direction for the world. But, people talk about every- world. perfected, or even invent- more people take today,”
he adds, it’s “not enough if thing from knitting to par- Rather than getting fixated ed yet. This includes artifi- he said.q