I don't know if any of you know who the creator of facebook is, but his name is Mark Zuckerberg and he has recently been all over the news because of the Social Network movie which is fictional depiction of the the start up and rise of Facebook. At age 26, he has recently also been deemed the youngest self made millionaire by Forbes magazine, . Finally, he has also been getting acclaim for his recent donation of 100 million dollars to the City of Newark, NJ.
All these events are taking place around the same time and some have wondered if it was more than a coincidence. Many say Zuckerberg decided to make a large donation to take away some attention from the Movie and Forbes ranking, because he wants to promote a much more humble and accessible image. The Movie is not exactly flattering, depicting him as a friendless genius ego-maniac, and Forbes ranking as the 35th riches person makes him look inaccessible and greedy for money and power.
After watching some of Mark's interviews, I was torn over the sincerity of his public demeanor, whether it was business ploy to protect the facebook friend image or if he was truly modest and believed in connecting people around the world? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfTaAqmfS6A. this is a link to a more recent of him being interview by Diane Sawyer.
Anyway the latest NewYorker article on Mark, discusses theses events and the reader comments about his donation went wild. I was shocked by the crazy accusations about his intentions and blatant slandering of the Facebook network. Further commenter's for this article and many others keep asking why he chose Newark.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/09/zuckerberg-the-philanthropist.html
Hello! Newark has had a notoriety of being one of if not THE poorest and most dangerous city in the country. Many people have felt like it is an abandoned city of NJ (lost cause). Speaking of which, if you would like to learm more about this city, there is a wonderful series called Brick City on the Sundance channel that documents the daily struggles of the Newark administration. http://www.sundancechannel.com/brick-city/
So how does this relate to the class. Frankly, I think this story is worth knowing, but it also shows yet another manager's take on leading and the repercussions. I find Mark Zuckerberg fascinating and recommend the Social Network to everyone.
Helga Nyanffor
Helga, I think you make a very valid point about CEO image and protecting the reputation of his business. As a corporate philanthropy consultant by day, I would support your argument that his tactic (making a $100 commitment to Newark schools) is pretty clearly a public relations move. While Zuckerberg may be a great person, we don't know him personally and the only image we have of him is his "corporate-ego-centric" image, an image that is portrayed in the movie and in the video. In addition, I find that personal philanthropic efforts and corporate responsibility efforts sort of have this shade of grey; they are often talked about as personal efforts, but if not carried out eloquently, can be seen as a business tactic to protect one's image/business in a larger sense. To further emphasize my point, with Facebook's recent revenue generation and with Zuckerbergs recent millions in earnings... the spotlight is naturally on him to make a big move... so its definitely not a shocker to me that a large $100 million dollar gift made the NYtimes headlines. What's suprising to me is the big splashy and sudden announcement without any real background story or explanation about Facebook's vision for its philanthropic investments. Total PR move!
ReplyDeleteShikha Dalal
This is a very interesting idea to bring up as it could very well be a public relations stunt, much like Lebron James' ridiculous PR circus to announce his choice to join the Miami Heat. Similarly, he gave all the proceeds from advertisement to the Boys and Girls club.
ReplyDeleteI am always torn when it comes to these things. While I hate the sensationalized idiocy of the pr stunts, one cannot deny the impact they have on the people who are receiving the money. As you pointed out, Newark is one of the poorest cities in our country and the school system has suffered immensely because of that. (I agree, WATCH BRICK CITY!) But it might be good to note that Zuckerberg specified that Mayor Booker had to manage the money. It was one of the stipulations of the donation. It's usually run by the State. So it may not entirely be a PR Stunt because the kid obviously did his research and made sure this money would be handled by someone he deems capable of managing it well. And who knows, maybe PR stunts like these end up encouraging other corporate philanthropists to follow their lead? Maybe this is the intention (or one of the intentions) behind the stunt to begin with? I don't really know. And I think it's important to point out the media's role in sensationalizing these things as well, just as they do with everything else.
Conchita Campos