I have been musing over why Zuckerberg is having to go before congress. Everyone is under the idea that Zuckerberg owns facebook, and that he has a right to control the content on it.
Except that this is wrong. He does not own facebook. Facebook is a publicly traded company now. The shareholders own facebook. This means that facebook has to follow rules. It has to follow the rules of governance that it created when it became an IPO, or else. It also has to follow rules and policies set up by the SEC.
Looking back on facebook's history, we can see that there have been plenty of offers to buy it in the past from some really rich, business savoy people. Many of these people where venture capitalists that paid into it early, and as a result got a lot of shares in facebook.
I believe that these guys have been biding their time, waiting for an opportunity to remove zuckerberg and take over facebook for themselves. They have been waiting for him to make a stupid mistake, and then pounce.
That stupid mistake was editing Conservative leaning content.
Facebook claims to be an open platform. This is part of what they tell investors. As a result, censoring any content in mass would violate this open platform claim. Now that they have enough evidence of him doing this, they can not only fine him, but send him to jail and put someone else in charge of facebook.
That person will probably be one of the big government friendly venture capitalists that paid early into it.
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EarlPoncho ago
you're an idiot if you think any shareholders want zuck out at facebook. the stock is up from about $18 to $118 currently. those returns are hard to come by.
also if you think facebook isn't already a government entity, rofl
senpaithatignoresyou ago
Who says its the shareholders?
http://fortune.com/2011/01/11/timeline-where-facebook-got-its-funding/
A cadre of rich people made facebook happen, including goldman sachs. anyone of those guys would want him out.
Now, the big question is: Is facebook worth the value that it is selling at?
A lot of people have been hyping that it is overvalued. Growth is also stagnant, as the only growing demographic is old people, and the younger people seem to be leaving/avoiding signing on.
That is not good news for growth. Clearly it is a management issue. But how do you get rid of a CEO that is also a majority shareholder? It would take an "act of congress".
It is a bit more complicated than that though.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/21/business/seeking-access-to-facebook-in-china-zuckerberg-courts-risks.html?_r=0
He has been getting too friendly with china. Facebook is a very powerful tool if used correctly. You can get a great idea as to what the market wants to do, what people want, and make educated plans accordingly. It is the type of tool that people in power do not want to share, or put at risk.
Zuckerberg has stepped on a lot of international toes. He has made some mistakes, and he has too much power. There is a pattern forming where the establishment/cathedral would have a lot to gain to either get rid of him, or humble him a bit.
wompwompwompwomp3 ago
I cant even recall what article i had read this on, but isnt he in trouble because data collection hasnt been as accurate as first believed it would be? Also have heard several things through the grapvine hinting that fb has some sort of contract with the nsa for data collecting and gov. online survalence.
I guess it wouldn't be hard to see this as being tied in. I think the only reason they would want to take away fb would be to keep it as another of the nsa's long arms. Not sure how public they would make that information though. Maybe they dont completely oust him, but they might pull something to publically shame hin into having to loose majority control of fb.
Im actually surprised he held on to fb up to this point. I wouldve pulled a tom, sell it and spend my life traveling and taking awesome pics
senpaithatignoresyou ago
Tom kept newgrounds, possibly the best social media site out there, because you have to have talent to contribute to it.
wompwompwompwomp3 ago
I havent been on newground in yeeeeeaaaarrrrs, honestly d8dnt think it was still active! Damn i foegot how much i liked newgrounfs
senpaithatignoresyou ago
It only got better.
Newgrounds is why the internet became a thing, and why apple thought the ipad would be successful forever(by monetizing what was free on the internet).
As more people learn how to develop small web apps, newgrounds got bigger. It lulled when flash lulled, but now it is making a small comeback.
It is a very successful business model, that you see emulated in other places.
wompwompwompwomp3 ago
Yeah thats when i left as well, after flash kind of took a dive. Yes the early days of newgrounds, then someone came up with kongregate which i liked quite a lot, but it was missing something that newgrounds had.
Well, guess i jave some catching up