This might suggest that Zuckerberg is himself a Republican or a conservative, but Christie currently enjoys wide popularity and Zuckerberg has named Chirstie's education ideas specifically as the reason for his support. So who knows. The Huffington Post reports that support for charter school expansion "puts Zuckerberg well in the mainstream of billionaire tech executives like Bill Gates, who pump millions of dollars into efforts to encourage charter schools and put pressure on teachers' unions."
Zuckerberg's specific political preferences aside, this fundraiser is a reminder that he is a modern media mogul who is worth nearly $10 billion and is the head of a media giant that connects with one out of every seven people on the planet.
The fact that he is a modern media mogul complicates what his political impact might be. He does have the money and public profile to pay for or promote political activities outside of Facebook, but what he can do with the content of Facebook is different from what, say, Murdoch can or Hearst could. The user-generated content of Facebook isn't shaped by hiring or editing decisions like at a cable network or newspaper.
The kind of content allowed on Facebook and what happens to it are shaped by policy, though, and that policy can have either political motivations or social consequences. One frequently recurring example at Facebook is the company's eagerness to sell advertising based on access to its users' personal information. Another privacy-related concern is the prohibition of pseudonyms on Facebook, which might protect users from retribution by employers or violent governments.
In any case, it is worth remembering that Zuckerberg has ideas about how the world should work (and how Facebook should make money), and he has a major role in how we communicate with each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment