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Tag: Mark Zuckerberg

  • ‘The End of Power’ Enjoys a Big Mark Zuckerberg Bump

    ‘The End of Power’ Enjoys a Big Mark Zuckerberg Bump

    As an writer, there probably wasn’t much that was more thrilling than seeing that “Oprah’s Book Club” sticker printed on your book. Of course, a Pulitzer or a National Book Award would be nice – but that Oprah seal of approval meant one thing for sure: people were going to buy the hell out of your book.

    Could the same thing happen with Mark Zuckerberg?

    You may have heard that the Facebook CEO recently pulled an Oprah and decided to launch his own book club of sorts. Zuckerberg’s New Years resolution this year was to read a new book every couple of weeks – and he has asked the Facebook community to join him on the journey. He set up a dedicated Facebook page called ‘A Year of Books’, and invited the more than a billion Facebook users to join in an anything-but-old-fashioned book discussion.

    For this first selection, Zuckerberg chose The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used To Be by Moises Naim. Within hours, the book was out of stock on Amazon.

    Now it’s back in stock and selling like crazy. Zuck’s endorsement has skyrocketed the book to #8 on Amazon’s bestsellers list – and it’s still climbing.

    The book is also rising on the ebook charts, now residing at #31.

    Call it the Zuck bump. And if he keeps his promise, 25 or so lucky authors will likely see a big spike in sales in 2015.

    Image via Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

  • Mark Zuckerberg Pulls an Oprah, Launches Facebook Book Club

    Mark Zuckerberg Pulls an Oprah, Launches Facebook Book Club

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has decided on his challenge for the new year, and it involves books. A lot of them.

    For the past few years, Zuckerberg has made a point to publicly challenge himself to try something new. One year it was speaking Mandarin (which he did) – another year it was wearing a tie every day. One time, Zuckerberg tried to live a mostly vegetarian life – only eating animals that he had killed himself.

    This year, Zuckerberg enlisted the Facebook community to help him figure out what to do. Now, after many suggestions, he’s made his decision. This year, Zuckerberg is going to read around 26 books – and he’s launched a new Facebook page to track his progress, as well as provide an hub for discussion. Zuck’s gone Oprah and launched his own book club.

    “I’m excited for my reading challenge. I’ve found reading books very intellectually fulfilling. Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most media today. I’m looking forward to shifting more of my media diet towards reading books,” says Zuckerberg.

    Post by Mark Zuckerberg.

    The “book club” page is called A Year of Books, and it already boasts 137,000+ likes. If you’re thinking about participating in the book discussion, make sure you’ve actually read the book in question.

    “If you want to follow along on my challenge and read the same books I do, I’ve created a page, A Year of Books, where I’ll post what I’m reading. Please only participate in the discussions if you’ve actually read the books and have relevant points to add. The group will be moderated to keep it focused,” he says.

    Up first is a 2013 book called The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used To Be by Moises Naim. Let’s see if Zuck can keep his resolution.

  • Mark Zuckerberg Wants Your Idea For His 2015 Personal Challenge

    Mark Zuckerberg Wants Your Idea For His 2015 Personal Challenge

    Each year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg undertakes a personal challenge. Past challenges have included: wearing a tie every day; being a vegetarian (or only eating meat he killed himself); writing a thank you note each day to someone who “made the world better;” meeting one new person who doesn’t work at Facebook each day; and learning to speak Mandarin.

    Zuck takes on these challenges, he says, to broaden his perspective and learn things about the world beyond his work at Facebook.He wrote a status update last night about these challenges, and has decided to call upon the world to give him some new ideas.

    “At our last town hall Q&A, someone asked me what my challenge will be for the new year and I said I’d love ideas from our community,” he wrote. “I have an idea of what my next challenge might be, but I’m open to more ideas before the new year officially begins. So share your ideas here!”

    And the comments are rolling in.

    Kate Aronowitz suggested, “Learn to cook and only eat dinners that you’ve made. A new skill and good excuse to be home for dinner.”

    Zuckerberg replied to that, “I love cooking. I’m only good at cooking meat though. I do need to get better at the rest.”

    Erryl Ho said, “Learn how to dance haha.”

    Zuckerberg replied, “This would certainly be a challenge for me.”

    Yvonne Chen suggested, “Run one mile everyday, rain or shine. And you can’t run 2 miles one day and have it eliminate the run for the next day. The challenge is to do it everyday.”

    Zuckerberg responded, “Interesting idea!”

    There are plenty more where those came from (including more responses from Zuck) here.

    Image via Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook video screenshot

  • Dislike Button Still Isn’t Happening, but Zuckerberg Is Open to Buttons for ‘Broader Range of Emotions’

    Dislike Button Still Isn’t Happening, but Zuckerberg Is Open to Buttons for ‘Broader Range of Emotions’

    As we’ve touched on before, you’re never going to get a true ‘dislike’ button. There are a lot of reasons why you’re never going to get one, despite much of the Facebook-using public clamoring for one for quite some time. For one, you have to realize that the ‘like’ button is not there for you. It wasn’t made for you. It was made for advertising purposes.

    Also, the whole idea of “disliking” is messy. It’s hateful in most of its applications. Sure, it has its non-spiteful uses (I dislike the fact that you have a sore throat aww), but you know that a true dislike button would mostly be used to dump all over people’s thoughts, life events, and photographic expressions.

    Sure, Tim’s guacamole really does like like shit – but do we really need to be able to ‘dislike’ it?

    In his latest Facebook Q&A, Zuckerberg reiterated this, once again shooting down the idea. But he did go in to some interesting details, some of which suggest that the company is at least thinking about expanding the palette of emotional responses beyond the ‘like’.

    Here are Zuckerberg’s comments on the idea of a dislike button (via TechCrunch):

    You know we’re thinking about it, on the Dislike button. It’s an interesting question, right, because there are two things that it can mean. And we’re considering and talking about doing one and not the other. So the one that we don’t want to do: The Like button is really valuable because it’s a way for you to very quickly express a positive emotion or sentiment when someone puts themselves out there and shares something. And, you know, some people have asked for a Dislike button because they want to be able to say ‘That thing isn’t good’. And that’s not something that we think is good for the world. So we’re not going to build that. I don’t think there needs to be a voting mechanism about whether posts are good or bad. I don’t think that’s socially very valuable or good for the community to help people share the important moments in their lives.

    But the thing that I think is very valuable is there are more sentiments that people want to express than positivity or that they Like something. You know a lot of times people share things on Facebook that are sad moments in their lives, or are tough cultural or social things and often people tell us that they don’t feel comfortable press Like because Like isn’t the appropriate sentiment when someone lost a loved one or is talking about a very difficult issue.

    So one of the things that we’ve had some dialogue about internally and that we’ve thought about for quite a while is what’s the right way to make it so people can easily express a broader range of emotions to empathize or to express surprise or laughter or any of these things. And you know you can always just comment, right, so it’s not like there isn’t a way to do that today, and a lot of people are commenting on posts all the time. But there’s something that’s just so simple about the Like button. You know if you’re commenting, a lot of the time you feel like you have to have something witty to say or add to the conversation.

    But everyone feels like they can just press the Like button and that’s an important way to sympathize or empathize with someone in an important moment that put themselves out there to share. And giving people the power to do that in more ways with more emotions would be powerful, but we need to figure out the right way to do it so it ends up being a force for good, not a force for bad and demeaning the posts that people are putting out there. So that’s an important thing. We don’t have anything that’s coming out soon but it’s an important area of discussion.

    TL;DR – The ability to dislike someone’s shitty post just because it’s shitty? Not coming. The ability to express sympathy over someone’s dead grandma with a single button that is more emotionally precise than the sometimes awful bluntness of the ‘like’? That’s a possibility.

    Post by Q&A with Mark.

    Image via zeevveez, Flickr Creative Commons

  • Mark Zuckerberg Q&A To Be Streamed

    Mark Zuckerberg Q&A To Be Streamed

    As previously reported, Mark Zuckerberg will soon participate in another live Q&A session. He recently held one, and talked about a variety of headline-making items.

    The next one will be next week. Facebook previously said this about it:

    We’ve got a limited amount of free tickets for the next public Q&A with Mark at Facebook in Menlo Park, California on Dec. 11 at 2PM PT. If you’ll be in the Bay Area and would like a chance to attend this event or future Q&As, please email us at [email protected] and include your full name and where you live.

    Facebook has since given an update on the event, indicating that it will in fact be livestreamed like the last one. Zuckerberg said this in a Facebook post:

    I’m hosting our second community Q&A at Facebook HQ on December 11, next Thursday.

    This is an opportunity for you to ask me questions, and for me to hear directly from you how we can make Facebook better.

    To ask a question, go to the Q&A with Mark page and comment on my post.

    To vote for a question, just like that comment.

    At our last Q&A, people asked about everything from how News Feed ranking works to why I wear the same shirt every day.

    I’ll answer questions for about an hour and I’ll try to get through as many as possible. We’ll livestream the Q&A on the page and I’ll post some video highlights later that day.

    I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

    Zuckerberg talked about organic reach and the great Messenger controversy last time. While he may not have given the most compelling answers, he at least didn’t shy away from addressing the uncomfortable questions. He even https://www.dev.webpronews.commark-zuckerberg-gripes-about-social-network-movie-2014-11″>talked about how the movie The Social Network made him feel.

    He gave people plenty of material with his new Time Magazine cover story for this time around. It will be interesting to see what he talks about.

    Image via Facebook

  • Mark Zuckerberg Is Doing Another Q&A

    Mark Zuckerberg Is Doing Another Q&A

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently held a live Q&A session enabling people and businesses to ask whatever questions they wanted to about Facebook.

    Among the topics addressed were controversial ones like the company opting to require mobile users to download the Messenger app for chatting and the decline of organic Page post reach. He even talked about the film The Social Network, among other things.

    Zuck will be doing another of these events, it was announced. The event page says:

    We’ve got a limited amount of free tickets for the next public Q&A with Mark at Facebook in Menlo Park, California on Dec. 11 at 2PM PT. If you’ll be in the Bay Area and would like a chance to attend this event or future Q&As, please email us at [email protected] and include your full name and where you live.

    It’s unclear if the company will provide a live stream of the event as it did last time. It seems likely that they would, but we’ve not seen confirmation.

    Image via Facebook

  • Mark Zuckerberg Gets All Sappy and Stuff on Facebook

    Mark Zuckerberg Gets All Sappy and Stuff on Facebook

    Earlier this week, Facebook got their priorities straight and launched a new feature called ‘Say Thanks’. The tool lets users create and customize virtual “Thanks you” cards to friends – not really thank you for helping me move cards, but more like thank you for being my bro, bro cards. It’s all really saccharin and shit.

    Ever the self-promoter, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to demonstrate the usefulness of his company’s new plaything by posting a sweet little tribute to his wife, Priscilla Chan.

    “I met an amazing girl on this day exactly 11 years ago. Priscilla, thank you for keeping me grounded, and for helping me keep my sense of wonder about the world as we grow together,” said Zuck in the post. Below is his personal ‘Say Thanks’ video for him and his wife.

    Post by Mark Zuckerberg.

    Zuckerberg and Chan married in May of 2012, the weekend after Facebook went public. The two began dating in 2003 at Harvard, after meeting at a fraternity party during Zuck’s sophomore year. Chan is a doctor.

    Image via Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

  • Mark Zuckerberg Gripes About Social Network Movie

    Mark Zuckerberg Gripes About Social Network Movie

    When Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stepped into a live Q&A session last week, it’s impossible to know if he expected to be asked about the movie The Social Network. The film hit in 2010; maybe Zuckerberg figured it was old news and wouldn’t come up.

    But this was Zuckerberg’s first public Q&A and was being streamed live. It came up.

    “Wow, I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about that movie in a while,” Zuckerberg said when asked about the film. “I kinda blocked that one out. It was a very interesting experience to watch a movie that was supposedly about my life. Yeah, supposedly.”

    Part of the issue is that a movie about how a man like Mark Zuckerberg builds a website and a business would be incredibly boring to watch.

    “I think the reality is that writing code and building a product and then building a company actually is not a glamorous enough thing to make a movie about.So you can imagine that a lot of the stuff they probably had to embellish and make up. Because if they were really making a movie, it would have been of me, sitting at a computer coding for two hours straight, which probably would have just not been that good of a movie and these guys, I think, want to win awards and sell tickets.”

    The film starred Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin of West Wing fame. It was directed by David Fincher, who has also directed Fight Club, the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the more recent Gone Girl.

    Zuckerberg says some of the details were right, but huge chunks of story were just plain wrong.

    “They went out of their way in the movie to try to get some interesting details correct, like the design of the office. But on the overarching plot in terms of, y’know, why we’re building Facebook to help connect the world or how we did it, they just kinda made up a bunch of stuff that I found hurtful.

    “I take, y’know, our mission really seriously. We’re here, not primarily to just build a company, but to help connect the world and help people stay connected to people they love … we take that really seriously.”

    The sort of “overarching plot” issues he has with the film seem to primarily revolve around his love life.

    “The thing that I found the most interesting about the movie, was that they kind of made up this whole plot line about how I somehow decided to create Facebook to, I think, attract girls.

    “One important piece of context is, the woman who I’m married to [Priscilla Chan], who I’ve been dating for more than 10 years, and I’ve known for more than 10 years, I was actually dating her before I even started Facebook. If somehow I was trying to create Facebook to find more women, that probably would not have gone over too well in my relationship, and I probably would not still be married to her today.”

    But Zuckerberg’s issues with The Social Network go back even before the movie’s screenplay was written. The film was based on a book by Ben Mezrich called The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal. That was published in July 2009, but already had deals in the works for a film before it hit the shelves.

    Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin served as author Ben Mezrich’s main consultant on the book. In fact, Mezrich said that it was Saverin who approached him first with some of the stories that wound up in the book. At the time, Saverin was in the throes of multiple lawsuits with Zuckerberg. Once those lawsuits were all dismissed and Saverin’s name was added to the Facebook masthead as a co-founder, Saverin stopped consulting on the film.

    Before the book launched, Fortune Magazine dubbed it The Book That Facebook Doesn’t Want You to Read. They note that Mezrich himself admitted that he made up whole chunks of the book, including dialogue. Mezrich describes the book as a “dramatic narrative account,” but his publisher Doubleday marketed it as non-fiction.

    “There are certain places in the book where I’m sort of doing a legitimate speculation.” Mezrich told Fortune before the release. He some of the passages “a best guess.”

    In the book, at the beginning of one chapter that describes Zuckerberg breaking into a Harvard residence house to get some data he needs, Mezrich admits that the whole account is pure speculation.

    “He might have gotten what he needed in other ways, we certainly don’t know for sure every detail; but we can imagine how it might have gone down…”

    Mezrich never spoke to Zuckerberg in the writing of the book.

    When the book was about to launch, Facebook issued a statement on the contents.

    “Ben Mezrich clearly aspires to be the Jackie Collins or Danielle Steele of Silicon Valley. In fact his own publisher put it best. ‘The book isn’t reportage. It’s big juicy fun.’ We particularly agree with the first part of that and think any readers will concur.”

  • Mark Zuckerberg Was Just a Little Hurt by ‘The Social Network’

    Mark Zuckerberg Was Just a Little Hurt by ‘The Social Network’

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently held a Q&A on his own site, fielding questions about a variety of topics including your page’s organic reach problems and his decision to make everyone download an entirely new app to use Messenger.

    He also talked about that time David Fincher made a big ol’ Oscar-winning movie about him.

    Basically, he said they made some shit up.

    “They went out of their way in the movie to try to get some interesting details correct like design of office, but with overarching plot about why we’re building Facebook or how we did it, they just kind of made up a bunch of stuff that I found kind of hurtful,” he said.

    Sticking to the facts, he said, would’ve made for a very boring movie.

    “The reality is that writing code and building a product is not a glamorous enough thing to make a movie about. A lot of the stuff they probably had to embellish and make up. If they were really making a movie, it would’ve just been me at a computer coding for two hours straight. And these people want to make money.”

    The part he hated the most about the film was the insinuation that his desire to build Facebook came from wanting to get girls.

    “One important piece of context is the woman I’m married to who I’ve been dating for ten years, I was dating her before starting Facebook. If somehow I was trying to create Facebook to find more women, that probably wouldn’t have gone over well in my relationship. There were glaring things made up about movie that made it hard for me to take seriously. But we had some fun with it,” he said.

    Zuck said he took the whole company out to see the movie on opening day.

    You can watch the whole thing below:

    Post by Q&A with Mark.

    Image via Q&A with Mark, Facebook

  • You Had to Download a Standalone Facebook Messenger App Because Tapping One Tab Was Too Hard

    You Had to Download a Standalone Facebook Messenger App Because Tapping One Tab Was Too Hard

    If you want to know exactly why you have to have two Facebook apps to do what one Facebook app could do before, well, Mark Zuckerberg is here to tell you. Kind of.

    Speaking on a live Facebook Q&A, Zuckerberg fielded a question about his decision to unbundle the main Facebook app and split Messenger off to a separate, standalone app.

    Apparently, the old Facebook app with chat functionality simply had too much friction.

    Here’s what he had to say (via The Verge):

    We wanted to do this because we believe that this is a better experience. Messaging is becoming increasingly important. On mobile, each app can only focus on doing one thing well, we think.

    The primary purpose of the Facebook app is News Feed. Messaging was this behavior people were doing more and more. 10 billion messages are sent per day, but in order to get to it you had to wait for the app to load and go to a separate tab. We saw that the top messaging apps people were using were their own app. These apps that are fast and just focused on messaging. You’re probably messaging people 15 times per day. Having to go into an app and take a bunch of steps to get to messaging is a lot of friction.

    Messenger is its own app now because tapping your Facebook app and then tapping one more tab to access chat was very, very hard, apparently.

    And on why the shift was forced on users so abruptly:

    Asking folks to install another app is a short term painful thing, but if we wanted to focus on serving this [use case] well, we had to build a dedicated and focused experience. We build for the whole community. Why wouldn’t we let people choose to install the app on their own at their own pace? The reason is that what we’re trying to do is build a service that’s good for everyone. Because Messenger is faster and more focused, if you’re using it, you respond to messages faster, we’ve found. If your friends are slower to respond, we might not have been able to meet up.

    That clears everything up, right?

  • Mark Zuckerberg Addresses Your Organic Reach Problem

    Mark Zuckerberg Addresses Your Organic Reach Problem

    If you have a Facebook Page, you’re no doubt well aware that the organic reach of posts for many pages has dramatically declined over the past year. It’s gotten harder and harder for businesses to reach people in the News Feed with their messages without paying to do so.

    Has your News Feed visibility been severely impacted by this? Let us know in the comments.

    The company has addressed the concerns of businesses in the past. It hasn’t really offered any helpful solutions other than suggesting you buy ads, but they have at least acknowledged that it’s getting harder to reach people for free.

    The subject inevitably came up again as Facebook held a live Q&A session featuring CEO Mark Zuckerberg and various other executives. Zuckerberg himself actually talked about it this time, so it’s interesting to hear his thoughts on the matter, even if they’re not incredibly different than what we’ve heard before.

    Specifically, Zuck responded to a question asking when “our Facebook fan pages’ reach will be coming back.” This, according to the moderator, was a very popular question (no doubt). It’s interesting to see the looks on the audience’s faces as the topic came up. I sense some frustration.

    facebook organic reach

    Zuck responded, “So that’s another really good question, and it’s one that when I was looking through the questions that people asked – this is one that a lot of people asked in different versions, and a lot of people voted on it – so I just want to start off by saying, as the question kind of implies, you know a lot of businesses that have fan pages over time, some of them are getting more distribution, and they’re reaching more people, and some of them are reaching less as we make different product changes. Before kind of explaining why this is, I just want to express some empathy in that we understand what it’s like to be a business – especially from being a startup and trying to reach your customers, and reach people and communicate, and grow, and we care really deeply about the different changes in our product, and how that affects all the businesses and people who are using fan pages. And we take it really seriously when any product change that we do will change or have an impact on someone’s business.”

    “So, with that said, the…and I think it’s also important to kind of keep in mind that Facebook is this huge service, and more than a billion people use it. So even though there are these shifts on a day-to-day or a month-to-month basis, and you’ll find that your business might get more or less traffic, it’s probably still overall a very good, organic and free way to reach and communicate with your customers overall. So I don’t want to lose track of that.”

    “Now, in terms of what’s going on here, there are two primary trends that I think are affecting the organic reach of fan pages. The first is that as time goes on, people are just sharing more things on Facebook, so each person who’s consuming content in their News Feed, they might read a hundred stories from their friends and pages that day, and as their friends share more content, and as they follow more pages, and as those pages share more content, there’s just more competition. The average person – there are about fifteen hundred stories a day that they could see in News Feed, and they only see about a hundred, so that means that less than ten percent of what people are posting, the person will actually get to in their feed. And that’s important in terms of thinking about how we design News Feed and how we give people the best experience, but it’s an important thing to keep in mind – just that there are these two trends: one is that the population of the community on Facebook is growing, so you’ll reach more people that way, but there’s also more competition for what they see, so only the highest quality content is actually going to get through and shown to those people, so you really need to focus on continuing to make sure that you’re pushing out good content and communicating effectively with your customers.”

    That point about people only seeing the highest quality content is certainly debatable, and there is plenty of high quality content that never gets the reach.

    Zuckerberg continued, “The other thing is a more philosophical way that we think about the products that we build. So News Feed – our goal is to build the perfect, personalized newspaper for every person in the world. We think about the way the newspaper media industry has evolved over time, and there are lots of different newspaper or media channels that people can plug into, and they tend not to be personalized. You can read your local newspaper or a national newspaper or a TV station, and they’re kind of showing the same thing to hundreds of thousands or millions of people. What we’re trying to do with Facebook and News Feed in particular is personalize it, and show you the stuff that’s going to be the most interesting to you whether that’s global news through Pages that you might be following or things that are really personal to you, so updates about your friends. One of my friends just this morning had a baby, and I learned about that the baby is healthy on News Feed, and it made me really happy. And that might be relevant to me, but not relevant to a lot of other people in the world, and that’s one thing that we try to deliver through News Feed.”

    “So there’s this inherent conflict in the system though, which is are we trying to optimize News Feed to give each person – all of you guys the best experience when you’re reading or are we trying to help businesses just reach as many people as possible? And in every decision that we make, we optimize for the first. We’re making it so that for the people who we serve, who use Facebook, and are reading News Feed get the very best experience that they can. And that means that if a business is sharing content that’s going to be useful for them, then we’ll show that, but that means that if the business is sharing content that isn’t going to be useful for them, we may not show that because it’s probably more important that they learn about their friend who had a baby and their baby is healthy.”

    Of course, those two scenarios are pretty much the opposite ends of the spectrum, and there’s a lot more that comes into question in the middle.

    “So that’s an important guiding principle for how we think about this stuff,” he continued. “And as the products continue to develop, there’s just gonna be more people sharing more things, and we’re going to continue to try to do our best at showing the best things that we can, understanding that there’s no way that a person will ever take the time to go through every one of the 1,500 things that are shared with them every single day. That’s kind of how I think about organic reach, and there are a lot of pages that are doing quite successfully, and their organic reach is growing quite a bit because they’re delivering content to people that they really want.”

    “So if you’re a business owner and you’re thinking about how to use your free Page on Facebook, I would just focus on trying to publish really good content that’s going to be compelling to your customers and the people who are following you.”

    That’s the long answer to a single question, but this topic would probably be better served by a whole discussion dedicated specifically to it. There are a lot of questions businesses and users alike might have for Zuckerberg specifically related to what he said, and how Facebook views “quality”. We know based on words from the company in the past that it has a lot of work to do when determining quality.

    That’s probably the best we’re going to get out of Facebook for the time being though. At least there are still plenty of businesses benefiting from the social network.

    Last week, Shareaholic put out its quarterly Social Media Traffic report for the third quarter, which found that Facebook is still holding strong in terms of sending referrals to websites. It’s sending four times as much traffic to sites as Pinterest, which is in the second place spot.

    Another report found that Facebook sent 10% more traffic to publisher websites in August compared to last year.

    In September, we looked at everything Facebook has said about News Feed ranking over the past year. You might want to check that out for a refresher.

    What do you think about Zuckerberg’s words about organic reach? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    Image via Facebook, UstreamTV

  • Facebook Releases Earnings, Revenue Up 59%

    Facebook Releases Earnings, Revenue Up 59%

    Facebook just released its Q3 earnings report with revenue of $3.2 billion, up 59% year-over-year. Revenue from advertising was $2.96 billion (up 64%) while mobile ad revenue represented 66% of that. Revenue from payments and other fees was $246 million, up 13%.

    GAAP diluted EPS was $0.30, up 76%. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.43, up 59%.

    The company beat Wall Street estimates.

    CEO Mark Zuckerberg attached another super-generic statement to the release: “This has been a good quarter with strong results. We continue to focus on serving our community well and continue to invest in connecting the world over the next decade.”

    Daily active users were 864 million on average for September, up 19% year-over-year. Mobile DAUs were 703 million on average, up 39%.

    Monthly active users were 1.35 billion, up 14%. Mobile MAUs were 1.12 billion, up 29%.

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) today reported financial results for the quarter endedSeptember 30, 2014.

    “This has been a good quarter with strong results,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “We continue to focus on serving our community well and continue to invest in connecting the world over the next decade.”

     

    Third Quarter 2014 Financial Summary
    Three Months Ended

    September 30,

    		 Nine Months Ended

    September 30,
    In millions, except percentages and per share amounts 2014 2013 2014 2013
    Revenue $ 3,203 $ 2,016 $ 8,615 $ 5,286
    Income from Operations
       GAAP $ 1,397 $ 736 $ 3,861 $ 1,672
       Non-GAAP* $ 1,820 $ 1,024 $ 4,987 $ 2,451
    Operating Margin
       GAAP 44% 37% 45% 32%
       Non-GAAP* 57% 51% 58% 46%
    Net Income
       GAAP $ 806 $ 425 $ 2,239 $ 977
       Non-GAAP* $ 1,149 $ 666 $ 3,194 $ 1,520
    Diluted Earnings per Share (EPS)
       GAAP $ 0.30 $ 0.17 $ 0.86 $ 0.39
       Non-GAAP* $ 0.43 $ 0.27 $ 1.22 $ 0.61
     * Non-GAAP information for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 has been updated to exclude amortization of intangible assets to conform to our current period presentation. See the table below titled “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Results to Nearest GAAP Measures.”

     

    Third Quarter 2014 Operational Highlights

    • Daily active users (DAUs) were 864 million on average for September 2014, an increase of 19% year-over-year.
    • Mobile DAUs were 703 million on average for September 2014, an increase of 39% year-over-year.
    • Monthly active users (MAUs) were 1.35 billion as of September 30, 2014, an increase of 14% year-over-year.
    • Mobile MAUs were 1.12 billion as of September 30, 2014, an increase of 29% year-over-year.

    Third Quarter 2014 Financial Highlights

    Revenue – Revenue for the third quarter of 2014 totaled $3.20 billion, an increase of 59%, compared with $2.02 billion in the third quarter of 2013. Excluding the impact of year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates, revenue would have increased by 58%.

    • Revenue from advertising was $2.96 billion, a 64% increase from the same quarter last year. Excluding the impact of year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates, revenue from advertising would have increased by 63%.
    • Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 66% of advertising revenue for the third quarter of 2014, up from approximately 49% of advertising revenue in the third quarter of 2013.
    • Payments and other fees revenue was $246 million, a 13% increase from the same quarter last year.

    Costs and expenses – GAAP costs and expenses for the third quarter of 2014 were $1.81 billion, an increase of 41% from the third quarter of 2013. Non-GAAP information for 2013 has been updated to exclude amortization of intangible assets to conform to our current period presentation. Excluding amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, non-GAAP costs and expenses were $1.38 billion in the third quarter of 2014, up 39% compared to $992 million for the third quarter of 2013.

    Income from operations – GAAP income from operations for the third quarter of 2014 was $1.40 billion, up 90% compared to $736 million in the third quarter of 2013. Excluding amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, non-GAAP income from operations for the third quarter of 2014 was $1.82 billion, up 78% compared to $1.02 billion for the third quarter of 2013.

    Operating margin – GAAP operating margin was 44% for the third quarter of 2014, compared to 37% in the third quarter of 2013. Excluding amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, non-GAAP operating margin was 57% for the third quarter of 2014, compared to 51% for the third quarter of 2013.

    Provision for income taxes – GAAP income tax expense for the third quarter of 2014 was $530 million, representing a 40% effective tax rate. Excluding amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, the non-GAAP effective tax rate would have been approximately 35%.

    Net income and EPS – GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2014 was $806 million, up 90% compared to $425 million for the third quarter of 2013. Excluding amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, and income tax adjustments, non-GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2014 was $1.15 billion, up 73% compared to $666 million for the third quarter of 2013. GAAP diluted EPS was $0.30 in the third quarter of 2014, up 76% compared to $0.17 in the third quarter of 2013. Excluding amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, and income tax adjustments, non-GAAP diluted EPS for the third quarter of 2014 was $0.43, up 59% compared to $0.27 in the third quarter of 2013.

    Capital expenditures – Capital expenditures for the third quarter of 2014 were $482 million.

    Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities – Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $14.25 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2014.

    Free cash flow – Free cash flow for the third quarter of 2014 was $766 million.

    Webcast and Conference Call Information

    Facebook will host a conference call to discuss the results at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET today. The live webcast of Facebook’s earnings release call can be accessed at investor.fb.com, along with the earnings press release, financial tables and slide presentation. Facebook uses the investor.fb.com website and Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/zuck) as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

    Following the call, a replay will be available at the same website. A telephonic replay will be available for one week following the conference call at +1 (404) 537-3406 or +1 (855) 859-2056, conference ID 11108302.

    About Facebook

    Founded in 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.

    Contacts

    Investors:
    Deborah Crawford
    [email protected] / investor.fb.com

    Press:
    Vanessa Chan
    [email protected] / newsroom.fb.com

    Forward Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors including: our ability to retain or increase users and engagement levels; our reliance on advertising revenue; our ability to continue to monetize our mobile products; risks associated with new product development and their introduction as well as other new business initiatives; our emphasis on user growth and engagement and the user experience over short-term financial results; competition; litigation; privacy and regulatory concerns; risks associated with acquisitions; security breaches; and our ability to manage growth and geographically-dispersed operations. These and other potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted are more fully detailed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on July 24, 2014, which is available on our Investor Relations website at investor.fb.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2014. In addition, please note that the date of this press release is October 28, 2014, and any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. We undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use the following non-GAAP financial measures: revenue excluding foreign exchange effect and advertising revenue excluding foreign exchange effect; non-GAAP costs and expenses; non-GAAP income from operations; non-GAAP net income; non-GAAP diluted shares; non-GAAP diluted earnings per share; non-GAAP operating margin; non-GAAP effective tax rate; and free cash flow. The presentation of these financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. Investors are cautioned that there are material limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP financial measures as an analytical tool. In particular, many of the adjustments to our GAAP financial measures reflect the exclusion of items, specifically amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation expense, and payroll tax related to share-based compensation expense, and the related income tax effects of the aforementioned exclusions, that are recurring and will be reflected in our financial results for the foreseeable future. In addition, these measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies, limiting their usefulness for comparison purposes. We compensate for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from these non-GAAP financial measures.

    We believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide investors with useful supplemental information about the financial performance of our business, enable comparison of financial results between periods where certain items may vary independent of business performance, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in operating our business.

    We exclude the following items from one or more of our non-GAAP financial measures:

    Amortization of intangible assets. We amortize intangible assets acquired in connection with acquisitions. We exclude these amortization expenses because we do not believe these expenses are reflective of ongoing operating results in the period. These amounts arise from our prior acquisitions and have no direct correlation to the operation of our business.

    Share-based compensation expense. We exclude share-based compensation expense because we believe that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance. In particular, because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types that companies can use under FASB ASC 718, we believe that providing non-GAAP financial measures that exclude this expense allows investors the ability to make more meaningful comparisons between our operating results and those of other companies. Accordingly, we believe that excluding this expense provides investors and management with greater visibility to the underlying performance of our business operations, facilitates comparison of our results with other periods, and may also facilitate comparison with the results of other companies in our industry.

    Payroll tax expense related to share-based compensation. We exclude payroll tax expense related to share-based compensation expense because, without excluding these tax expenses, investors would not see the full effect that excluding share-based compensation expense had on our operating results. These expenses are tied to the exercise or vesting of underlying equity awards and the price of our common stock at the time of vesting or exercise, which factors may vary from period to period independent of the operating performance of our business. Similar to share-based compensation expense, we believe that excluding this payroll tax expense provides investors and management with greater visibility to the underlying performance of our business operations and facilitates comparison with other periods as well as the results of other companies.

    Income tax effect of amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses. We believe excluding the income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments assists investors and management in understanding the tax provision related to those adjustments and provides useful supplemental information regarding the underlying performance of our business operations.

    Foreign exchange effect on revenue. We translate revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 using prior year exchange rates for our settlement currencies, which we believe is a useful metric that facilitates comparison to our historical performance.

    Purchases of property and equipment; Property and equipment acquired under capital leases. We subtract both purchases of property and equipment and property and equipment acquired under capital leases in our calculation of free cash flow because we believe that these two items collectively represent the amount of property and equipment we need to procure to support our business, regardless of whether we finance such property or equipment with a capital lease. We believe that this methodology can provide useful supplemental information to help investors better understand underlying trends in our business.

    For more information on our non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of such measures to the nearest GAAP measure, please see the “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Results to Nearest GAAP Measures” table in this press release.

     

    FACEBOOK, INC.
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
    (In millions, except for per share amounts)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended

    September 30,

    		 Nine Months Ended

    September 30,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    Revenue $ 3,203 $ 2,016 $ 8,615 $ 5,286
    Costs and expenses:
    Cost of revenue 565 507 1,501 1,384
    Research and development 608 369 1,555 1,006
    Marketing and sales 374 233 1,055 704
    General and administrative 259 171 643 520
      Total costs and expenses 1,806 1,280 4,754 3,614
    Income from operations 1,397 736 3,861 1,672
    Interest and other income/(expense), net (61) (10) (65) (48)
    Income before provision for income taxes 1,336 726 3,796 1,624
    Provision for income taxes 530 301 1,557 647
    Net income $ 806 $ 425 $ 2,239 $ 977
    Less: Net income attributable to participating securities 4 3 10 6
    Net income attributable to Class A and Class B common stockholders $ 802 $ 422 $ 2,229 $ 971
    Earnings per share attributable to Class A and Class B common stockholders:
    Basic $ 0.31 $ 0.17 $ 0.87 $ 0.40
    Diluted $ 0.30 $ 0.17 $ 0.86 $ 0.39
    Weighted average shares used to compute earnings per share attributable to Class A and Class B common stockholders:
    Basic 2,587 2,430 2,565 2,408
    Diluted 2,644 2,528 2,616 2,504
    Share-based compensation expense included in costs and expenses:
    Cost of revenue $ 16 $ 12 $ 44 $ 31
    Research and development 243 164 643 432
    Marketing and sales 53 34 146 91
    General and administrative 41 29 108 79
      Total share-based compensation expense $ 353 $ 239 $ 941 $ 633
    Payroll tax expenses related to share-based compensation included in costs and expenses:
    Cost of revenue $ 1 $ — $ 3 $ 1
    Research and development 6 8 27 26
    Marketing and sales 1 2 7 7
    General and administrative 3 2 7 6
      Total payroll tax expenses related to share-based compensation $ 11 $ 12 $ 44 $ 40
    Amortization of intangible assets included in costs and expenses:
    Cost of revenue $ 26 $ 5 $ 42 $ 9
    Research and development 9 9 25 28
    Marketing and sales 1 1 3 3
    General and administrative 23 22 71 66
      Total amortization of intangible assets $ 59 $ 37 $ 141 $ 106

     

    FACEBOOK, INC.
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (In millions)
    (Unaudited)
    September 30,

    2014

    		 December 31,

    2013
    Assets
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 8,999 $ 3,323
    Marketable securities 5,251 8,126
    Accounts receivable 1,363 1,109
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets 502 512
    Total current assets 16,115 13,070
    Property and equipment, net 3,703 2,882
    Intangible assets, net 1,317 883
    Goodwill 2,612 839
    Other assets 441 221
    Total assets $ 24,188 $ 17,895
    Liabilities and stockholders’ equity
    Current liabilities:
    Accounts payable $ 120 $ 87
    Partners payable 208 181
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 709 555
    Deferred revenue and deposits 48 38
    Current portion of capital lease obligations 149 239
    Total current liabilities 1,234 1,100
    Capital lease obligations, less current portion 129 237
    Other liabilities 1,587 1,088
    Total liabilities 2,950 2,425
    Stockholders’ equity
    Common stock and additional paid-in capital 15,949 12,297
    Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income (109) 14
    Retained earnings 5,398 3,159
    Total stockholders’ equity 21,238 15,470
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 24,188 $ 17,895

     

    FACEBOOK, INC.
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
    (In millions)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended

    September 30,

    		 Nine Months Ended

    September 30,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    Cash flows from operating activities
    Net income $ 806 $ 425 $ 2,239 $ 977
    Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
    Depreciation and amortization 289 274 810 737
    Lease abandonment (5) 43 (31) 108
    Share-based compensation 353 239 941 633
    Deferred income taxes 4 2 (30) 21
    Tax benefit from share-based award activity 479 129 1,354 277
    Excess tax benefit from share-based award activity (482) (130) (1,365) (285)
    Other 2 19 5 39
    Changes in assets and liabilities:
    Accounts receivable (182) (83) (264) (145)
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets (55) 5 (45) 433
    Other assets (176) 9 (158) (35)
    Accounts payable (57) (19) 12 (17)
    Partners payable (17) (1) (22) 2
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 123 (114) 198 (105)
    Deferred revenue and deposits (12) 4 3 6
    Other liabilities 178 148 227 345
    Net cash provided by operating activities 1,248 950 3,874 2,991
    Cash flows from investing activities
    Purchases of property and equipment (482) (284) (1,314) (879)
    Purchases of marketable securities (1,733) (904) (6,215) (4,364)
    Sales of marketable securities 5,423 1,158 7,391 2,433
    Maturities of marketable securities 636 780 1,710 2,954
    Acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired, and purchases of intangible assets (735) (16) (754) (237)
    Change in restricted cash and deposits (111) — (113) 4
    Other investing activities, net (1) — (2) (1)
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities 2,997 734 703 (90)
    Cash flows from financing activities
    Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards — (148) (3) (706)
    Proceeds from exercise of stock options 5 10 7 20
    Repayment of long-term debt — (1,500) — (1,500)
    Principal payments on capital lease obligations (49) (91) (199) (291)
    Excess tax benefit from share-based award activity 482 130 1,365 285
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 438 (1,599) 1,170 (2,192)
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (68) 14 (71) 7
    Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 4,615 99 5,676 716
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 4,384 3,001 3,323 2,384
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 8,999 $ 3,100 $ 8,999 $ 3,100
    Supplemental cash flow data
    Cash paid during the period for:
    Interest $ 3 $ 7 $ 11 $ 33
    Income taxes $ 46 $ 43 $ 107 $ 61
    Cash received during the period for:
    Income taxes $ 4 $ — $ 6 $ 419
    Non-cash investing and financing activities:
    Net change in accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities related to property and equipment additions $ 20 $ 36 $ 38 $ 31
    Property and equipment acquired under capital leases $ — $ — $ — $ 11
    Fair value of shares issued related to acquisitions of businesses $ 1,368 $ — $ 1,368 $ 77

     

    Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Results to Nearest GAAP Measures*
    (In millions, except percentages and per share amounts)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended

    September 30,

    		 Nine Months Ended

    September 30,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    GAAP revenue $ 3,203 $ 2,016 $ 8,615 $ 5,286
    Foreign exchange effect on 2014 revenue using 2013 rates 21 42
    Revenue excluding foreign exchange effect $ 3,182 $ 8,573
    GAAP revenue year-over-year change % 59% 63%
    Revenue excluding foreign exchange effect year-over-year change % 58% 62%
    GAAP advertising revenue $ 2,957 $ 1,798 $ 7,898 $ 4,641
    Foreign exchange effect on 2014 advertising revenue using 2013 rates 21 42
    Advertising revenue excluding foreign exchange effect $ 2,936 $ 7,856
    GAAP advertising revenue year-over-year change % 64% 70%
    Advertising revenue excluding foreign exchange effect year-over-year change % 63% 69%
    GAAP costs and expenses $ 1,806 $ 1,280 $ 4,754 $ 3,614
    Share-based compensation expense (353) (239) (941) (633)
    Payroll tax expenses related to share-based compensation (11) (12) (44) (40)
    Amortization of intangible assets (59) (37) (141) (106)
    Non-GAAP costs and expenses $ 1,383 $ 992 $ 3,628 $ 2,835
    GAAP income from operations $ 1,397 $ 736 $ 3,861 $ 1,672
    Share-based compensation expense 353 239 941 633
    Payroll tax expenses related to share-based compensation 11 12 44 40
    Amortization of intangible assets 59 37 141 106
    Non-GAAP income from operations $ 1,820 $ 1,024 $ 4,987 $ 2,451
    GAAP net income $ 806 $ 425 $ 2,239 $ 977
    Share-based compensation expense 353 239 941 633
    Payroll tax expenses related to share-based compensation 11 12 44 40
    Amortization of intangible assets 59 37 141 106
    Income tax adjustments (80) (47) (171) (236)
    Non-GAAP net income $ 1,149 $ 666 $ 3,194 $ 1,520
    GAAP and Non-GAAP diluted shares 2,644 2,528 2,616 2,504
    GAAP diluted earnings per share $ 0.30 $ 0.17 $ 0.86 $ 0.39
    Net income attributable to participating securities — — (0.01) —
    Non-GAAP adjustments to net income 0.13 0.10 0.37 0.22
    Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share $ 0.43 $ 0.27 $ 1.22 $ 0.61
    GAAP operating margin 44% 37% 45% 32%
    Share-based compensation expense 11% 12% 11% 12%
    Payroll tax expenses related to share-based compensation —% 1% 1% 1%
    Amortization of intangible assets 2% 2% 2% 2%
    Non-GAAP operating margin 57% 51% 58% 46%
    GAAP income before provision for income taxes $ 1,336 $ 726 $ 3,796 $ 1,624
    GAAP provision for income taxes 530 301 1,557 647
    GAAP effective tax rate 40% 41% 41% 40%
    GAAP income before provision for income taxes $ 1,336 $ 726 $ 3,796 $ 1,624
    Share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses 364 251 985 673
    Amortization of intangible assets 59 37 141 106
    Non-GAAP income before provision for income taxes $ 1,759 $ 1,014 $ 4,922 $ 2,403
    Non-GAAP provision for income taxes 610 348 1,728 883
    Non-GAAP effective tax rate 35% 34% 35% 37%
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 1,248 $ 950 $ 3,874 $ 2,991
    Purchases of property and equipment (482) (284) (1,314) (879)
    Property and equipment acquired under capital leases — — — (11)
    Free cash flow $ 766 $ 666 $ 2,560 $ 2,101
    * Non-GAAP information for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 has been updated to exclude amortization of intangible assets to conform to our current period presentation.

    SOURCE Facebook, Inc.

    Image via Facebook

  • Mark Zuckerberg, Paul Allen, Bill Gates Outgive Several Major Countries to Fight Ebola

    Mark Zuckerberg, Paul Allen, Bill Gates Outgive Several Major Countries to Fight Ebola

    According to a report from Business Insider, three of America’s tech giants are out-giving several major countries in the fight against Ebola.

    We reported here about Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan pledging $25 million to fight Ebola on the front lines in Africa. Bill Gates has already pledged $50 million through the Gates Foundation. And recently Paul Allen pledged $100 million through his Allen Family Foundation toward stopping the epidemic.

    Seeing billionaires give money to a good cause is nothing new. These three men have already been leaders in philanthropic circles, especially Gates and Allen, for a long time.

    This year alone, the Gates Foundation has given many millions of dollars toward educational institutions, financial services for the poor, agricultural development, and children’s health causes.

    Paul Allen’s foundation says it gives in three major focus areas:

    “Our Pacific Northwest Program funds arts, and culture, libraries, education and financial empowerment projects in local communities; our Global Initiatives fuel exploration and innovation in the fields of science and technology; and our Signature Awards area recognizes and awards creative leaders and promising researchers.”

    Their grantee list shows that they give to arts and culture concerns, science and technology endeavors, as well as asset building and education efforts.

    Zuckerberg reportedly does not have a “foundation,” per se. Inside Philanthropy reports that he has a “donor-advised fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and also created a supporting organization of SVCF called Startup:Education, which is the outfit through which Zuckerberg and Chan do their giving.”

    Zuckerberg not only gives cash grants through his philanthropic arrangements, but millions of shares of Facebook stock.

    The combined totals that these three men (and their wives) are giving to fight Ebola is $175 million dollars. This number starts to look quite impressive when stacked up against other totals. For example, here are the totals of a few other “donors”.

    India $12 million
    China $33 million
    Japan $40 million
    Canada $57 million
    France $89 million
    Germany $130 million
    Int’l Monetary Fund $140 million
    African Dev. Bank $150 million

    Let’s pause there a moment. Three men in America are together giving more money toward fighting Ebola than several countries combined, and more than the IMF.

    Only when we get to the top three “donors” do we see these Big Three Tech Philanthropists in comparable company.

    United Kingdom $210 million
    World Bank $400 million
    United States $750 million

  • Mark Zuckerberg Gives CDC $25M to Fight Ebola

    Mark Zuckerberg Gives CDC $25M to Fight Ebola

    Saying we’re at a “critical turning point” in the fight against Ebola, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating a hefty $25 million to the cause.

    Here’s what Zuckerberg had to say in a post:

    The Ebola epidemic is at a critical turning point. It has infected 8,400 people so far, but it is spreading very quickly and projections suggest it could infect 1 million people or more over the next several months if not addressed.

    We need to get Ebola under control in the near term so that it doesn’t spread further and become a long term global health crisis that we end up fighting for decades at large scale, like HIV or polio.

    We believe our grant is the quickest way to empower the CDC and the experts in this field to prevent this outcome.

    Grants like this directly help the frontline responders in their heroic work. These people are on the ground setting up care centers, training local staff, identifying Ebola cases and much more.

    “The U.S. has a GDP of $17 trillion. Why should YOU have to put in $25MM???” asks one commenter.

    “I think we have a responsibility to help out wherever we see a need,” said Zuckerberg in reply. “One problem right now is that most people — including government leaders — don’t realize we’re at such a critical turning point. It’s easy to say Ebola is still small compared to other diseases or that it’s mostly in other countries and won’t affect us, but if we don’t get this under control soon, then it will spread and become an epidemic we have to deal with for decades to come.

    “Spending $25 million to help get this under control now is very little cost compared to all the lives it could save and all the billions of dollars of costs we’d have to spend fighting the disease if it spread much further.”

    Worldwide, the Ebola outbreak has seen almost 9,000 identified cases – mainly in West Africa. There have been nearly 4,500 deaths, according to the UN. The UN has advised that we have about two months to contain the outbreak (70% infected in care and 70% dead buried) otherwise “face an entirely unprecedented situation for which [they] do not have a plan.”

    In the United States, a second health care worker in Dallas has tested positive for the virus, following the first confirmed death from Ebola diagnosed in the US – one Thomas Eric Duncan.

    “Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored. The type of monitoring depends on the nature of their interactions and the potential they were exposed to the virus,” say Texas state health officials.

    “It makes me happy that the better Facebook does, the more Priscilla and I can do to help others!” said Zuckerberg.

    Post by Mark Zuckerberg.

    Image via Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

  • Mark Zuckerberg Donates $25 Million to Fight Ebola on the Front Lines

    Mark Zuckerberg Donates $25 Million to Fight Ebola on the Front Lines

    Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said yesterday that he and his wife would $25 million to the Centers for Disease Control Foundation to fight Ebola.

    The nation’s most famous hoodie-wearing public figure since the Unabomber announced his donation — where else? — on his Facebook page.

    “We need to get Ebola under control in the near term so that it doesn’t spread further and become a long-term global health crisis that we end up fighting for decades at large scale, like HIV or polio. We believe our grant is the quickest way to empower the CDC and the experts in this field to prevent this outcome.”

    The grant is from Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, who is a doctor. Their gift will go to help fight the disease on the front lines in Africa. It will be used to train staff, set up care centers, and identify Ebola cases.

    “One problem right now is that most people — including government leaders — don’t realize we’re at such a critical turning point,” Zuckerberg said. “Spending $25 million to help get this under control now is very little cost compared to all the lives it could save and all the billions of dollars of costs we’d have to spend fighting the disease if it spread much further.”

    While Ebola is a terrible and often-fatal disease, medical professionals do offer encouraging news about the disease that should help calm the public. For example, Ebola is not an airborne virus. This is cause for relief, since it means that transmission and spread of the disease is limited to bodily fluid contact. Persons who have the disease and capable of transmitting it are usually far too sick to be traveling. This limits the possibility of transmission to, literally, spitting distance.

    But that can be far enough to start a pandemic. After all, HIV is not airborne either. Efforts like those bankrolled by Zuckerberg and Chan are needed to get a handle on what could be a globally devastating disease.

    More information about Ebola can be found on the CDC Foundation website.

  • Mark Zuckerberg Reportedly Pissing Off His Neighbors with Round-the-Clock Construction

    Mark Zuckerberg Reportedly Pissing Off His Neighbors with Round-the-Clock Construction

    According to his neighbors, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has spent way too long and way too much turning a $10 million “fixer-upper” into a “fortress.”

    According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, a supervisor whose territory includes the Dolores Heights neighborhood says he’s received multiple emails from residents complaining about Zuckerberg’s fixing upping.

    Apparently, Zuckerberg’s construction on his 1920s-era home has left some residents flustered over the commotion. The Chronicle paints a picture of “dozens of construction workers, using backhoes and jackhammers, are busy installing everything from a new kitchen to bathrooms and decks — and tearing up the sidewalks for new fiber-optic cables that will connect to the home…” for nearly 17 months, since construction began in April of last year.

    Not only that, but some residents have found parking on the street scare, as construction crews have installed “no parking” signs around the site.

    In all, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have reportedly taken out millions in construction permits.

    If this sounds familiar, that’s because Zuckerberg’s been in the news for his real estate ventures before. This Dolores Heights home? That’s just a second property. Zuckerberg’s original “fortress” sits in Palo Alto. Last year, Zuckerberg reportedly bought up the four adjacent lots, spending between $30 and $43 million on the properties.

    Why? Apparently, he just wanted a little privacy. According to Mercury News, Zuckerberg “acted after he learned of a developer’s plan to buy one of the properties next door to the Facebook co-founder.”

    Earlier this year, he was sued over that deal.

    Image via Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook video screenshot

  • Conan O’Brien Accepts ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

    Conan O’Brien Accepts ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

    Conan O’Brien has joined the list of celebrities and several of your Facebook friends. The talk show host admitted to being called out by many different people to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in order to raise awareness. ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

    The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been a viral sensation all week on social media. In case you haven’t seen it, a person who has been “called out” dumps a bucket of ice cold water on their head while being videotaped. If they don’t agree to the challenge, they should donate $100 to ALS. (And even if they do the challenge, they should also send the charity a $100.) Then, that same person gets to “call out” a few of their friends or family members to do the same.

    O’Brien’s schtick during the challenge was that he thought that he was going to get paid $100 to dump ice cold water on his head, not the other way around.

    Check it out:

    O’Brien called out Jimmy Carter, Pelé, and Haley Joel Osment. We’ll see if they abide and perform the challenge. Several big celebrities have gotten into the game including: Justin Timberlake, Martha Stewart, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jimmy Fallon.

    Whether you personally enjoy watching people pour ice cold buckets of water on their head or not, one can’t argue with the success of the campaign. It’s being reported that the movement has raised over $5.5 million for the ALS Association since July 29, compared to $32,000 during that same period one year ago.

    Here’s video of a few more celebrities performing the challenge:

    Mark Zuckerberg

    Martha Stewart

    Michelle Wie

    The ALS Association’s definition of the disease:

    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

    If you would like to donate money to the association or help out in any way, you can click here.

    Image via YouTube Screenshot

  • Here’s Mark Zuckerberg Doing That Ice Bucket Thing

    Here’s Mark Zuckerberg Doing That Ice Bucket Thing

    This is the end, right? Once the CEO of Facebook, the site on which this whole viral trend has propagated, completes the challenge – it’s over, correct? Is that how it works?

    Wednesday night, Mark Zuckerberg posted a video of himself dumping a bucket of ice water on his head. Just like countless Ice Bucket Challenge participants before him, he quickly realized that “it was really cold”.

    Post by Mark Zuckerberg.

    As you can see, Zuckerberg called on Bill Gates, Sheryl Sandberg and Reed Hastings to dump buckets of ice water on their heads in order to avoid giving to charity.

    Ok, that’s not exactly fair. I’m sure Mark Zuckerberg will gladly give $100 to an ALS cause – even though he completed the challenge. But let’s remember that the entire premise of the Ice Bucket Challenge involves dumping ice water on yourself to avoid donating to charity.

    The challenge involves people getting doused with buckets of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, then nominating others to do the same, all in an effort to raise ALS awareness. Those who refuse to take the challenge are asked to make a donation to the ALS charity of their choice.

    That’s from the official ALS Association website.

    But is it raising awareness? I guess – it’s all over Facebook. You know that. You’ve seen it, I’m sure. Celebrities are doing it – it’s on the Today show. This dumping ice water on your head thing has made it big.

    “Raising Awareness” is one of those phrases that sounds awesome, but when you think about it, isn’t really as awesome as “giving money to a cause”. And let’s be honest, any time you do something, put it on video, and post it to Facebook – the stunt isn’t entirely about “raising awareness” anyway. Well, unless we’re talking about raising awareness of the fact that you’re a really good person.

    Sorry. I know I’m being a cold, ice water-soaked blanket.

    Image via Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook video screenshot

  • Facebook’s Internet.org App Brings Free Internet to the Under-Connected

    Facebook’s Internet.org App Brings Free Internet to the Under-Connected

    Nearly a year ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new initiative called Internet.org, with the stated mission of making the internet available to all (making affordable internet access available to the two thirds of the world not yet connected, in its words). Zuckerberg and his new group lamented that devices and data plans are too expensive, mobile networks are shoddy, power sources are limited, and in some places simple knowledge of the internet is non-existent.

    Today, Zuckerberg and company are taking one of their first big steps to help bring basic internet access to the underserved. They’re launching an Internet.org Android app.

    The app will debut in Zambia, a country where only 15 percent of the population has internet access. Of course, Zuckerberg hopes to expand into more countries as soon as possible.

    “A year ago, I announced Internet.org, our effort to bring affordable internet access to everyone in the world.
    We believe that every person should have access to free basic internet services – tools for health, education, jobs and basic communication,” says Zuckerberg.

    “Right now, only 15% of people in Zambia have access to the internet. Soon, everyone will be able to use the internet for free to find jobs, get help with reproductive health and other aspects of health, and use tools like Facebook to stay connected with the people they love. This is a big step forward in achieving the mission of Facebook and Internet.org. We’re looking forward to bringing free basic services to more countries soon.”

    Post by Mark Zuckerberg.

    The Internet.org app will provide free, basic access to things like Facebook, Google search, Wikipedia, Facebook Messenger, and AccuWeather. All of these services will be accessible through the new app – but also via internet.org as well as the main Facebook for Android app.

    Images via Facebook (1) (2)

  • William Shatner Not Happy With Zuckerberg App

    William Shatner Not Happy With Zuckerberg App

    William Shatner is clearly not happy with Mark Zuckerberg’s new app–the one that is available to celebrities only. Called ‘Mentions,’ the app is available to celebs and notable people so they can keep track of how often their names are mentioned on Facebook.

    Shatner dissed ‘Mentions’ via his Tumblr account, sharing his dislike (no, they still don’t have a button for that) of the fact that in order to utilize ‘Mentions,’ celebs must ‘like’ others.”

    “When you install the Mentions App you cannot proceed further until you follow another one of their other ‘celebrity’ accounts,” Shatner explained. “The first person on the list I was given was George Takei (rolling my eyes.) I ended up choosing Robert Downey Jr. to follow and then I hid his posts (sorry Robert!) I think that is a big flaw in the set up. If this app is for celebrities then WHY force them to follow another celebrity in order to set up this app? I think that is a flaw; I’m already following those who I want to follow – why insist I follow that short list of others?”

    “Rolling my eyes,” Shatner wrote about the rather awkward suggestion that he follow George Takei. The two actors have a bizarre feud going on.

    Incidentally there was no mention by the Star Trek star as to whether or not Robert Downey, Jr. chose to follow him back. Hmmm….doesn’t seem likely.

    William Shatner summed up his feelings about Mark Zuckerberg’s new ‘Mentions’ app as follows:

    “I’m not quite sure why Facebook released this app for “celebrities”. It seems to be ill conceived,” he wrote. “I will probably use it to post to my Facebook when I’m on my phone but it doesn’t allow for mail or groups. I will continue to use my regular Facebook App as well as the Pages app.”

    Per William Shatner’s assessment of Mark Zuckerberg’s new app, do you think it will live to see lots of celebrity action? Is Captain Kirk being harsh or is it really a rather silly notion?

    Do you think lots of people will take Facebook app advice from William Shatner?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Facebook’s Impact on Oculus Rift? Cost, Says CEO

    Facebook’s Impact on Oculus Rift? Cost, Says CEO

    To the people who invested the most in Oculus VR and their nascent virtual reality company – the ones who donated to its Kickstarter campaign and eagerly followed the technology as it matured – Facebook’s surprise acquisition was a walk into a room, record-scratching, head-turning, what the absolute f*ck moment.

    The big question was what the hell is Facebook going to do to it?

    Well, according to Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe, the initial impact of having Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg around could be in the first consumer Oculus Rift’s price.

    Here’s what Iribe told Ars Technica:

    “I think [the Facebook buyout] is going to allow us to deliver consumer V1 at a lower cost, because we’re not trying to drive a high margin on this. [Facebook CEO] Mark [Zuckerberg], especially, wants to bring the cost down, him more than me. I do, too, but at the same time we were planning to run a business, hopefully a break-even [or] profitable business off of this, not a money-losing business. Mark is much more in the mindset of ‘Let’s get this to scale with the best quality product at the lowest cost possible.’”

    He continues:

    “I’m hopeful we’re not going to be losing money on [the hardware], but I think everybody agrees that if we can do it at cost that would be great for everybody. As Mark says, as you start to get to race to scale there are a lot of opportunities to monetize that are really great for consumers, because they get a really low-cost product.”

    So, both Iribe and Zuckerberg (and the latter to a higher degree) feel that selling at cost would be great for everybody. Not that that’s going to happen, but it sure sounds like Iribe knows the first consumer version of the Oculus Rift isn’t going to be a money-making machine.

    In fact, he told Ars that he’s just looking for a little over a million units sold in the first Oculus Rift’s lifetime.

    Iribe went on say that as far as the actual composition of the device, Facebook’s acquisition came too late in the game to have much of an effect. But,

    “It is going to allow us to deliver a much better consumer V2, that’s for sure. Hardware-wise, we were pretty locked in already [for Version 1]…but [Facebook] will allow us to make consumer V2 totally incredible.”

    Or make V2 super creepy. We’ll have to wait and see about that one. V1 will be out next year.

    Image via OculusVR.com