In just about a year, Facebook-turned-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse vision has cost his company upwards of $15 billion, cratering value and — at least in part — triggering mass company layoffs. That's a high price tag, especially when the Facebook creator has shockingly little to show for it, both in actual technology and public interest.
Indeed, it seems that every time Zuckerberg excitedly explains what his currently-legless metaverse will one day hold, he's met with crickets — and a fair share of ridicule — at the town square. Most everyone finds themselves looking around and asking themselves the same question: who could this possibly be for, other than Zucko himself?
That question, however, doesn't really seem to matter to the swashzuckling CEO, who's either convinced that the public wants and needs his metaverse just as much as he does, or is simply just convicted to the belief that one day people will finally get it. After all, he's bet his company on this thing and needs the public to engage to stay financially viable long-term.
And sure, points for conviction. But conviction is easy if you're surrounded by a bunch of yes men — which, according to Vanity Fair, the founder unfortunately is. And with $15 billion down the line, that may not bode well for the Silicon Valley giant.
"The problem now is that Mark has surrounded himself with sycophants, and for some reason he's fallen for their vision of the future, which no one else is interested in," one former Facebook exec told Vanity Fair. "In a previous era, someone would have been able to reason with Mark about the company's direction, but that is no longer the case."
Given that previous reports have revealed that some Meta employees have taken to marking metaverse documents with the label "MMA" — "Make Mark Happy" — the revelation that he's limited his close circle to people who only agree with him isn't all that shocking. He wants the metaverse, he wants it bad, and he's put a mind-boggling amount of social and financial capital into his AR-driven dream.
While the majority of his many thousands of employees might disagree with him — Vanity Fair reports that current and former metamates have written things like "the metaverse will be our slow death" and "Mark Zuckerberg will single-handedly kill a company with the metaverse" on the Silicon Valley-loved Blind app — it's not exactly easy, or even that possible, to wrestle with the fact that you may have made a dire miscalculation this financially far down the road.
And if you just keep a close circle of people who just agree with you, you may not really have to confront that potential for failure. At least not for a while.
The truth is that Zuckerberg successfully created a thing that has impacted nearly every single person on this Earth. Few people can say that. And while it can be argued that the thing he built has, at its best, created some real avenues for connection, that same creation also seems to have led to his own isolation, in life and at work.
How ironic it is that he's marketed his metaverse on that same promise of connection, only to become more disconnected than ever.
READ MORE: "Mark Has Surrounded Himself with Sycophants": Zuckerberg's Big Bet on the Metaverse Is Backfiring [Vanity Fair]
More on the Meta value: Stock Analyst Cries on Tv Because He Recommended Facebook Stock
The post Former Facebook Exec Says Zuckerberg Has Surrounded Himself With Sycophants appeared first on Futurism.
Original post:
Former Facebook Exec Says Zuckerberg Has Surrounded Himself With Sycophants
- How good is fish for your diet? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What foods have both fiber and protein? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is There Evidence That Acupuncture Works? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What are some good fiber foods? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Can Green Tea fight HIV infection? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Quality of GNC Supplements - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Gene Smart Diet - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Tips for eating in a vegetarian lifestyle - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Regarding the Starting of a new diet regimen - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Thoughts on Dropping Weight - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What do doctors think about vitamin E supplements? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What herbs or supplements are commonly used for depression? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is there a safe way to lose a lot of weight? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Diets that promise you will lose weight - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Are Fish Toxins Linked to Diabetes? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Can Plastic Surgery Help Migraines? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Weight Loss Surgery Eradicates Diabetes Symptoms - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Found: A Gene That Controls Fat Cells - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Sugars and Starches, what's the difference? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Improving your health with a serving of nuts? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is Your Diet Causing You To Be Depressed? - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Placebo Effect: Magnetic Bracelet Therapy - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Does serotonin promote sleep? - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Decreased energy levels - Overeating, Sleep, Nutrition - February 1st, 2010 [February 1st, 2010]
- When will the body begin to cannibalize muscle tissue? - February 7th, 2010 [February 7th, 2010]
- Foods that are high in antioxidants - February 7th, 2010 [February 7th, 2010]
- Editorial: Reduce health care costs by cutting administrative overhead - April 1st, 2012 [April 1st, 2012]
- Health Care Winners: Centene, Onyxx - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Dan Morain: Nurses union puts politics ahead of health - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- What's next if Obamacare falls? - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Global Managed Health Care Services Industry - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Immigration Fight Echoes Health-Care Case at High Court - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Medical Centers Lead Workplace Wellness Effort - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- The next health care overhaul? Look to employers - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Capital BlueCross Hosts Community Health Care Forums Focused on Managing Costs While Maintaining Quality - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- County committee to look at area health care - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- President Obama Calls on Students to Tell Congress: #DontDoubleMyRate - Video - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Sen. Coburn: Competition in Health Care to Allocate Resources - Video - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Jesse Kelly health care - Video - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- PHC Vision Statement (short version) - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- The Bioeconomy Blueprint Panel - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Providence Health Care's Vision Statement - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Department of Health and Human Services: Minority Health Blogger Townhall - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Health care worker accused of stealing identities of brain i - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Health Care Reform, Part 1 of 3 | KYVE Insiders Roundtable - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Health Care Reform: The ACA and Beyond - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Is Broccoli Like Health Insurance? - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Did Obama make a mistake on health care? - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- How Democrats Lie About Health Care - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Toobin on Health Care: This was a "judicial hissy-fit" - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- President Obama says health care law will stand - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Obama Defends Health Care Law From 'Judicial Activism' - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Obama Healthcare Individual Mandate - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- President Obama attacks Supreme Court on health care - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Raw Audio: High Court Dissects Health Care Act - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Health care on trial - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Final Day of Health Care Law Arguments Before Supreme Court - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Feds to put up $1.9B for Oregon health overhaul - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Scuttling health care act will freeze Medicare, White House warns - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- U.S. Health Care Spending High, But Quality Lags: Report - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Yes, the Health-Care Mandate Is About Liberty - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Health center gets $1M federal grant - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Health-care reform panel considers exchange options for Va. - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Hmong health care gap focus of Healthy House dinner - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Walsh-led health bill to be unveiled - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Ontario health system confusing for ailing seniors, study finds - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- 'Health Care Deserts' More Common in Black Neighborhoods - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- With federal money, Oregon kicks health care reform into high gear - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Nurse practitioners tackling more 'doctor' tasks - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Konza Prairie Health Center Receives $4.5 Million Grant - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Alberta wages hurting Sask. health care - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- House releases plan to cut growth of Massachusetts health spending in half - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Mass. House Will Unveil Bill Seeking To Rein In Health Costs - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- President Obama Welcomes the Kentucky Wildcats - Video - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- President Obama Speaks on College Affordability - Video - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- My First Job: Gene Sperling - Video - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Health-care costs worry near-retirees - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- Massachusetts Institutes Health-Care Price Controls. Is America Next? - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- Massachusetts Moves Toward Health-Care Price Controls. Is America Next? - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- GOP plan boosts Pentagon, cuts social programs - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]