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Mark Zuckerberg Endures Facebook Privacy Grilling in the D8 Hotseat

by Terrence O'Brien on June 3, 2010 at 02:55 PM

Zuckerberg Sweats it Out
Mark Zuckerberg sat down with The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the D8 conference on Wednesday evening. The Facebook CEO subjected himself a lengthy interview with the pair that covered topics from privacy, to the future of Facebook, privacy, to management style, privacy, personalized Web experiences and, finally, privacy. Mossberg and Swisher prodded, but stopped just short of grilling, Zuckerberg about perceived mistakes and issues regarding sharing settings and personalization features.

It's both perversely enjoyable and a little sad to watch as the Facebook founder has what some are referring to as his "Nixon moment." Zuckerberg squirms and rambles (check out the video below around 4:10), sometimes incoherently, without giving direct (or even indirect) answers. Making the whole encounter that much more uncomfortable, Zuck decided to don his trademark hoodie on stage (under the hot lights, in the summer). The CEO sweated profusely through the interview, and can be seen wiping enough of it off his face to leave a mark on his sweatshirt sleeve.

Even if Zuck decided to take our advice and stop dressing like a frat boy, it probably wouldn't have helped. He awkwardly stumbled through non-answers to questions about Facebook's tendency to simply activate new features for users regardless of potential privacy concerns. Zuckerberg said that privacy and sharing was about "striking a balance" and mumbled something about "opt-in versus opt-out" but never really addressed the original question. He called the assertion that Facebook wanted to make all information open "completely false," and said he had no interest in taking Facebook public. Check out the interview embedded below, and don't miss the moment when he finally removes the sweatshirt and reveals the secret message inside. [From: All Things Digital]

Tags: d8, d8 conference, D8Conference, facebook, facebook privacy, FacebookPrivacy, kara swisher, KaraSwisher, Mark Zuckerberg, MarkZuckerberg, nixon moment, NixonMoment, privacy, socialnetworking, top, walt mossberg, WaltMossberg

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