Nothing lasts forever -- unless it's on the internet.
Ah, yes, cyberspace, that funhouse mirror reflection of reality where all the offensive, bigoted and downright stupid things that people say go to die -- until the worst possible moment.
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So many promising careers and great opportunities have been disrupted by supposedly forgotten tweets and posts that coming roaring back to life like a zombie hog caller.
Mark Zuckerberg talking about Facebook users pic.twitter.com/NhWDh7t50S
— Andrew (@andrewmichaelio) July 6, 2023
Consider the late Gilbert Gottfried, the one-time voice of Aflac's duck mascot, who cooked his goose with the insurer in 2011 after tweeting a series of crude jokes about an earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Zuck's Digital Past Comes Back
Now it seems that Mark Zuckerberg's digital past is coming back to flip him the bird, which is rather ironic seeing as he is the chief executive of Meta Platforms (META) -), the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
!!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2023
On July 6 instant messages by a 19-year Zuck appeared on Twitter, along with a link to a 2010 Business Insider story about an exchange that took place shortly after the Facebook founder launched the social-media phenomenon in his dorm room.
"Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard just me. I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS," Zuckerberg's message says.
"What? How'd you manage that one?" a friend asks.
"People just submitted it," Zuckerberg responds. "I don't know why They 'trust me. Dumb fucks."
This story has appeared in the media for years, but the timing is pretty bad now, as Meta just launched its highly anticipated Twitter alternative, Threads, and pulled in 10 million signups in its first seven hours.
The launch of the app, which is connected to Instagram, has amped up the rivalry between Zuckerberg, who is 39, and Twitter owner Elon Musk, 52.
The Tesla (TSLA) -) CEO, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, seemed to be at a loss for words about the old Zuck comments, tweeting just a pair of exclamation points.
Twitter Sent Meta Cease-and-Desist Letter
Perhaps he's saving his energy for a possible court date, as Twitter sent Meta a cease-and-desist letter. The letter threatens legal action against the tech rival for allegedly hiring former Twitter employees in order to create a "copycat" of Twitter, an accusation Meta sources have called baseless.
Or maybe Musk is too busy getting into shape for a potential cage match with Zuckerberg, which UFC president Dana White believes may actually happen.
Others, however, had much more to say about Zuckerberg's vintage remarks.
"One of the many reasons he's managed to stay on as the CEO despite absolutely no innovations," one person tweeted. "He has zero ethical issues selling customer data. So works well with the advertisers. The board stays happy and they keep him on."
"Younger generations need to watch the movie The Social Network." one person said, referring the 2010 Facebook origin story starring Jesse Eisenberg. "This is not at all surprising based on Zuck’s reputation during his early days at FB."
"Ya that was a long time ago," another poster tweeted in Zuckerberg's defense. "I’m not a fan of Zuck, but ridiculous to pull something out that someone said when they were a teenager."
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is highly unlikely that Zuckerberg's youthful comments will do him any serious damage.
