It’s Sunday. The newest edition of CBS’s 60 Minutes has arrived. And what d’ya know, Mark Zuckerberg’s there in the interrogation seat, opposite Leslie Stahl. She’s old enough to be his mom. Old enough to be his grandma, even.
If you missed it, chances are you’re curious to know what they discussed before the cameras. And if you did catch the clip, you may want to share a few thoughts with your fellow Mashables. So please do. Comment away.
The thing is, there really isn’t much to comment about, is there? I mean, what did the two really chat about? The company’s growth chart? The Beacon controversy? What did the Facebook CEO tell us on broadcast television that we didn’t already know?
Of course, we can’t really say we’re surprised at all about what was and was not said. As with most interviews, substantive talk is rarely sufficiently presented. It’s not like we could tell you with any sincerity that we expected Mark Z. to throw down and dish the deets in a fashion befitting the new hot-and-sexy privacy?-what-privacy? reality us social networkers are now geared into. He’s a company head. He’s going to keep his mouth shut on stuff his legal team advises him to keep securely tucked inside that (supposed) billion-dollar brain.
Nonetheless, we indulge what he and Leslie had to say.
During the interview, Zuckerberg seemed at times to enjoy the screen time. When Stahl offers up the line that he is now being compared to (and perhaps “replacing”) Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, he returns a rather blank expression and responds: “Is that a question?” We wouldn’t take that to be a classic cocksure statement, per se, but it is not an entirely humble response, either.
And that’s pretty much the only point Stahl appeared focused on. Where the company has been. Where it is now. And where it seems to be headed.
Throughout the segment, Stahl talked with not only Zuckerberg, but Kara Swisher of AllthingsD.com and Charlene Lee of Forrester Research as well. The latter of the two – the professional analyst – proceeded to deem Facebook a possible threat to the veteran set of Web giants; Google in particular. Kara, however, despite calling Zuckerberg’s invention “the new Google,” was a bit more reserved when asked of the company’s apparent potential. Swisher dealt phrases like “early mistakes (have been made)” and claimed that the age of the “toddler CEO” may exacerbate the ill effects of high-profile errors. In other words, his lack of extensive, time-tested wisdom might make him (and his company) the target of heightened criticism down the line.
(I myself (not speaking for the rest of the Mashable team) find the argument that age and wisdom go hand in hand to be somewhat nonsensical, especially when intelligence is quite palpable. But that’s neither here nor there.)