Zuckerberg advises UK.gov on using Facebook
Engage with me, bitch
Posted in Government, 21st June 2010 14:42 GMT
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The culture secretary Jeremy Hunt today met Facebook's main node Mark Zuckerberg.
The young CEO is in London for a developer conference, and took the opportunity to press the government to use Facebook more in its decision-making.
"Really smart guy with some good ideas on improvement [sic] digital engagement in policy making," former technology PR man Hunt told his Twitter followers.
Facebook, now the dominant social network, is keen to promote itself as a route to broader engagement in politics. During the election it fronted a campaign to register more young voters, for example. The strategy buys it esteem among politicians, a valuable commodity for any company battling regulation.
The firm has a close link to the senior ranks of the coalition government in Richard Allan, its European lobbyist. A former Liberal Democrat MP, and incoming peer, he also served the party as Nick Clegg's campaign manager.
Politicians might be less keen to be seen taking tips from Zuckerberg soon however. His reputation is expected to take a beating in the forthcoming film The Social Network. It covers Facebook's genesis at Harvard, when Zuckerberg's smartness extended to hacking reporters' email accounts and branding his users "dumb fucks". ®
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