Is the irony not rich? Mark Zuckerberg, quite rich himself, is Time magazine’s (remember those?) Person of the Year. Zuckerberg may not be print’s Grim Reaper, but he’s helping dig the grave and, in the least, is a symbolic figure jumping on a World Wide Web-sized trampoline just outside the Print-is-Dead deliberation room.
The Faceman
To be fair, Zuckerberg is also all over Time’s website and probably on their iPad app too. Curiously, Time’s Facebook page isn’t, as they like to say in the biz, all that robust. (Can we please chill on the robust usage of robust in 2011, btw? K, tx.). Here’s what a current search on Facebook calls up for Time magazine:
You’ve got to think, considering Zuckerberg is your Time Person of the Year, this same search will soon yield different results (Grime Time?). But I digress…
When I first saw the Person of the Year “news” in my tweet stream this morning, I thought, Oy. Then I tweeted the same sentiment, because I can do that—in real Time! I’m empowered. So are You, remember? Time buttered You/us up as its 2006 Person of the Year. Now, just four years later many of You no longer subscribe to Time (if You subscribed in the first place) and are also now less likely to pick it up, at full cover price, from a newsstand. Meantime, Zuckerberg is reportedly worth something like a gazillion dollars and is a new media mogul. In 2010, we saw Mark Zuckerberg—everywhere. His is the Face most recognizable with Facebook. If I’m Time, I’m dedicating sizable content to this guy and his book for the foreseeable future.
Can Zuckerberg conceivably be more ubiquitous? Maybe. James Cameron could go 4D with him. He should probably be on the Wheaties box (remember when that was indicative of some serious heat?), but the box should be bigger than any Wheaties box ever produced. Zuckerberg will, of course, insist on 14G/1301p res when he unveils his latest/greatest tbd FB mobile/tablet/whatever device. And, how can Gillette not go Mach7 on a special Zee-berg model razor? You use that razor, you not only have a shave so close you reverse age, Benji Button-style, but you also receive a license to print money or FarmVille badges, whichever you prefer.
As I type this, there is, no doubt, an endless cascade of Facebook updates and tweets related to some of the most mundane aspects of all of our lives. You, Time’s 2006 Person of the Year, now think aloud and we can all hear it. Narcissism is so rampant today, in fact, that narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) will be cut from the next DSM. Borrowing from the famed Gordon Gekko line, we can imagine Zuckerberg saying that narcissism, for lack of a better word, is good.
It’s no coincidence that Facebook and Zuckerberg himself are ascending to heights beyond comprehension. You/we are funding this epic ride. You were green in 2006 when Time named You its Person of the Year. Now your personal brand is established and You need Zuckerberg’s Facebook because your world lives inside his world. Time realizes your wallet is currently remaining closed for content, so they’re buttering up your daddy. Is Mark Zuckerberg the father of mainstream modern day narcissism? Time Magazine, the stalwart publisher of yesteryear today says he is.
Cross-posted on usblog.havasdigital.com
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