60 Minutes Can Probably Take Credit For The 'Mark Zuckerberg Is A Robot' Meme
Mark Zuckerberg. He brought Facebook to the world, allowing people to stay up-to-date with their friends from around the country and see racist posts from their extended family members. He's the subject of "The Social Network," proving that you don't need friends in order to create a friend-based website, and he's a seemingly permanent fixture to testify in front of Congress. And depending on who you ask, he's also a robot.
Let's be frank; Zuckerberg isn't a robot (probably). More than anything, he's just an awkward guy who tends to have a blank expression on his face. Still, it's pretty fun to make jokes about it. But where did it all begin? How did the meme of Zuckerberg being a robot start? It's unclear how these kinds of myths permeate, but if we had to place a bet, it likely started with a singular interview for "60 Minutes" where Zuckerberg may have wanted to be a little quicker on the draw.
Was that a short circuit?
In a 2008 interview with "60 Minutes," Mark Zuckerberg was interviewed about all things Facebook, which, at the time, was just beginning to make a surge in the zeitgeist. He was the new face of Silicon Valley, and he's asked, "You seem to be replacing [Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin] as the people out here who everyone's talking about." Rather than respond to the prompt, Zuckerberg just stares at her. It takes a couple of moments, but Zuckerberg finally responds, "Was that a question?"
To be fair, it wasn't a question, but whereas plenty of Silicon Valley types would be happy to talk incessantly about themselves at the slightest prompt, he was probably waiting for the rest of the statement. The segment goes on to mention how awkward Zuckerberg can be and how he doesn't necessarily like talking about himself. But from that brief exchange, it's likely a million memes were born. Though if that "60 Minutes" interview didn't inspire the bulk of those memes, there are multiple YouTube videos compiling moments in which the Facebook founder seems to behave robotically.
There's only one way to get to the bottom of whether Zuckerberg's a robot; we need that sequel to "The Social Network" Aaron Sorkin has been talking about. It's the only way.