Mark Zuckerberg, one can argue, appears to be a different CEO than most. He's certainly not a Travis Kalanick type, not even a Jeff Bezos type, either. No, the CEO of Facebook has become equated with a specific public persona — and rightfully so, because that's perhaps what Facebook is all about.
To many, Zuckerberg has become more than an image of the world's top social networking site. He has also embodied the image of a husband, a father, and a hip thirtysomething who cares about social issues.
Mark Zuckerberg Is A Visual Icon
More than 90 million people follow Zuckerberg, or more specifically, those images. Perhaps this is why a prospective publication called The California Review of Images and Mark Zuckerberg exists, to study Zuckerberg as a visual icon.
"Zuckerberg, and the changes he symbolizes in technology and society at large, is — we would submit — a deep well for discussion and intellectual inquiry," writes Tim Hwang over at Medium. Hwang co-edited Adventure Time Forum, the leading journal of Adventure Time Research. Hwang also helped create The Journal of Venture Studies, which looks deep into The Venture Bros., an animated series on Adult Swim.
Hwang calls for essays, 2,000 to 3,000 in length, focusing on a single image or series of images of Zuckerberg. The write-up should deconstruct the image's meaning and dismantle its layers to understand the visual composition. Explanation of historical context is also appropriate.
The California Review Of Images And Mark Zuckerberg
The project specifically hopes to attract photographs of Zuckerberg as he's portrayed in the media, Zuckerberg in light of his efforts to understand racial and class divide, Zuckerberg as a symbol, Zuckerberg as a private or public persona, and Zuckerberg as he matures throughout the years.
Deadline for submissions is in late September and the collection launches the following month in October. This is no joke, though it certainly sounds tongue-in-cheek for the most part. Authors are slated to receive a $300 stipend on completion of their pieces. You can pitch via the Google docs form if you already have ideas.
Hwang is also a lawyer leading Google's public policy with regard to artificial intelligence and machine learning. He has published various written pieces, often comedic and insightful, on topics such as tech and culture.
So, what do you think? Got any photos of Zuckerberg in mind? Perhaps you can write an insightful comparison piece on Zuckerberg and the version of him portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film The Social Network?
