All eyes have been on Mark Zuckerberg in light of the most recent Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal. As Zuckerberg faced Congress on April 10, 2018, people turned to Twitter to voice their opinions on not only his answers, but the lawmakers questioning him using #Zuckerberg.
Am struck by generational divide watching #Zuckerberg hearing. Am just not convinced how many of these august and revered lawmakers have a clue what they're talking about, understand what they're asking, or understand the answers. Is that unfair?
— Jon Sopel (@BBCJonSopel) April 10, 2018
One of the main concerns people had during the hearing didn’t evolve Zuckerberg, but rather the fact that a number of the Congressmen didn’t understand the basic functions of the platform.
The Facebook hearing is the greatest generational divide I’ve ever seen. It’s like watching WWII generals question somebody on drone strikes and cyberwarfare. #Zuckerberg
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) April 10, 2018
This #Zuckerberg hearing is a bullhorn to us all that we can't have 20th century lawmakers running a 21st century world. #VoteThemOut2018
— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) April 10, 2018
Many called it a generational divide stating that lawmakers should have a basic understanding of technologies the majority of the population uses. Users even used the hashtag as a way to motivate people to vote. However, some didn’t take the hearing as seriously, and applauded certain lawmakers.
.@tedcruz Spanked #zuckerberg during the hearing pic.twitter.com/muJbPak7iy
— Terrence K. Williams (@w_terrence) April 10, 2018
Of course with any hashtag, users had to throw a bit of humor into the situation. An hour within the hearing, the Twitter-verse already a theory that Zuckerberg actually is a robot.
There is a 100% chance Mark #Zuckerberg is a robot 😂 pic.twitter.com/KkXiInctXh
— Mike Tokes (@MikeTokes) April 11, 2018
However, countless journalists took notes on the important details that were revealed about Facebook, and the how it gathers people’s data.
Rep. Castor: "You are collecting personal info on people who do not even have Facebook accounts, isn't that right?"#Zuckerberg: "Congresswoman, I don't think that that's what we are tracking."pic.twitter.com/FrZOL5NYZZ
Facebook does collect non-user data: https://t.co/2xUdJvBlcR— Ryan Saavedra 🇺🇸 (@RealSaavedra) April 11, 2018
The Zuckerberg hearing perfectly personified how people turn to social media in major societal moments.