Careless People

On his three-week tour of Asia, Zuckerberg requested that there be a riot or peace rally. He wanted to be surrounded by people or “gently mobbed” (127). Despite Wynn-Williams’s warning about the negative reaction that would trigger from China, Zuckerberg insisted.

Zuckerberg was late for his meeting with the Indonesian president-elect and refused to wear traditional Indonesian clothing as a sign of respect. It was chaotic getting to the meeting, as a swarm of people surrounded the Facebook team. At the meeting, it became clear that President-Elect Widodo felt indebted to Facebook for his victory. Known as Jokowi, this new president was an outsider and not associated with corruption. Convinced of Facebook’s “positive power” (132), Wynn-Williams claims it did not occur to her that the site could be used to push things the other way.

Wynn-Williams suggested that Zuckerberg join the president-elect on a blusukan, or a spontaneous visit to a village or city slum, as that would provide Zuckerberg with an experience of being “gently mobbed.” Zuckerberg’s security team and associates did not want this to happen, fearing violence. They asked Wynn-Williams to call it off, but Zuckerberg decided to do it anyway.

At a shopping mall, Zuckerberg and the president-elect were surrounded by hundreds and basked in the adulation.