GettyWe’ve all had embarrassing personal posts on Facebook at one time or another.
Whether it be lyric-inspired statuses from 2005 or shameful photos from last night, it happens to all of us.
Back in November, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared details of the cringey chat-up line he used to woo his wife, and he often gets personal sharing intimate photos of his family together.
Went on our first date 13 years ago. She almost sent me home when I told her I had a computer science problem set due the next day. Glad that worked out :)
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Sunday, November 13, 2016
But as it turns out, the man who created the social media site himself doesn’t favour the personal approach as much as we may have thought.
According to reports, Zuck’s carefully constructed online persona is actually something of a mirage, because he pays a team of about a dozen people to run it.
Financial software and media company Bloomerg reported that ‘Zuckerberg has help, lots of it’:
Typically, a handful of Facebook employees manage communications just for him, helping write his posts and speeches, while an additional dozen or so delete harassing comments and spam on his page, say two people familiar with the matter. Facebook also has professional photographers snap Zuckerberg, say, taking a run in Beijing or reading to his daughter.
Taking paternity leave to spend time with our growing family.
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Saturday, December 31, 2016
Zuckerberg reveals far more than your average boss, and hell, he needs to. He owns the largest social network in the world.
His appearance on Facebook helps give the impression that he’s just like all the other over-sharing Facebook users, but one expert says that he has become much more clever about doing this in recent times, using professionals to make sure his profile is on point.
“What he’s learned over the last two years is that his image in the digital domain needs to be controlled,” said David Charron, entrepreneurship expert at the University of California. “And he’s simply growing up.”
GettyBlending business with personal is something unique to Zuckerberg, and experts have said that it can only come with very careful management.
“I don’t know that there are a lot of other business leaders that would find the same level of comfort sharing their personal and business stuff in the way that he does,” Fred Cook, director of the Unviersity of Southern California Center for Public Relations said.
Considering he owns a social network with 1.79 billion monthly active users, can you blame him for wanting to spruce up his profile with a little help?
