Let's face it, Facebook hasn't had the best reputation of keeping its users' data safe and when the chief Mark Zuckerberg made a joke about how his company has had several slips with customer security in the past, people in attendance responded with a deafening silence.
In the wake of Cambridge Analytica scandal - the alleged hijacking of data of millions of Facebook users, when the Internet was convinced Zucc wasn't a human during his testament - and Facebook's recent admission of storing millions of its users' passwords in plain text and "readable" format for years - it only made sense for the CEO of the company to say all the things that investors and users want to hear and help build user confidence during Facebook's annual F8 developer conference.
But it didn't happen.
Zucc, sticking to his strange mannerisms, felt joking about Facebook's privacy issues at the conference would be the best way to address the elephant in the room.
Unsurprisingly, his "joke" fell flat on its face and the Facebook chief was at the mercy of online critics, who couldn't help but cringe at his attempt.
"I know that we don't exactly have the strongest reputation on privacy right now, to put it lightly, but I'm committed to doing this well and we plan to do this in the way that we've developed WhatsApp," Zuckerberg told attendees.
The moment Mark Zuckerberg tries to make a joke about privacy and nobody laughs: pic.twitter.com/izt7kIhjLz
— alfred (@alfredwkng) April 30, 2019
Face was met with book.
Mark Zuckerberg : Wanna hear a joke?
— Thierry.vue (@kaeont) May 1, 2019
... pic.twitter.com/gMn9ycUnPA
There is nothing remotely funny about the criminal manner in which Mark Zuckerberg's empire has abused our personal and private data to allow dark forces to undermine democracies around the world. https://t.co/Gm8kNratOp
— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) May 1, 2019
Mark Zuckerberg's Awkward Privacy Joke at Facebook's F8 Conference https://t.co/V8INfGjOhv via @YouTube
— (✿◠‿◠) (@MatWalrus) May 1, 2019
Mark Zuckerberg made an onstage joke about Facebook's privacy record and it was awkward for everyone in the room https://t.co/kzsUHXSoTm pic.twitter.com/GHgN2e5To4
— Márcio M. Silva (@marciojmsilva) May 1, 2019
How Mark Zuckerberg looks after nobody laughs at his cringeworthy attempt at a joke about privacy. pic.twitter.com/Er7XnNaQhF
— Sandia Mesa Animation Studios (@sandia_mesa_mlh) May 1, 2019
I'm sorry to post this picture again but I am trying to make a historical record joke
— ΞLΞVΞNTH (@3L3V3NTH) May 1, 2019
This is what the Mona Lisa would look like if it was the creation of Mark Zuckerberg
Don't paint or make social media like him. pic.twitter.com/tjI1kwYtsv
Mark Zuckerberg IS a joke about privacy. Nobody is laughing... https://t.co/hVi1b45CRm
— Jake Williams (@MalwareJake) May 1, 2019
— Ryan Negri (@RyanNegri) April 30, 2019
Mark Zuckerberg tries to make a joke and nobody laughs pic.twitter.com/tZEXtJIjlY
— SearchPal (@Search_Pal) May 1, 2019
Twitter users then proceeded with memeing at the expense of Zuckerberg.
fixed it, pic.twitter.com/TLDpNnFjBx
— David Herrmann (@herrmanndigital) April 30, 2019
Mark Zuckerberg makes a #Facebook privacy joke. pic.twitter.com/I93Dfrb3WJ
— Brett Shavers (@Brett_Shavers) May 1, 2019
Fixed it pic.twitter.com/t4unVfRWgd
— Keith Hopkin (@KeithHopkin) April 30, 2019
— Olivier Vitri (@OlivierVitri) May 1, 2019
To his and the company's credit, Facebook is focussed on privacy, end to end encryption in chats, additional features to Facebook Groups which enhance user anonymity and so on.
